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Legal U.S. online casinos earn $3.04 billion in 2026 Q1, a 20.7% increase
Regulated online casinos had a strong first quarter in 2026, experiencing a 20.7% revenue increase from Q1 2025. See how this big rise compares to US sports betting and traditional casinos.
Legal online gaming is steadily growing across the US, as evidenced by the latest revenue figures from the American Gaming Association (AGA). The AGA's recent report shows that regulated US online casinos earned $3.04 billion in gross gaming revenue (GGR). This represents a 20.7% increase from Q1 2025, despite no new states going live with iCasinos in the last year.
Online gaming is growing faster than sports betting
The AGA numbers show that land-based casinos and sports betting earned $12.48 billion and $4.27 billion in Q1 2026, respectively. Those figures represent a 2.1% increase for retail casinos and an 8.6% boost for betting from last year's first quarter.
Based on these figures, it appears that real money online casino sites like BetMGM have the most room for growth. This certainly makes sense compared to brick-and-mortar casinos, which have been operating in most states for decades.
Sports betting is a different story because it was only legalized in 2018, with most states launching online sportsbooks in 2019 and beyond. But it has also expanded across the US much faster than online casino games for real money.
Mobile betting is legal in 30 states plus Washington DC. It's a more mature industry than online gaming, which is only legal in eight states.Â
Maine recently became the eighth state to legalize iCasinos. Given that Maine online casinos haven't launched yet, iGaming is still earning revenue through only seven states.
Nevada leads in commercial gross gaming revenueÂ
Nevada led all states in GGR with just over $4 billion in Q1 2026, almost a third of the $12.48b total across the US. This is no surprise because the Silver State has long anchored the American gambling industry.Â
It's still somewhat impressive considering that Nevada doesn't have much of an online gambling presence, with only iPoker being legal across the state.
Pennsylvania earns most among iGaming states
Pennsylvania had the strongest quarter among states that offer extensive online gambling. It ranked second overall in the US with $1.99 billion in the first quarter, good for a 9.7% increase from Q1 2025. PA online casinos and sportsbooks like betPARX played strong roles in the nearly $2 billion GGR earned by the Keystone State.
New Jersey came in just behind Pennsylvania at third with $1.71 billion GGR in Q1—a 7.7% increase from the previous year. It also relies significantly on online gambling revenue from NJ online casinos and betting sites.
Responsible gambling
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