Ioana Romanasu, Content Team Lead at WSN.com: “How is the US gambling landscape is looking after the Trump election?”

It’s fair to say that Donald Trump’s re-election as US president in 2024 was a major event. Since returning to office, he’s had a considerable impact on the country’s business sector and the wider global economy. This was most obviously experienced in the raft of tariffs he recently introduced against other nations, and the shockwaves they sent through international markets.

When it comes to business within the USA, observers are keen to see how the country’s gambling landscape is looking after Trump’s election. As expected, it seems he’s had his own unique influence on it already – but just how is this apparent? 

Federal deregulation

For both sports betting and iGaming in the US after Trump’s election, the landscape around regulation looks likely to change. This is a view shared by Ioana Romanasu – Content Team Lead at WSN.com, who is an expert commentator on global gambling markets. 

It appears that the Trump administration will favor a more de-regulated approach to gambling on a federal level. This would leave new regulations around sports betting and online casinos in the hands of individual states. 

Although Trump did revise the Wire Act in his previous tenure, it seems that he won’t be too keen on getting heavily involved with regulating gambling on a national level. Of course, if more changes are made on a federal level to this Act moving ahead, it would have a major effect on inter-state betting. 

In terms of a wider impact on the gambling industry, reduced federal regulation would leave states free to set their own rules around sports betting/iGaming. This would lead to states potentially having different laws around gambling from one another, and different takes on how their gambling markets work. 

Boost for US gambling markets

In the period after Trump’s 2024 election, the US gambling landscape reacted in a positive manner. This included jumps in share prices after the election for major brands within the wider US gambling sector. Due to this, the country’s gambling landscape looks set for an even brighter future under Trump’s leadership.

But what was behind this jump in share prices and the positive market outlook after the recent election? The main driver appears to be the expectation from industry leaders of a more business-friendly gambling sector under Trump. This led investors to predict a big future for gambling under Trump, and market sentiment rose accordingly. 

More states looking to approve gambling

As well as a general improvement for the US gambling market, Trump’s return to office has prompted more states to approve sports betting and iGaming. This is due to the boost for the gambling market once Trump’s election gave states the motivation to legalize gambling within their borders.

Missouri, for example, is expected to launch its own sports betting market by the end of 2025 and will become the 39th US state to do so, when it happens. Georgia has restarted the process of legalizing sports betting and online gambling since Trump’s return to power. These examples show the effect he has had on the US gambling landscape and how his leadership is shaping its future. 

Planned changes in taxation for US gambling sector

While much of the talk around US gambling since Trump’s return to power has been focused on less central regulation and more state-led rules, there is talk of a standard tax rate coming into play. This would level up the rate of tax that gambling providers in the country pay on their earnings. 

This would be a major change from the setup that existed on Trump’s return to office, which sees states setting their own taxation rates that providers must pay. It’s believed that any new standard rate introduced into the US gambling industry would be in the 15% to 25% range. If this does happen, it would signal a major development to emerge in the Trump years. 

New ways to bet in the US 

In broad terms, the current US gambling market allows people to place bets on sports, play casino games online or get involved with Daily Fantasy Sports. This landscape has been slowly shifting after Trump’s election, though, and we may see new ways to gamble in the country in the near future.

Interestingly, this is something that has picked up pace as a direct result of the 2024 election. Platforms that legally allow people to bet on predictions markets (like Polymarket and Kalshi) saw massive amounts wagered on who would make it into the White House. 

It’s expected that the prediction betting market will expand and introduce new event-based contract gambling around the country. Keep an eye on the latest trends and news to see if this comes to pass. 

Labor regulation challenges forecast

When it comes to land-based gambling in the US after 2024’s election, challenges around labor relations could be a factor. The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 (which represents casino workers in Las Vegas) were heavily opposed to Trump’s victory and raised concerns about labor rights under his leadership. 

Although nothing further has emerged about this since late 2024, it does leave the US gambling market facing potential issues around labor rights. If the relevant unions do feel matters become worse under the president, we may well see significant action taken by them. This would impact the industry negatively and dampen any positive boost that the gambling scene around the country has enjoyed since Trump’s victory. 

US gambling landscape under Trump

Although Donald Trump has not yet been in office for too long in his second stint, he has already made huge waves in many areas. The business world is certainly one and this has affected how many industries look after his victory. 

Gambling in the country is one of the best examples and it’s fascinating to see how this industry is looking after his election. As the above shows, it seems to be in a good place currently and should experience growth with more states looking to give gambling the green light.