Top 4 software suppliers for the US Gambling Market
The US gambling industry has been among one of the biggest markets in the world for decades, though until recently, this was mainly offline with resorts such as Las Vegas and New Jersey reaping the benefits.
Over the last few years, legislation has relaxed and opened up new possibilities for new sectors, such as sports betting and latterly, online gambling. Many gambling enthusiasts though, perhaps do not realise that in most of the cases, it isn’t the actual casinos who supply the software (and the hardware) that is needed for these to thrive. In Europe, where online gambling in particular, has been prevalent since the turn of the Millennium it subsequently meant that there was a considerable growth in the starting up of a number of software companies to service the industry. This has since been the case in the United States, with traditional suppliers to the gambling industry diversifying. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular.
Scientific Games
Although the actual DNA of Scientific Games dates back to 1917 to Autotoe, the company itself wasn’t founded until 1973 in the United States and this is when it started to mass produce gambling machines for the US casino market, namely the resort of Las Vegas which had begun to surge in popularity. From the late 1990s onwards, Scientific Games diversified and as such aimed towards the online gambling market, however this was primarily in Europe. When sports betting and iGaming laws became more relaxed in the early to mid 2010s in a number of American states, Scientific Games was essentially the ‘go to’ software provider for new US gambling companies, due to their vast experience serving the industry and also with them having headquarters in America it made sense.
NetEntertainment
Founded in 1996 in Sweden, ‘NetEnt’ is among the top three leading software providers to the online gambling industry and since a number of states have relaxed gambling laws, it has become more and more popular in America. Now with a presence in the United States, the company has started to attract the attention of a number of American online casino clients, particularly for their online table games, though also a wide selection of progressive jackpots which is a niche that it has carved a reputation in. With more and more states understood to be considering opening up online gambling, it would not be a surprise to see NetEnt increase its client base in the US especially if there is a surge in the amount of online casinos which start up.
International Game Technology (IGT)
With offices the world over, IGT has a major presence in the United States, with a stronghold in Rhode Island and, as a result, is ideally placed for the nearby gambling hubs of New Jersey and Pennsylvania; states where all forms of gambling are legal. As well as online operations in software provision, IGT have also been supplying physical slot machines to the American market for the last few decades and still do so to this day. The potential for even bigger growth especially across the US should more states start to relax their gambling laws and pass legislation is substantial and with such a rich history already, is certainly there.
Evolution Gaming
Having only been founded in 2006, this company has taken significant strides over the last decade and have made a great amount of progress as a result. Originally focusing on the European market, Evolution Gaming swiftly started to dominate and it wasn’t long before they had set their sights on the US. From 2013, Evolution became the first Live Casino provider to gain New Jersey Preliminary Waiver approval, offering an intra-resort service that allowed guests to partake in casino games whether they were by the pool or in the casino itself. Since then, the company has further expanded and strengthened its position and has become well respected in the American market.
Concluding analysis
While the US still has a considerable way to go in order to catch the European market in the online gambling industry, there is no doubt that they have the infrastructure to be able to support it, with a number of prominent software companies already established, while there is certainly scope for more in the near future.