Skip to main content

Sweepstakes Among Spectrum’s Top Gaming Trend Predictions for 2025

Ziv Chen

Last Updated: December 5, 2024 2:26 PM EST • 1 min 55 sec read.

A woman plays an online gambling game on a smartphone in a staged scene as we look at the growth of sweepstakes casinos
A woman plays an online gambling game on a smartphone in a staged scene. Photo by Sina Schuldt / dpa / Sipa USA.

Sports betting is still a top gaming trend for the upcoming year, which is sure to please our best sports betting sites. 

On Tuesday, gambling research company Spectrum Gaming Group its top ten U.S. gaming trends to watch for in 2025, a list published yearly since 2005. The list covers issues the company believes will be the most significant for industry operators, suppliers, and regulators in the coming year.

To understand the trends, the company says it works with Spectrum Gaming Capital and associates across the globe throughout the year. In alphabetical order, this year’s list includes: 

  1. Digital Sweepstakes Gaming
  2. Historical Horse Racing
  3. iGaming
  4. Merging of Verticals
  5. New York City
  6. Policy
  7. Responsible Gaming
  8. “Skill” Machines
  9. Sports Betting
  10. Texas

Only two topics from last year’s list, iGaming and New York, make a return this year. In 2024, these appeared alongside trends like cybersecurity, unregulated gaming, iLottery, and horse racing.

New York remains a focus for the same reason as before – the highly anticipated issuance of three full-scale casino licenses. The state’s Gaming Facility Location Board has until June 2025 to award the licenses.

Sweepstakes as an opportunity or a threat?

Sweepstakes casinos have emerged as both a potential opportunity and a challenge for the U.S. gaming industry, whether operating legally or in gray areas. They allow players to enjoy casino-style games using virtual currencies like Sweeps Coins and Gold Coins instead of real money. Since real-money online casinos are only available in seven U.S. states as of 2024, sweepstakes sites offer an alternative for casino enthusiasts located elsewhere.

The U.S. sweepstakes casino industry is growing rapidly, with industry experts suggesting it could evolve into a viable substitute for traditional real-money gaming. Its growth might also encourage more states to legalize iGaming to provide safer, regulated options. There are currently Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan online casino, NJ online casino, PA online casino, Rhode Island, and WV online casino markets where players can access legal online casino gaming. 

iGaming to impact retail gaming 

That leads us nicely to another trend featured on Spectrum’s list, iGaming. While the company points out that there appears to be little movement for any new jurisdictions to adopt iGaming in 2025, the trend points toward the effect of the growing industry on retail casinos.

For instance, New Jersey’s October results revealed that online casinos collected a record-breaking $213.6 million in revenue, surpassing the $208.7 million collected at the nine land-based casinos in Atlantic City. Players are increasingly preferring online casinos for their convenience.

Responsible gaming movement to continue

The report highlights responsible gaming as another key trend for 2025, with several gambling companies already taking action. During this year’s Responsible Gaming Education Month, which took place in September, many of our best sports betting apps promoted responsible play.

For instance, FanDuel launched a program aimed at educating young people about gambling and its warning signs through a partnership with former NBA player Randy Livingston and his wife. Meanwhile, BetMGM promoted responsible gaming messaging across NFL stadiums, and Hard Rock Bet published a press release showcasing its responsible gambling tools.

Written By:
Ziv Chen
Ziv has over two decades of experience in the igaming and sports betting industry, having served in senior marketing and business development positions with both B2C and B2B companies, including Playtech and Microgaming. In 2019, Ziv decided to pursue his passion for writing and became a fulltime industry journalist, covering casino, sports, and gambling business news. He’s specialties include casino games and technology, US state gambling regulation, company performance, as well as gambling affiliates and marketing. As a Pitt graduate, Ziv is a diehard fan of all Pittsburgh sports teams, with the Steelers at the top of the list. In his free time, he enjoys reading crime fiction, biographies (mainly of sports personalities, but not only) and American history. Ziv’s Favorite quote: “We're going to pursue perfection, knowing full well we won't catch it, but we're going to relentlessly chase it," Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach.