Executive Summary – Optimove US Gaming Pulse Report (March 2025)

The March 2025 report analyzes data from over 3.2 million U.S. players and 21 million global players to benchmark performance across casino and sports betting.

Key Insights:

• U.S. Players Spend More: U.S. bettors deposited an average of $538 over the past 12 months — 2.6x higher than the global average.
• Casino Activity Climbs: U.S. casino bettors grew 37% March year-over-year, with average monthly bets reaching $8,511 (6.4x the global average), boosted by state expansions like Rhode Island.
• Sports Betting Spikes with NFL Season: Bettor volume rose 32% in September compared to the baseline. U.S. average monthly sports bet: $1,010 (vs. $404 globally).
• Global Players More Engaged: Global players are active more days per month (+13%) and retain better (70% vs. 65% monthly average).

Conclusion:

Report Metrics:While the U.S. market demonstrates higher player spend and betting volume, global markets show stronger engagement and retention. Continued U.S. growth is closely tied to seasonal events and expanding iGaming legalization, while future success will depend on improving long-term engagement and retention strategies.

• Source: Betting trends in United States compared to the global benchmark in the trailing 12 months (March 2024-2025)
• Database: A 12-month average of 3,270,596 active players per month in the US and 21,308,702 globally.

Category: Average Deposit Amount

Key finding: Average Deposit Amounts Greatest in the US

In monthly average total deposit amounts, the US consistently outpaces the global average, maintaining values more than twice as high throughout the year.

The US average peaked at $602 in August 2024 and again in March 2025, while the lowest point was $466 in February 2025. (The 12-month average was $538.)

Global deposit amounts remained relatively stable, fluctuating between $193 and $225, ending at $206 in March 2025.

Definition of Average Deposit Amount: The average deposit amount is calculated by taking the total sum of all deposits and dividing it by the number of Sports and Casino bettors (players) who have made at least one deposit.

Category: Total Monthly Casino Betting Amount & Number of Casino Bettors Growth

Key findings: The US has been leading in both betting amount and number of casino bettors’ growth since August 2024

Throughout the period, the US consistently outpaced global averages, with an average of $8,511 per bettor through the period compared to $1,327 globally. US ending at $8,536 in March 2025 while the global average stands on $1,329.

In number of casino bettors’ growth, the US market saw significant growth, rising from the March 2024 baseline of 100% to 137% (37% growth) by March 2025. Global growth was more moderate, increasing to 116% over the same period. The most notable growth for the US occurred between August 2024 and January 2025, peaking at 142%.

Legalization of online casino gaming in the US has influenced the growth trends among casino bettors, Rhode Island is the most recent state legalized, having launched its iGaming casinos platform in March 2024.

Definition of Total Monthly Casino Bet Amount: The average casino bet amount is the total sum of all casino bets and divided by the number of bettors who have placed at least one casino bet.

Definition of Casino Bettors Growth Trend: calculated by dividing the total number of casino bettors each month by the number of casino bettors in March 2024, which serves as the baseline (100%).

Category: Total Monthly Sports Betting Amount & Number of Sport Bettors Growth

Key finding: The US consistently outpaced global averages in monthly average sports bet amounts, with a strong seasonality effect observed in the number of sport bettors starting in September, coinciding with the beginning of the NFL season.

Throughout the period, the US consistently outpaced global averages in monthly average sports bet amounts. The US average peaked at $1,166 in March 2024, dipped mid-year, and rebounded to $1,150 by March 2025.

In contrast, the global average remained steady, fluctuating between $362 and $452, and closing at $391 in March 2025.

In terms of the number of sport bettors, the US market experienced a sharp increase starting in September 2024, aligning with the start of the NFL season. Growth surged to 132% in September, peaking at 144% in November, and closing at 112% in March 2025.

Global growth remained more stable, gradually increasing from 100% to 108% over the same period.

Definition of Total Monthly Sport Bet Amount: The average sport betting amount is the total sum of all sports bets and divided by the number of bettors who have placed in least one sport bet.

The Sport Bettors Growth Trend: calculated by dividing the total number of sport bettors each month by the number of sport bettors in March 2024, which serves as the baseline (100%).

Category: Average Number of Activity Days per Active Customer

Key finding: global market consistently maintained a higher engagement level than the US.

• Unlike trends in casino and sports betting, the global market consistently maintained a higher engagement level than the US, with 13% more activity days on average per active customer throughout the period.
• The global average began at 8.71 days in March 2024 and rose slightly to 9.03 days by March 2025, maintaining a relatively stable trend.
• In contrast, the US started at 7.02 days, picked to 8.08 days in March 2025, with a notable low point of 6.82 days in February 2025.

Definition of Average Activity Days: The average number of activity days is the total number of activity days divided by the number of bettors who have at least one activity day.

Category: Average Active Retention Rate

Key finding: Although retention rates remained relatively close, the global market consistently outperformed the US

While retention rates between the US and global markets remained close throughout the period, the global rate consistently outperformed the US in most months.
The global average began at 72% in March 2024 and ended at 73% in March 2025, showing stable performance.

Over the period, US average was 65% compared to the global average of 70%.

Definition of Active Retention Rate: The percentage of bettors who were active in the preceding month and remained active in the current month.

Welcome to our weekly roundup of American gambling news again! Here, we are going through the weekly highlights of the American gambling industry which include the latest news and new partnerships. Read on and get updated.

Latest News

WyoLotto’s COO, Robin Medina, has been named to join a national committee to support problem gambling initiatives. The committee is through the National Council on Problem Gambling and will manage the annual selection of nominations and election of the Board of Directors that oversees NCPG. Last year WyoLotto applied for and was accepted to the NCPG and NASPL’s (North American State and Provincial Lotteries) Responsible Gambling Verification Programme. WyoLotto’s Responsible Gambling Programme includes an in depth plan to ensure the organisation honours its commitment to educating players, retailers and the general public about how to gamble responsibly and what to do if gambling becomes a problem for yourself or someone you know.

As Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon moves closer to its highly anticipated grand opening, the company is engaging with the Kern County community through exclusive informational sessions at Bakersfield College’s Renegade Event Room located at 1801 Panorama Drive. The first session, held on April 4, provided local leaders and invited guests with insights into upcoming job and vendor opportunities in the region. The second session took place on April 5 from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM. Job opportunities for Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon will be posted on the recruitment site, www.gotoworkhappy.com, starting in May.

An investigation by the Delaware Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) into VGW Luckyland – a subsidiary of the Australian-based VGW Holdings – revealed that VGW Luckyland was operating illegal online gaming. Delaware officials concluded that VGW misrepresented its services as a promotional sweepstakes while enabling players to purchase coins for casino-style games, leading to potential cash winnings. These types of real-money games offered to Delaware residents by an unlicensed entity violate the Delaware Constitution, the Delaware Penal Code and the Delaware Gaming Competitiveness Act of 2012. With the support of the Delaware State Lottery, DGE issued a cease-and-desist order to VGW.

Partnerships

AC Milan announced a new partnership with Reals, a company renowned for its excellence in Brazil’s sports betting and online gaming market, which will become Official Regional Betting Partner of the Rossoneri’s Club in Latin America. Elected in 2024 as the “Best Sportsbook Operator” in Brazil by SiGMA World – the largest international authority in iGaming – Reals has been consolidating its position in the sector, reinforcing its growing trajectory of ascent. The brand is aligned with the best market practices, presenting sustainable growth based on innovation, strategic partnerships and sports engagement.

Scientific Games’ SciQ retail technology is set to roll out at North Carolina Education Lottery retailers as part of the Lottery’s focus on improving the retail environment for its Scratch-Off games. The company will deploy 1000 SciQ units at lottery retailers across North Carolina. NCEL Scratch-Off games represented more than $2.9 billion in retail sales in fiscal year 2024, anchoring NCEL among the world’s top 15 performing instant game lotteries (La Fleur’s 2024 World Almanac). Offering real-time scratch game inventory management data that amplifies the power of Scientific Games’ SciTrak predictive ordering system used by NCEL, SciQ creates supply chain efficiencies proven to lift scratch game sales.

The Prague Gaming & TECH Summit 2025 brought together top experts across the iGaming and tech landscape, and Nordic Legal stood out as the event’s Scandinavian Legal Expertise Sponsor. A renowned legal advisory firm in the Nordic region, Nordic Legal continues to shape the future of gambling legislation and compliance in Europe.

In this post-event interview, we caught up with Pekka Ilmivalta, Head of the Finnish Office at Nordic Legal, to dive deeper into the firm’s insights on the upcoming Finnish gambling reform, the legal challenges it poses, and the opportunities it presents for operators preparing to enter the market.

Finland is preparing to launch its regulated gambling sector in January 2026. As an expert with over 20 years of experience in the gambling industry, how do you view its draft legislation and the current state of the Finnish gambling market? 

Finns are used to gambling online, and the size of the market is close to 2 billion euros in GGR. As the market share of the national monopoly operator, Veikkaus, has declined to around 50 percent, nearly half of the gambling spending already takes place outside the Finnish regulation. Therefore, the gambling legislation reform is really needed.

The Government Proposal now being dealt with in the Finnish Parliament is generally a comprehensive and a good package. As the political parties are quite unanimous about the need for the reform, I expect the parliamentary discussion to concentrate on the balance between responsibility measures and the features making the market interesting enough for the operators to enter the regulated market. Especially marketing, use of affiliates and bonusing will, and should, be discussed.

I believe that the Parliament will approve the new legislation early next autumn and that the B2C license application process will be able to begin already in January next year.

The Finnish legislative review council has raised concerns about potential increases in gambling harms under the new regulatory framework. What measures do you believe are necessary to mitigate these risks, and how could Finland balance market liberalization with responsible gambling practices?

Personally, I think that gambling harms must be taken seriously. However, as almost half of the Finnish gambling now happens outside the regulated market, I am convinced that succeeding in channelization is a crucial starting point to really mitigate gambling harms. Therefore, attractiveness of the market and measures against the black market are extremely important. Furthermore, self-exclusion and responsible gambling tools are, of course, needed for the players. Generally, I believe that AI assisted monitoring could and will have an important role in preventing harmful gambling in the future. To really work, responsible gambling tools need to be both pragmatic and relevant for each individual player.

Considering Finland’s upcoming gambling reform, what legal and operational challenges should gambling operators be prepared for, particularly regarding compliance and player protection? Which key trends do you see shaping the market’s future?

As it seems now that affiliates and welcome bonuses will be banned, operators will have to find other means to build their brand and acquire customers. Even though traditional marketing and sponsoring are widely acceptable, I would expect to see innovative solutions to stand out from the probable marketing avalanche during the first months after the market opening. Perhaps new kinds of sponsorships or retail activities? Or even enhanced player protection measures to gain a competitive edge?

Overall, I would advise operators to start their market entry preparations early enough. The licensing procedure could take several (6 to 9) months. Also, adjusting to the local technical and player protection requirements might not happen overnight.

What insights could help Finland create a balanced and effective gambling market?

I believe that the new legislation will provide a good enough framework for a functional gambling market. However, based on experiences from Sweden and Denmark, I would point out two practical aspects crucial to making the new legislation effective: First, there needs to be collaboration between licensed operators and the new regulator. Dialogue and a mutual will to find solutions should be the common mindset. Secondly, the regulator hopefully has enough resources (tools, persons and persistence) to interfere with the black-market operations, which will evidently still exist also after the reform.

Nordic Legal has extensive experience advising European governments on regulatory best practices. How can your firm assist operators looking to enter the Finnish market and navigate the evolving legal landscape?

With our deep knowledge of Finnish legislation, extensive experience from regulatory developments in other jurisdictions, and strong industry relationships, we are well-positioned to support operators and B2B suppliers entering the Finnish market. We can offer comprehensive guidance not only on compliance and licensing, but also on navigating strategic challenges, ensuring our clients are well-prepared for a dynamic and shifting legal landscape. Our proactive approach enables us to identify regulatory changes early and help clients stay ahead of industry developments.