How to get a gambling licence in the United States

Federal law draws the outer lines of what is lawful, but the licence itself is always a state licence. There is no national online-gambling regulator and nothing to apply for in Washington.

• The federal government sets boundaries through the Wire Act, UIGEA, PASPA (now struck down) and IGRA, and enforces federal crimes, but it does not issue operator licences. No federal agency licenses online casinos or sportsbooks.
• Each state that has legalised online gambling runs its own regulator, its own statute, its own fee schedule and its own tax rate. An operator must license separately in every state it enters. The three worked examples here are New Jersey (DGE with the Casino Control Commission), Pennsylvania (PGCB) and Michigan (MGCB).
• Gaming on tribal land is a separate track under IGRA: a federally recognised tribe negotiates a tribal-state compact and is overseen by the National Indian Gaming Commission. In Michigan, tribes are direct participants in the online market alongside the commercial Detroit casinos.
• Because there is no national licence, there is no single American cost or timeline. The number that matters is the per-state stack of fees, taxes and market-access costs, worked through below.

Laws that apply

• Wire Act, 18 U.S.C. s.1084 (1961): bars using interstate wire communications to transmit bets on a sporting event. The DOJ Office of Legal Counsel held in 2011 that it is limited to sports, reversed that in a 2018 opinion, and the First Circuit held in 2021 (New Hampshire Lottery Commission v. Barr) that it reaches only sports betting.
• Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), 31 U.S.C. ss.5361-5367 (2006): prohibits a gambling business from knowingly accepting payments connected to unlawful internet gambling; it expressly carves out intrastate wagering that a state authorises, which is the legal hook for in-state online play.
• Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), 28 U.S.C. s.3701 et seq. (1992): banned state-authorised sports betting outside Nevada. Struck down as unconstitutional in Murphy v. NCAA, 584 U.S. 453 (14 May 2018), which freed every state to legalise sports betting.
• Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), 25 U.S.C. s.2701 et seq. (1988): governs gaming on tribal lands through tribal-state compacts, overseen federally by the National Indian Gaming Commission.
• State licensing statutes: New Jersey Casino Control Act (N.J.S.A. Title 5:12) plus the 2013 internet-gaming amendments (N.J.S.A. 5:12-95.17 et seq.); Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act (Title 4 Pa.C.S.), expanded by Act 42 of 2017 (HB 271); Michigan Lawful Internet Gaming Act (PA 152 of 2019) and Lawful Sports Betting Act (PA 149 of 2019).
• Bank Secrecy Act, 31 U.S.C. s.5311 et seq.: casinos and card clubs are financial institutions with anti-money-laundering duties administered by FinCEN.

Four federal statutes and one Supreme Court decision shape the whole field. None of them creates a licence; together they decide what a state is allowed to authorise and how the money and the data may move.

The two verticals are on very different footings. Online casino is rare; online sports betting is common. Know which you are entering before you budget.

In almost every state an online operator cannot hold a licence directly. It must attach to a land-based casino licensee or a tribal operator, which grants a market-access right in exchange for a fee or revenue share. The consumer brand is often called a skin.

• The state issues the primary licence to the physical casino (or, on tribal land, to the tribe). The online operator either is that licensee or contracts with it for a market-access slot, then runs its branded site under the licensee umbrella.
• New Jersey: an online casino must be an Atlantic City casino licensee or its internet-gaming affiliate; a sportsbook must partner with a licensed Atlantic City casino or a racetrack. New Jersey limits a sports-wagering licence holder to three individually branded websites (skins).
• Pennsylvania: online gambling is offered by the state existing Category 1, 2 and 3 casinos and qualified gaming entities that hold an interactive gaming certificate; an operator without its own casino contracts with one of them.
• Michigan: the online market is limited to the three Detroit commercial casinos and the states federally recognised tribes; each of those roughly fifteen licensees may field one internet-gaming operator (platform provider) partner, so market access means a deal with a Detroit casino or a tribe.
• The market-access fee or revenue share is a commercial cost on top of the state licence fee and tax. It is privately negotiated and is not published in the fee schedules, so it must be modelled separately.

New Jersey opened the first modern US online-casino market in 2013 and is the deepest. It is regulated by a two-body system: the Casino Control Commission decides licensing, and the Division of Gaming Enforcement investigates and enforces, under the Casino Control Act (N.J.S.A. Title 5:12).

• To offer online casino, an Atlantic City casino licensee (or its internet-gaming affiliate) applies to the DGE for an internet gaming permit. The application deposit is $100,000, which is applied toward a $400,000 licence fee, and the permit renews annually for $250,000, plus a separate $250,000 responsible-internet-gaming fee each year.
• To offer online sports betting, the operator partners with a licensed Atlantic City casino or racetrack and holds a sports-wagering licence: $100,000 initial fee and $125,000 annual renewal. A licence holder may run up to three branded skins.
• Tax as of the verification date: both online casino gross revenue and online sports-betting gross revenue are taxed at 19.75%, following a rise that took effect on 1 July 2025 (online casino was 15% and online sports was 13% before that). New Jersey also layers an investment-alternative and community-investment obligation on internet gaming revenue (on the order of 2.5%), so the effective state take runs a little above the headline rate.
• Players must be 21 or older. Gambling winnings are taxable in New Jersey and are withheld at 3% of the payout. Operators may deduct promotional credits up to a $90 million annual cap.

Pennsylvania legalised online gambling in 2017 (Act 42, HB 271) and launched in 2019. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), created under Title 4 Pa.C.S. s.1201, regulates it. Entry is expensive and the online-slots tax is the highest in the country.

• An existing Category 1, 2 or 3 casino, or a qualified gaming entity, obtains an interactive gaming certificate. In the initial petition window a casino could take all three verticals (peer-to-peer poker, non-peer-to-peer table games and slots) for a single $10,000,000 fee, or $4,000,000 per individual vertical, up to $12,000,000 for all three taken separately. The certificate renews every five years for $250,000.
• A company that runs the platform on a casino behalf holds an interactive gaming operator licence: $1,000,000 upfront, valid five years, renewal $100,000. A supplier licence is $85,000 initial and $75,000 renewal.
• Online tax rates are set by vertical: 54% of daily gross interactive gaming revenue on slot machine games, 16% on table games, and 16% on peer-to-peer (poker). Online sports betting is taxed at 36% of gross revenue (34% state plus a 2% local share).
• Players must be 21 or older. Gambling winnings are taxable and withheld at 3.07%. Pennsylvania does not tax promotional credits.

Michigan legalised online gambling in December 2019 and launched in January 2021 under the Lawful Internet Gaming Act (PA 152 of 2019) and the Lawful Sports Betting Act (PA 149 of 2019), regulated by the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB). Its tax on iGaming is graduated by revenue.

• The online market is limited to the three Detroit commercial casinos and the states twelve federally recognised tribes, roughly fifteen possible licensees. Each may partner with one internet gaming operator (platform provider), so market access means a deal with a Detroit casino or a tribe.
• An internet gaming operator licence costs a $50,000 application fee plus a $100,000 initial licence fee (valid five years) and a $50,000 annual fee. Suppliers pay smaller fees (on the order of $5,000).
• Online casino is taxed on a graduated scale by annual adjusted gross receipts: 20% up to $4M, 22% from $4M to under $8M, 24% from $8M to under $10M, 26% from $10M to under $12M, and 28% at $12M and above. Online sports betting is taxed at 8.4% of adjusted gross receipts.
• The three Detroit commercial casinos pay an added city component: the internet-gaming and sports-betting tax is split with the City of Detroit and there is a 1.25% municipal services fee; tribal operators instead make a payment to a local revenue-sharing board. Players must be 21 or older.

Any state will license a US or foreign-owned company, but it licenses through a US operating entity and it investigates the people behind it hard. Suitability, not nationality, is the gate.

• A foreign parent is permitted, but it applies through a US entity and every state runs a fitness review of the applicant and its controlling people. Structure a US operating company before applying.
• Ownership and control are disclosed in detail. Personal history disclosure is required from officers, directors, key employees and beneficial owners, typically at the 5% ownership threshold (New Jersey), with fingerprinting and criminal-background checks. Applicants file financial statements and demonstrate source of funds.
• The standard is good character, honesty, integrity and financial responsibility. In New Jersey the applicant must show all financial sources are qualified (N.J.S.A. 5:12-84); Pennsylvania and Michigan apply equivalent suitability tests. Any statement in the application is subject to verification.
• Investigation costs are generally billed to the applicant on top of the fixed fees, and suitability findings from one state do not automatically carry to another, though prior licences in reputable jurisdictions help.

Before launch the platform, its games and its random number generator must be certified by an independent test lab against the state technical standards, and the operator must prove it can keep every bet inside state lines and every player over 21.

• Certification is done by an independent testing laboratory registered with the state, in practice Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) or BMM Testlabs (also Gaming Associates). Labs test the platform, games and RNG against state standards, which build on GLI standards (for example GLI-19 for online systems, GLI-33 for event wagering) plus each state added requirements.
• Geolocation is mandatory and its point is legal, not commercial: because the Wire Act and UIGEA turn on keeping wagers intrastate, the operator must confirm the bettor is physically inside the state at the moment of the bet. Operators use a geolocation provider (GeoComply, Xpoint) whose system is itself certified by GLI or BMM or pre-approved by the regulator.
• Age and identity verification is a hard gate: the minimum age is 21 in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan, verified against identity documents, with KYC checks at registration.
• Only certified games may go live, and material changes to the platform or a game must be re-certified. Expect an independent security and penetration test before launch and periodically thereafter.

Every regulated state requires responsible-gambling tooling and a self-exclusion program the operator must honour. The programs are per-state, so an exclusion in one state does not bind another.

• Operators must offer deposit, spend and time limits, time-out or cool-off breaks, reality checks and visible responsible-gambling information, and must integrate the state self-exclusion list so an excluded person cannot register or wager.
• New Jersey self-exclusion runs for one year or five years, signed up in person or through the online player account. Pennsylvania offers one year, five years or lifetime under Title 4 Pa.C.S. s.1514. Michigan runs its own responsible-gaming database through the MGCB.
• States fund treatment through statutory levies: New Jersey requires at least $600,000 a year plus $250,000 per internet-gaming licensee; Pennsylvania directs the greater of $2 million or 0.002 of gross terminal revenue to a problem-gambling fund. These are on top of the licence fees.
• Responsible-gambling failures (letting an excluded player wager, missing limits) are a common enforcement trigger and are treated seriously by all three regulators.

Online casinos are financial institutions under federal law, so a full anti-money-laundering program is mandatory, and advertising is regulated at state level with a mandatory problem-gambling message.

• Under the Bank Secrecy Act (31 U.S.C. s.5311 et seq.), a casino above the revenue threshold is a financial institution and must run an AML program: a customer identification program, currency transaction reports, suspicious activity reports filed to FinCEN, recordkeeping and sanctions and politically-exposed-person screening.
• KYC at registration (identity, age, sanctions and PEP screening) is required both by federal AML law and by the state technical standards, and doubles as the age and geolocation gate.
• Advertising is regulated by each state. New Jersey requires every sign or billboard to carry the 1-800-GAMBLER problem-gambling message and bars false, deceptive or misleading claims; Pennsylvania requires a problem-gambling help message and helpline on all gaming ads. Marketing that targets minors or overstates chances of winning is prohibited.
• Cashless and alternative payments are allowed in New Jersey, but cryptocurrencies are not currently permitted as a payment method for gambling there. Confirm the payment rules in each target state.

Enforcement runs through each state regulator and attorney general, backed by federal law. The persistent challenge is illegal offshore operators serving US players without any state licence.

• State regulators (DGE, PGCB, MGCB) supervise licensees, audit tax filings, and can fine, suspend or revoke a licence. State attorneys general and, for federal crimes, the Department of Justice, pursue unlicensed operators under the Wire Act, UIGEA and state law.
• The main enforcement problem is offshore: sites licensed only in places like Curacao that accept US players are unlicensed and illegal in every US state, pay no US tax, and offer no state consumer protection or self-exclusion. States respond with cease-and-desist letters, payment-processor pressure and, increasingly, by channelling players toward the legal, regulated sites.
• So-called sweepstakes and social casinos operating in a legal grey zone have drawn a wave of state enforcement and legislation, and their status varies by state and is contested.
• For a legitimate operator, the practical enforcement point is simple: a licence in each state you serve, correct tax filing, working geolocation and honoured self-exclusion are what keep you on the right side of both state regulators and federal law.

There is no national application. The route is repeated state by state. These steps use New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan as the worked examples, with concrete fees and rates; replicate them in each additional state you enter.

1. 01

   Pick the state(s) and the vertical

   Planning

   Decide which states and which product. Online casino is available in only seven states (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island); online sports betting in about 38 to 39 states plus DC. There is no single US licence, so budget a separate application, licence and tax stack for each state.

2. 02

   Secure market access (the tether)

   Structuring

   Sign a market-access deal with a land-based casino licensee or a tribal operator: in New Jersey an Atlantic City casino (and, for sports, a casino or racetrack); in Pennsylvania a Category 1, 2 or 3 casino or a qualified gaming entity; in Michigan one of the three Detroit commercial casinos or one of the twelve tribes. Without this deal you cannot apply. Model the private access fee or revenue share separately from the state fees.

3. 03

   Form a US operating entity

   Structuring

   Incorporate a US operating company and map the ownership chain. Foreign ownership is allowed, but every controlling owner (typically 5% and above) and key person will be investigated for suitability, with fingerprinting and criminal checks.

4. 04

   File the operator application with the state regulator

   Regulatory

   Apply to the state authority: the New Jersey DGE for an internet gaming permit ($100,000 deposit toward a $400,000 licence) or sports-wagering licence ($100,000); the Pennsylvania PGCB for an interactive gaming certificate ($10,000,000 for all verticals, or $4,000,000 each) plus an interactive gaming operator licence ($1,000,000); the Michigan MGCB for an internet gaming operator licence ($50,000 application plus $100,000 licence).

5. 05

   Clear the suitability and background review

   Compliance

   Submit personal history disclosures, audited financial statements and source-of-funds evidence for the entity and its owners and key persons. The regulator tests good character, honesty, integrity and financial responsibility, and bills its investigation costs to you on top of the fixed fees.

6. 06

   Pay the fees

   Regulatory

   Pay the fixed fees plus investigation costs. Examples: New Jersey internet gaming permit renews at $250,000 a year plus a $250,000 responsible-internet-gaming fee; Pennsylvania certificate renews at $250,000 every five years and the operator licence at $100,000; Michigan operator licence carries a $50,000 annual fee. Fees are generally non-refundable.

7. 07

   Certify the platform, games and RNG

   Technical

   Have the platform, each game and the random number generator tested and certified by an independent lab registered with the state (GLI or BMM Testlabs) against the state technical standards (built on GLI-19, GLI-33 and state additions). Only certified games may launch, and changes must be re-certified.

8. 08

   Deploy certified geolocation

   Technical

   Integrate a certified geolocation system (for example GeoComply or Xpoint), approved by the lab or the regulator, to confirm every bettor is physically inside the state at the moment of the wager. This is the Wire Act and UIGEA control; keep bet acceptance and servers in-state.

9. 09

   Build the KYC and AML program

   Compliance

   Stand up a Bank Secrecy Act program because the casino is a financial institution: customer identification, transaction monitoring, currency transaction reports and suspicious activity reports filed to FinCEN, recordkeeping, and sanctions and PEP screening. Run KYC at registration.

10. 10

    Stand up responsible gaming and self-exclusion

    Compliance

    Implement 21-plus age verification, deposit, spend and time limits, time-out breaks and reality checks, and integrate the state self-exclusion list (New Jersey one or five years; Pennsylvania one year, five years or lifetime; Michigan MGCB database). Fund the statutory problem-gambling levies.

11. 11

    Get advertising approved

    Marketing

    Align marketing with state advertising rules: carry the mandatory problem-gambling helpline message (for example 1-800-GAMBLER in New Jersey), no false, deceptive or misleading claims, and no targeting of minors. Clear creative against the state rules before it runs.

12. 12

    Launch, file taxes monthly and renew

    Ongoing

    Go live, then remit the state gaming tax and file returns (monthly in these states): New Jersey 19.75% of online GGR; Pennsylvania 54% online slots, 16% table games and poker, 36% online sports; Michigan 20% to 28% graduated on iGaming and 8.4% on online sports, with the Detroit city add-ons. Renew licences on schedule, keep certification and self-exclusion current, expect audits, and repeat the whole process in each new state.

Tier-ordered: official government first, then practitioner, then trade media. Every primary figure was read from the in-force text on 24 Jul 2026.