Las Vegas has long been known as the world gambling capital. Although most gamblers interested in the global business will know that the Chinese enclave of Macau is far bigger by revenues, the cultural touchstone of gambling for most of the world is still Las Vegas. But, Sin City’s fortunes appear to be changing. Although gambling income has remained steady, visitation in 2025 was down starkly year-on-year. Meanwhile, online casinos in the US and Canada are a massively growing market. Are the two related, and if so, why and how?
The answer is a complex one, involving factors across business, geopolitics, economics, culture, media, tribal gambling and technology. The decline of Las Vegas and the boom in online gambling are certainly somewhat related, but there’s more to the bigger picture on both sides of the story.
Las Vegas’ Visitor Numbers Were Down Significantly in 2025
The biggest recent changes in the US online and land-based gambling dynamic certainly happened after 2020. When the pandemic shutdowns forced casinos across the country to close for several months, various states quickly jumped in to bolster their cash reserves by opening up online sports betting and casino markets.
The plans had been in motion for some time. Mostly since New Jersey successfully repealed The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act or PASPA in mid 2018, and promptly legalized sports betting.
With half a dozen states having legalized online casinos, and Canadian provinces following suit too, Las Vegas’ operators must have been worried about losing some market share. But, it didn’t, at least not initially.
For two years after the shutdowns ended, Las Vegas was booming. It hit several record years, and generated more than $1 billion for 33 months in a row. But now, in 2025, things are not looking so good. Across 2025 the city’s casinos and sportsbooks had several months of falling revenues, and tourism numbers were down significantly every month. In the case of Canadian visitors alone, Air Canada said it saw 40% less passengers visiting Las Vegas than in 2024.
Could this change be a boon for online casinos? Whether or not online gambling takes away customers from land-based gambling establishments has long been a contentious point in the business. There are arguments, and evidence, for both sides. But the recent downswing in Las Vegas visitation, while online casinos are booming in the US and Canada (more on that later) certainly changes things up.
For example, PayPal casinos in Canada remain a popular choice, with expert comparison sites dedicating whole sections to analysing the best casino options for this and other individual payment methods. This shows the high customer demand for Canadian online casinos, at a time when fewer Canadians are taking a trip to their neighbouring country to visit the world gambling capital.
Gambling Income Remains Steady, As Priorities Have Changed
There are many reasons for tourists staying away from Las Vegas at the moment, both domestically and from abroad. High prices, President Trump’s comments about Canada and global economic uncertainty have all contributed to tourism decline.
Yet, don’t bet against Las Vegas just yet. When the city’s gambling revenues fell to their lowest point in 2025, operators changed tack. Some doubled down on introducing high limit, high net worth gamblers at the most luxury properties. Others cut their prices, offered room deals and re-introduced more favorable and lower limit table games back to casino floors.
And, well, it worked. Although tourism remains down – at around 5% across the year – towards the back end of 2025 gambling revenues began modestly growing again across Sin City.
Tourism was not on the rise, especially internationally, but, for example, the new $600 million expansion of the convention centre, saw lots of business traffic. The Las Vegas Grand Prix also brought it lots of high limit gamblers from around the world, and the casinos of the Las Vegas Strip actually had one of their best ever months of baccarat takings.
At the end of 2025, Las Vegas’ gambling revenues would end up around 1% up on the previous year – something many would have thought not possible at the midpoint. But certainly far off the massive growth of the past few years.
Meanwhile US and Canadian Online Casinos Are Booming
On the online side of the gambling world, things have arguably never been better. Customers have more choice than ever. More regulated markets are opening. The business is growing at a faster rate than ever.
Is that because they’re taking loads of customers from Las Vegas? Not quite. Physical, land-based casinos are still the more popular form of gambling across the US and Canada. People might not be visiting Vegas as often, but they’re still going to their local casino.
However, the online market is growing fast. For example, in 2025 New Jersey’s online gambling revenues overtook the once legendary casinos of Atlantic City for the first time. Nationally, across the US, online casino revenues grew around 25% in 2024 while land-based gambling grew at a much smaller pace.
Although the half a million or so less tourists a month in Las Vegas might well choose to gamble online instead, that decline and the rise of online casinos aren’t exclusively related. But the dynamic change is reflective of a broader market trend that could see online gambling come to dominate the land-based market in the future – not just in the US but in the rest of North America and across the world.
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