US Online Casino Licence 2026: What Each State Charges the Casino and the Brand

The licence belongs to the casino, not to you

There is no federal online casino licence in the United States. In the six states covered here, the statute names who can hold the state licence, and it is almost never a newcomer: an Atlantic City casino in New Jersey, a slot machine licensee in Pennsylvania, a Detroit casino or a Michigan tribe with class III gaming, a racetrack or casino in West Virginia, the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes in Connecticut, and a federally recognised tribe in Maine. The one opening for an outsider is narrow: in Pennsylvania a qualified gaming entity could petition for the categories casinos left unclaimed after 120 days.

A brand gets in a different way. It signs with a holder and takes out its own licence, which each state calls something else and prices differently. That second licence is the number most cost pages miss, because they quote the holder’s fee as if the brand paid it. I read the six statutes on 2 November 2026. These are the fees for the role an outside brand actually plays:

State	Holder of the online casino licence	Holder’s fee	Brand’s licence	Brand’s fee	Brand’s cost over 5 years
Pennsylvania	Slot machine licensee (4 Pa.C.S. § 13B12)	USD 10m for all categories within 90 days, else USD 4m per category; USD 250,000 at each 5-year renewal	Interactive gaming operator licence (§ 13B14)	USD 1,000,000 once; USD 100,000 at each 5-year renewal (§ 13B51)	USD 1,000,000
Connecticut	Mashantucket Pequot or Mohegan tribe, master wagering licence (CGS § 12-852)	Not covered here	Online gaming operator licence (§ 12-857)	USD 250,000, then USD 100,000 a year	USD 650,000
West Virginia	Licensed racetrack or gaming facility, at most five licences (§ 29-22E-6)	USD 250,000 for 5 years; USD 100,000 per renewal	Management services provider (§ 29-22E-7)	USD 100,000, then USD 100,000 a year	USD 500,000
Maine	Federally recognised tribe in Maine, one licence each (8 MRSA § 1406)	USD 50,000 a year, one-year term	Management services licence (§ 1408)	USD 10,000 a year	USD 50,000
Michigan	Detroit casino licensee or Michigan tribe (MCL 432.306)	USD 50,000 + 100,000, then 50,000 a year: USD 350,000	Internet gaming supplier (MCL 432.308)	Up to 5,000 + 5,000, then 2,500 a year	Up to USD 20,000
New Jersey	Atlantic City casino, internet gaming permit	USD 100,000 deposit and USD 300,000 initial issuance; USD 250,000 renewal and USD 250,000 Responsible Internet Gaming Fee a year (DGE fee schedule)	Casino service industry enterprise licence, internet gaming related	Actual costs, five-year term	Not fixed

Every figure above excludes the cost of background investigations, which all six states bill on top. The five-year column is computed in a script from the statutory fees and the terms.

The spread is wide. Pennsylvania’s operator licence costs 50 times what Michigan’s supplier licence can cost over a full term, for what is commercially the same job: running the casino site of a local licensee. Connecticut and West Virginia charge mostly through annual renewals, so the cost keeps running for as long as you stay. Pennsylvania takes it up front.

What the tax costs at USD 20 million of gross gaming revenue

Fees are small next to tax. At USD 20m of gross gaming revenue in a year, these are the bills each statute produces:

State	Rate on gross gaming revenue	Tax at USD 20m a year
Pennsylvania, online slots	52% state tax + 2% local share assessment (§§ 13B52(a)(3), 13B53)	USD 10,800,000
Michigan	20% to 28%, band by band on the calendar year (MCL 432.314)	USD 4,920,000
Connecticut, sixth year on	20% (CGS § 12-866)	USD 4,000,000
New Jersey	19.75% since 1 July 2025	USD 3,950,000
Maine	18% (8 MRSA § 1416)	USD 3,600,000
Pennsylvania, online tables and poker	14% + 2% local share assessment	USD 3,200,000
West Virginia	15% (§ 29-22E-16)	USD 3,000,000

Michigan’s figure assumes adjusted gross receipts equal gross receipts, which is how it works from an operator’s sixth year, when the free-play deduction reaches zero. Its bands are marginal, so above USD 12m the tax is 28% of receipts minus USD 680,000; a flat 28% would say USD 5.6m. The three Detroit casinos also pay a 1.25% city fee, which tribes don’t. More on this in the Michigan 2027 tax change.

Pennsylvania’s slot rate is the outlier. It is 2.73 times New Jersey’s, and the product mix decides which Pennsylvania you’re in: a slots-heavy brand pays the highest rate in this comparison, a table-games or poker brand one of the lowest.

What changed since mid-2025

New Jersey went from 15% to 19.75% on 1 July 2025. P.L. 2025, c. 66, approved on 30 June 2025, amended the internet gaming tax that had stood at 15% since the market opened in November 2013. Online sports wagering went from 13% to 19.75% the same day. The Casino Control Commission’s 2025 annual report records both changes. At USD 20m of internet gaming revenue the increase is USD 950,000 a year, or 31.67% more tax on the same revenue. Most licensing pages, including this site’s own New Jersey pages until today, still printed 15%.

Connecticut moved from 18% to 20%. Section 12-866 sets 18% “during the five-year period after the first issuance” of the online casino licence and 20% from the sixth year. I found no published issuance date, from the Department of Consumer Protection or anyone else. What is on record is that play began with a soft launch on 12 October 2021, so the licences existed by then and the sixth year began on 12 October 2026 at the latest. At USD 20m that is USD 400,000 a year more. The statute as revised to 1 January 2026 still carries the 2021 wording. That revision predates the 2026 session, and I haven’t checked that session’s acts.

Maine passed an online casino law. L.D. 1164 became Public Law 2025, c. 538 without the Governor’s signature on 11 January 2026. It is tribal-only: each federally recognised tribe in Maine may hold one internet gaming licence, at USD 50,000 a year for a one-year term, and may contract with one management services licensee at USD 10,000 a year. The operator pays 18% of adjusted gross receipts. I found no Gambling Control Unit notice of a launch date, so treat Maine as law, not yet as a market.

West Virginia’s 25% bill did not move. HB 4397, introduced on 16 January 2026, would have raised the 15% rate to 25%. The Legislature’s record shows it referred to the Committee on Government Organization and nothing after that. At USD 20m it would have meant USD 2m a year more. The 15% rate in force since 2019 stands.

State notes that change the decision

Pennsylvania. The USD 10m certificate fee covers slots, tables and poker only for a casino that petitions within 90 days, either of the Board opening petitions or of its own licensure; later it is USD 4m per category. After 120 days a qualified gaming entity may petition for the categories casino licensees left, also at USD 4m each (§ 13B12(a.1)(3), § 13B51(a)(2)). Certificates and operator licences run five years.

Michigan. Only the three Detroit casino licensees and Michigan tribes with class III gaming can hold an operator licence, one each, and each can run at most two brands. That cap, more than the fee, decides whether a brand gets in.

West Virginia. The Act caps the market at five licences, each held by a licensed racetrack or gaming facility. Anyone sharing in revenue, an affiliate on revenue share included, needs the USD 100,000 management services licence (§ 29-22E-7(d)). A supplier licence is USD 10,000, renewed each year for another USD 10,000 (§ 29-22E-8).

Connecticut. Two tribes, one online casino skin each. A brand needs the USD 250,000 operator licence; a geolocation, KYC or payments vendor needs an online gaming service provider licence at USD 2,000 a year (§ 12-855). A tribe’s master wagering licence ends with its compact, and every operator licence attached to it ends at the same moment (§ 12-852(c)(2)).

Maine. One-year terms throughout, so the fee table is a running cost. The holder may contract with only one management services licensee.

New Jersey. The permit holder is the casino. The brand’s licence is a casino service industry enterprise licence, priced at the cost of investigating it, for five years. The detail of the casino-partner route is in our New Jersey guide, and the state profiles for New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan carry the rest of the regime.

What this page leaves out

Delaware offers Internet games through its state lottery under Title 29, chapter 48 of its Code (§ 4801(c)); there is no licence for a brand to buy, so it isn’t in the tables. Rhode Island is missing because its statute site refused connections on 2 November 2026, and I haven’t used secondary figures for it. Sports betting licences, which far more states issue and price differently, are a separate question. For licensing costs outside the US, see gambling licence costs compared across jurisdictions.

My reading of the tables: for a brand with no US presence, Michigan is the cheapest door and the hardest to get through, because a holder with a free brand slot is scarce. Pennsylvania costs the most at the door and taxes slots at more than half of revenue, but it is the one state where the fee buys a five-year licence with no annual charge. If your product is mostly tables or poker, that changes the order: Pennsylvania’s 16% is lower than every other state’s online casino rate except West Virginia’s 15%.