August is Black Business Month in the United States, and the gambling industry is one worth examining through that lens. The US online gambling market has grown fast – estimates put it above $54 billion in 2025, with projections suggesting it could cross $100 billion before the end of the decade. Who is shaping that growth, and from which side of the table, is a question the industry is starting to take more seriously.
Black business names in the iGaming space
Roc Nation, the company owned by Jay-Z, invested in Fanatics, and that has been a success story. This puts him right on top as the black businessman who has made it big in the gambling arena. In fact, he might keep his top position secure for a long time if he secures the gaming license tied to Caesars Palace in NYC. Going by the current reports, he’ll be successful in obtaining the license. The US online casino market and the broader gambling industry have not seen many moves at the ownership level from Black entrepreneurs – not because the interest isn’t there, but because the path in is expensive and the licensing process is long.
The board picture has changed more visibly. Rose McKinney-James and Alexis Herman at MGM Resorts, Darnell Strom at Wynn Resorts, John Bailey at Boyd Gaming – these are names that were not in those seats a decade ago. McKinney-James has been very vocal about the gap between what the boardroom looks like and what the C-suite looks like. These two are very different things, and industry bigwigs know this well.
Why the online side changes the equation
The shift toward online has opened parts of the gambling business that did not exist before. Game development, affiliate marketing, technology platforms, payment processing – smaller operators and entrepreneurs can compete in these areas without the capital it takes to build or buy a physical casino floor. That changes who can realistically get into the business.
The way people land on a certain iGaming platform has seen a significant change in the last few years. Online discovery trends have moved toward short-form video, creator content, and streaming platforms. Black creators have proven their mettle in creating outstanding content that brings real clicks. They have built real audiences on various content platforms and are reshaping how new gambling fans interact and engage with sponsored or suggested iGaming platforms. That reach that once only large media buyers possessed is now with several creators with various follower counts.
What responsible growth looks like
The American Gaming Association’s workforce diversity data shows that 45% of first and mid-level managers across the gaming industry are minorities – well above national benchmarks. That is real progress and worth saying clearly. The issue is that those numbers thin out the further up you go. The decisions that shape the industry – which products get built, which markets get entered, which communities benefit – get made at levels where the diversity picture looks quite different.
The states where online gambling is legal still have a lot to work on in terms of licensing frameworks. A few of them have started including diversity requirements in the process. Illinois and New York have both had active conversations about minority ownership incentives in relation to gaming licenses. Whether those end up meaning something in practice or just sit in the regulatory language is a fair question. But they are in the conversation now, and the US online gambling market size has grown large enough that licensing decisions carry real economic weight for the communities around them – not just for the operators.
Where it goes from here
Ownership-level diversity in gambling is not going to shift fast. The capital and regulatory requirements are not going anywhere, and the established players have long head starts. What is shifting is the perimeter of the industry. Online gambling has created categories of participation – technology, content, marketing, product development – that did not exist at scale ten years ago. Black entrepreneurs are active in several of those areas already.
Black Business Month is a reasonable point to ask how much of that activity is building toward real ownership and how much stays at the level of influence without equity. The answer differs depending on where you look. In some parts of the online gambling ecosystem, the door is genuinely more open than it has ever been. In others, the people who got there first are still the ones setting the terms.
