Caesars Is the Latest Major Operator to Drop Credit Cards
Caesars Entertainment became the last of the five major U.S. sportsbook operators to remove credit cards as a deposit method.
The question of whether major U.S. sportsbooks should accept credit card deposits has effectively been settled by the operators themselves, without waiting for federal legislation to force the issue. Caesars Entertainment confirmed last week that it removed credit cards as a deposit method across all of its U.S. betting platforms on April 14, becoming the last of the five dominant operators to make the change.
The update applies to the full network of Caesars Digital brands, including Caesars Palace Online Casino, Caesars Sportsbook and Casino, Caesars Racebook, Horseshoe Casino, William Hill Sportsbook, and World Series of Poker Online. The restriction applies only to U.S. operations. Jurisdictions, including Ontario and Puerto Rico, continue to support credit card payments.
How the Industry Got Here
The Caesars announcement completes a sequence that unfolded over less than a year. DraftKings discontinued credit card deposits in August 2025, followed by FanDuel on March 2, 2026. BetMGM began phasing them out later in March, and bet365 ended their use nationwide on April 13. Fanatics Betting and Gaming has never supported credit card deposits since entering the market.
The pace of these decisions was not entirely voluntary. DraftKings’ move came shortly after the Massachusetts Gaming Commission fined it $450,000 in 2023 and 2024 for unintentionally allowing credit card deposits in violation of state law. The fine was modest relative to the company’s scale, but the reputational and regulatory signal was not. Other operators read the room and moved preemptively.
Senator Elizabeth Warren had been the most vocal congressional critic, sending letters to operators ahead of the Super Bowl and highlighting a specific consumer harm that had not received much attention: credit card deposits at many institutions were being processed as cash advances, triggering fees and higher interest rates on top of any gambling losses. “Last week, I asked sports betting companies about Americans getting scammed by credit card companies when placing sports bets, to the tune of a $10 junk fee just to fund a $20 bet,” Warren wrote when FanDuel announced its change. The cash advance problem gave operators an argument that framed the change as consumer protection rather than capitulation to political pressure. Both things can be true.
What the Research and Regulators Have Said
The credit card question sits at the intersection of two separate responsible gambling concerns. The first is straightforward: people who gamble on credit are gambling with borrowed money, and the losses compound with interest. The Federal Reserve’s own research, published earlier this year, documented rising credit card delinquencies concentrated among sports bettors under 40. Removing credit cards from the deposit menu addresses the most direct mechanism by which gambling losses become debt.
The second concern is more structural. At the state level, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia have now implemented bans on using credit cards for online sports betting. Virginia’s ban was signed by Governor Spanberger on April 13, the same day bet365 ended credit card deposits nationally. Maine followed shortly after. Additional states, including Colorado, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York, have considered similar measures in 2026. The legislative environment was clearly moving in one direction, and operators whose national platforms straddle dozens of state regulatory frameworks had a strong incentive to implement a uniform policy rather than manage state-by-state compliance exceptions.
The Revenue Impact Is Minimal
Conventional wisdom in the industry is that this change incurs very little commercial cost. Jordan Bender, an equity research analyst at Citizens JMP Securities, pointed to DraftKings’ experience, noting that its handle was not materially different in the months following implementation, calling it “more as a headline rather than a real impact on the business.” Macquarie Capital analyst Sam Ghafir estimated that credit cards account for roughly 10% to 20% of U.S. gambling deposits, with users tending to be newer or more casual bettors, suggesting some short-term friction during onboarding that would stabilize over time.
There is a secondary financial benefit worth noting. Processing fees on credit card transactions are structurally higher than on debit cards, ACH transfers, and digital wallets. Removing credit cards reduces operating costs while simultaneously improving the optics on responsible gambling. It is the rare case where the commercially sensible decision and the consumer protection argument point in exactly the same direction.
What Comes Next
The credit card question is settled. The broader responsible gambling scrutiny it was part of is not. A class action filed against DraftKings and FanDuel this week alleges that the platforms are designed to maximize addictive behavior, citing same-game parlays, live betting mechanics, and instant deposit processes that make it easier to put money in than to withdraw it. The removal of credit cards is one data point in a responsible gambling record that regulators, legislators, and plaintiffs’ attorneys are now assembling carefully.
Caesars framed its decision as the result of months of independent review that began last fall and assessed deposit processes and customer preferences. “By streamlining our payment options, we are simplifying the deposit experience, improving operational efficiency, and reinforcing our commitment to delivering a seamless, customer-first digital experience,” a spokesperson said.
That is a careful statement that says very little while committing to nothing. The industry’s responsible gambling infrastructure is considerably more scrutinized than it was two years ago. Whether the operators who have made the easy, low-cost changes are prepared for the harder conversations to come is the question the next wave of litigation and legislation will answer.
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