NEW YORK (AP) – As Rhode Island becomes the seventh U.S. state to launch Internet gambling this week, industry panelists at an online gambling conference said Wednesday that several more states will join the fray in the coming years. I predicted that he would join.
Some speakers at the Next.io Forum on Internet Gambling and Sports Betting cited New York and Maryland as likely candidates to soon begin offering Internet casino games.
Others pointed out that California is too big a market to offer Internet gambling, even though it has struggled for years to put together deals that would satisfy commercial and tribal casinos and card rooms.
“Some of the dreams are not fully realized, but that creates some opportunities,” said Rob Heller, CEO of Spectrum Gaming Capital.
Until Rhode Island began offering online casino games on Tuesday, only six states in the U.S. offered online casino games: New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and West Virginia. Nevada offers internet poker, but not online casino games.
Sean Fluharty, a West Virginia state representative and chairman of the National Gambling State Legislature Group, cited New York and Maryland as the states most likely to add Internet gambling soon.
He was joined in his assessment by Brant Eiden, vice president of government affairs at Fanatics Betting and Gaming and a former Michigan state representative.
Both men acknowledged the difficulty of passing an online casino bill. Currently, 38 states and Washington, DC offer sports betting, while only 7 states offer internet casino gambling.
Iden said part of the problem is that some lawmakers aren’t familiar with the industry.
“We’re talking about i-games, but they think we’re talking about video games,” he said.
Fluharty added: “I have colleagues who are having a hard time turning their phones off. We’re going to teach them that they can gamble on their phones.”
Some lawmakers worry that online casino game offerings could cannibalize revenue from existing brick-and-mortar casinos, but industry executives argue that online gambling can complement in-person gambling. . Fluherty said four casinos have opened in Pennsylvania since the state began offering internet casino gambling.
The key to expanding the popularity of Internet gambling is increasing the tax revenue it generates and emphasizing programs to deter gambling addiction and support people with problems, panelists said. New York State Sen. Joseph Addabbo, one of the leading proponents of online gambling in his state, recently introduced a bill that would allocate at least $6 million annually to problem gambling programs.
“If you told them we were funding it by passing i-gaming, or we could raise taxes, what do you think the answer would be?” Mr. Fluharty said gambling income could be used. I asked, citing university scholarships as an example.
A bill pending in the Maryland General Assembly to legalize Internet gambling would impose lower taxes on businesses offering live dealer casino games and create additional jobs.
Although the New York State Legislature has strongly promoted Internet gambling in recent years, Governor Kathy Hochul has not included it in this year’s executive budget.
Edward King, co-founding partner at Ashes Investments, said California (where disputes between tribal and commercial gambling businesses have stalled approvals for online casino games and sports betting) is likely to join the fray. said.
“For a state the size of California, that’s inevitable,” he says. “There are too many taxes.”
Adam Greenblatt, CEO of BetMGM, disagrees, saying California will likely not approve online gambling anytime soon and Texas, another potentially lucrative market. “We have successfully resisted it for 20 years,” he said.
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