When it comes to looking at the US online gambling industry, there aren’t many names that you can trust to bring you valued opinions with the required knowledge to back it up. Professor I Nelson Rose is one of those that fits the “US online gaming industry knowledge” jacket and don’t just take our word for it.
When the New York Times wanted to run a front page on the state of the US online gaming industry, they knew where to go and went straight to the Prof for his opinions. The article looked at how US states are looking to the iGaming industry in order to bring much needed revenue during the current downturn.
They quoted Rose as saying:
“States had looked at this haphazardly and not very energetically until the Great Recession hit, but now they’re desperate for money,” said I. Nelson Rose, a professor at Whittier Law School, where he specializes in gambling issues.
When it comes to taxing gambling, he said, “the thing they have left is the Internet.”
Anything that makes the US gaming industry see government regulation is obviously a good thing for the credibility of the industry as a whole. As Rose points out though, it needs to be in a way that is beneficial to the gaming industry and not just a slapdash scheme to produce the most dollars to the states involved.
The point of making it safer for the consumer by allowing regulation at a state level is one reiterated later in the NYT article. Jeff Danielson, Democrat and president pro tempore of the Iowa state senate pointed out, “We want a regulated environment that’s safe and protects consumers.”
It identifies that money is obviously one reason why the states are behind plans to regulate which is very clear in the current climate.
“We need money,” said Matt Fitzgerald, legislative director for Massachusetts state senator Michael Rush. That came after the senator had introduced a bill earlier this year that would see revenues from the state lottery hit $1billion. We know you need money but WOW.
Another oft-cited advantage of the online gaming industry, apart from the hot girls and the parties, is its convenience over the land-based gaming industry. This is a point reiterated by John Cullerton, president of the Illinois State Senate, who said new players “don’t want to wait in line at 7-Eleven.” Better get an order in for a Big Gulp dispenser in house whilst you’re at it!
The rest of the article centres on the plans by the District of Columbia to regulate the gaming industry and whether it will squeeze through the legal hurdles that remain in front of it.
A link to the full article is available at this link. For more from I. Nelson Rose there are a number of articles right here on the tablog for you to peruse or you can visit his site Gambling and the Law at this link.
