The state of online gambling in the US is taking shape as we know it with and yet, it appears that what we’re seeing now with Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey legalizing online gambling won’t be the reality in the future.
That’s because other states want to join in on the party, or at least are expressing interest in engaging in discussions about potentially seeing what the benefits of online gambling are.
One such state that has had discussions in the past is Colorado. Back in 2012, the Colorado Gaming Association drafted a bill that had similarities to the one New Jersey passed earlier this year. Nothing came out of it, in large part due to scheduling and priority conflicts. But even if said bill fizzled out, state lawmakers and industry officials are by no means given up on exploring the issue.
So a push to legislate an expanded gambling bill is expected to take place in 2014. “We had talked very late in last year’s session with some legislators who were interested in pursuing it,” Lois Rice, executive director of the Colorado Gaming Association, told the Denver Post. “We’re still exploring it.”
There are still some challenges ahead for those backing the proposed legislation, one of which is the effect online gambling will have on the state’s 40-odd casinos.
Adam Krejcik, managing director of digital and interactive gaming at Eilers Research, indicated that based on the revenues of brick-and-mortar casinos ($761 million) and the predicted numbers ($30.4 million to $37.8 million) that online gambling will generate in the state, both industries can flourish independent of the other.
For now, Colorado’s discussions are limited to just that, discussions. But come next year, there could be a renewed push by lawmakers and industry heads to add the state to the growing list that have opened themselves to online gambling.
Only time will tell how this goes, but from recent discussions taken by other states on the issue, it won’t be surprising to see more states legalizing online gambling in a year’s time.
