It’s been a long time coming, but it is safe to safe that a number of factors have brought online gambling into mainstream US – and the future looks good for an industry that took a rough beating in 2006 and then in 2011. Thanks to Daily Fantasy Sports, online lotteries and, now, legal sports betting, it is becoming more and more common for states to seek out online gambling legislation in order to tap into the revenue that this industry has the potential of providing.
After the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006, online gambling and poker operators struggled to find their footing in and out of the US industry. Then, in 2011, the Department of Justice seized the domains of a number of top online poker operators, including PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker. This event, dubbed Black Friday, was a blow to online gambling in the US for a short time (although it has taken online poker longer to recover). However, things quickly turned with a dramatic Department of Justice ruling from a completely different angle.
Near the end of 2011, the DOJ replied to a query made by New York and Illinois regarding the legal status of online lottery under the 1961 Wire Act. Assistant Attorney General Virginia Seitz wrote in her opinion that the Act only applied to sports betting. As such, states became free to legalize other types of online gambling and run an online lottery.
This turn of events paved the way for several trailblazer states to get a foothold into the market. As of today, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania allow online casino games and poker, while Nevada allows online poker. In addition, six states (Illinois, Michigan, Georgia, Kentucky, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania) have authorized online lottery.
The Daily Fantasy Sports question has helped normalize online gambling even further in the US, since this is such a mainstream form of entertainment. Since 2015, 18 states have legalized DFS.
According to AGA’s former CEO, Geoff Freeman: “DFS certainly helps to normalize all types of gambling – they can say it’s not gambling all they like, but I think most people would lump it into that category.”
Legal sports betting – thanks to a recent Supreme Court ruling – will further normalize online gambling. If a state starts to offer mobile and online sports betting, it will go that extra mile and ask for casino games to be thrown into the mix as well. It is expected that 2019 will be the year that multiple states will seek out legal sports betting, and online gambling will become a reality in even more states.
