The market for online casinos in the United States has long been stagnant, but recent approvals to open online casinos to residents of some states, such as Nevada and New Jersey, offered a glimmer of hope for change. With the recent withdrawal of support from the American Gaming Association, there are fears that any progress is now in jeopardy.
The American Gaming Association has been the biggest proponent for opening the doors to legal online gambling in the United States. While many players in the U.S. enjoy slots, table games, and video poker in foreign online casinos that reportedly are earning more than $35 billion per year, those revenues do not benefit the United States. Until recently, the American Gaming Association supported online gambling in the United States saying that a ban only helps those participating in black market gambling.
Currently, large casino groups like Caesars Entertainment and MGM International fully support online gambling. The CEO of the Las Vegas Sands, Sheldon Adelson, is firmly against online gambling and has been spending money from his own pocket to lobby against it.
Per the CEO of the American Gaming Association, differences of opinion between casino owners has led the association to pull support. They believe that casinos need to first solve their disagreements before the American Gaming Association can help fight for the U.S. to legalize online gambling.
