MGM CEO Jim Murren while not wanting a federal ban on online gaming also believes that it will have no impact on their business should there be one. The Restoration of America’s Wire Act or RAWA as it’s known is now being considered in the House of Representatives and is seeking to ban almost all forms of online gambling, with the exclusion of horse racing betting and fantasy sports.
Although Murren at first seemed a little unconcerned should the ban come into place, which is unlikely, stating that people who visit MGM casinos do so to enjoy “a form of hospitality and entertainment they cannot get at home and they certainly can’t get on the internet,” he later added MGM are clearly opposed to any ban stating that simply because the “MGM would continue to thrive without online gaming doesn’t mean that we don’t wholeheartedly oppose a ban. We do, a federal ban would not stop online gaming it will only prevent licensed, legitimate operators from providing consumers with safe and secure games that include protections against underage gambling.”
The main man behind RAWA is the casino mogul Sheldon Adelson who’s using his cash and influence to try and push a ban through, however any ban would clearly be opposed by the states in which online gambling is already regulated, as well as those who are in the planning or consideration stages. The bill is looking to overturn the Department of Justice's’ decision that the original Wire Act of 1961 can only be applied to sports betting, and once that decision was made, individual states, basically tired of inaction at a federal level took it upon themselves to license and regulate online poker and casinos. While there may not be much of a chance of the bill passing, where there’s a bill there’s a way, however it’s hoped that the House of Representatives after hearing another round of arguments for and against will dismiss the bill for what it is....nonsense.
