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One of the biggest online gambling affiliate sites in the legal US market, Gambling.com, has its pulse on which of the 2020 US Presidential candidates would be best for legalized online gambling in the United States.
Surprise!
Current US President Donald Trump gets an F, but so too does the current frontrunner among the Democratic hopefuls, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Gambling.com CEO Charles Gillespie is speaking on the subject at this week's Sports Betting Investor Summit in New York City.
Trump's F to some might come as a surprise.
Gillespie says:
"As the incumbent and obvious Republican nominee, Trump has been abysmal on the issue. Not exactly what you’d expect from a former casino owner. His administration’s negative stance is expected to continue as long as Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson, an anti-online gaming crusader, continues to pour money into Republican coffers.
"In 2018, Trump’s Justice Department reversed course on a long-standing opinion that the Wire Act applies only to sports betting, instead declaring that it applies to any form of online gambling. Many suspected this was an obvious favor for one of Trump’s deep-pocketed allies."
The New Jersey attorney general immediately filed a FOIA request to find out how deep the ties between Adelson and the DOJ went.
The 86-year-old Adelson is back to work after more than six months of cancer treatment and presumably has enough left in the tank to pursue his dreams of shutting down online gambling in the States.
Those in the US legal online gambling sector hoping that Trump either gets impeached or voted out of office better be careful what they wish for. According to Gillespie's assessment, the alternative may actually be worse.
Elizabeth Warren is no friend to gambling.
In April, Warren told a Nevada media outlet that she had concerns about online gambling, and even compared it to the payday loan industry.
“Site-based gambling as a part of the vacation, as part of the destination, is a very different thing from online,” Warren said. “And getting the appropriate restrictions in place so that children don’t have access, so that people who have problems with gambling don’t have access, are challenges that haven’t yet been addressed.”
Joe Biden had been the frontrunner, and still is in some polls national polls. He also maintains a significant lead in South Carolina, the third state to hold primaries.
The former US Vice President would be good for the US legal online gambling industry, according to Gillespie.
"Though he formerly represented Delaware in the Senate, Biden hails from Pennsylvania, the highest-grossing commercial gaming revenue state outside of Nevada. Biden would have a hard time doing anything to negatively affect his home state’s (and a swing state) economy, especially when gaming employs more than 30,000 Pennsylvanians and brings $3.25 billion in gross revenue to the state annually.
"Pennsylvania also allows online casino and sports betting, so it’s been a leader in the expansion of online gaming. Gambling is also an important part of Delaware’s economy, where a combination of horse racing, casino gaming, iGaming and sports betting bring in more than $400 million in annual revenue. So gambling is in Biden’s experiential history, and he’s never given any indication that he’s against it during nearly four decades of public service."
Biden's son, Hunter, was also immersed in the world of online gambling through his work with venture capital firm Eudora Global. That may not be a good thing considering the current scandal involving Ukraine however.
Another of the Democratic hopefuls, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, voted for the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act, the 2006 federal law that effectively shut down the online poker industry in the U.S.
South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg has no voting record on gambling. Nor has he made any public comments for or against it.
"Given what we know about Buttigieg, he seems like a fairly centrist candidate who is unlikely to take a strong position against regulating vices like gaming. As someone who grew up in South Bend, Indiana, where he eventually was elected mayor, he probably appreciates the employment and tax impact casinos bring to his region."
It's notable that Indiana is among the first US states to fully embrace sports betting. South Bend is also home to the Four Winds Casino.
The candidate best for online gambling is one who announced last week he is all for legalization of Internet poker in the US. That would be Andrew Yang.
Online poker is legal in 4 states. The state-by-state rules are variable and push many players to offshore sites. We should clarify the rules and make it legal in all 50 states. US players and companies would benefit and new tax revenues could be used to mitigate addiction.
— Andrew Yang (@AndrewYang) October 26, 2019
“Yang gets it," Gillespie states. "And he gets bonus points for understanding how pain points in the clunky state-by-state regulation of online gaming leads customers directly into the open arms of offshore operators. If Yang comes out strongly in support of online poker, you could expect he would also support a similar framework for online sports betting and iGaming. Andrew Yang: Not Right, Not Left, Forward."
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
