Adelson Pledge: ‘Willing to Spend Whatever it Takes’ to Eradicate Online Gambling
Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson told Forbes.com’s Nathan Vardi Friday, he will spend whatever it takes to eliminate legalized online gambling from the US landscape.
“My moral standard compels me to speak out on this issue because I am the largest company by far in the industry and I am willing to speak out,” Adelson said. “I don’t see any compelling reason for the government to allow people to gamble on the Internet and nobody has ever explained except for the two companies whose special interest is going to be served if there is gaming on the Internet, Caesars and MGM.”
Adleson recently launched a lobbying effort, "Coalition To Stop Internet Gambling."
Moral concerns aside, Adelson also thinks that online gambling is “suicidal” for the U.S. casino industry in the long run and will destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs.
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From Forbes.com:
In the short-term, Adelson predicts that U.S. casinos could make money from their branded offerings online, but that non-branded web sites would quickly saturate the market with financial incentives that casino-branded offerings would inevitably need to match to stay competitive, eating away at their profit margins. At the same time, Adelson claims, the casinos would be cannibalizing their existing land-based businesses, eventually hurting their revenues and making them vulnerable. As proof, he points to the impact he claims online gambling has had on land-based casinos in certain European jurisdictions.
Adelson, one of the biggest donors to the Republican party, also took a shot at New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie, who legalized Web gambling in his state. Qualified Atlantic City-based casinos began a soft launch of real money online gambling yesterday (November 21, 2013).
“I know that Chris Christie doesn’t want Atlantic City to fail, but I don’t think anything can save Atlantic City, it is surrounded by Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, it’s surrounded by states that are legalizing gaming,” says Adelson.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
