Billionaires Bet on Internet Gambling: Say it Will be a Marathon, Not a Sprint

Forbes.com featured a piece Monday on how billionaires are looking to back the likelihood of Internet gambling getting regulated in the United States.

The likes of Steven Roth, chairman of Vornado Realty Trust, and shopping mall magnate Herbert Simon, the owner of the Indiana Pacers, have invested in a firm that provides software and advertising services to potential online gambling licensees in the US, including the Vegas casinos. 

Richard Bronson, a former Mirage Resorts executive, co-founded U.S. Digital Gaming as a means of capitalizing on what is already a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide.  Those in the US still gamble over the Internet, the US just doesn’t receive any tax and economic benefits at this time.  That is all likely to change real soon. 

Robert and William Taubman, sons of billionaire Alfred Taubman, also joined on as investors in Bronson’s enterprise:

Bronson observed:  “Not one of them thinks this will be a sprint, they think it will be a marathon.”

The Forbes piece noted how Donald Trump’s announcement that he will hone in on the industry has raised the most eyebrows.

From Forbes.com: 

What makes Trump’s entry into online gambling even more interesting is that his effort includes Marc Lasry, the billionaire hedge fund manager who controls Avenue Capital Group, which manages $12 billion. The two make a bit of an odd couple, given Trump’s recent alignment with the Republican Party and Lasry’s staunch support of Democratic Party causes, including the reelection of President Barack Obama. But Avenue Capital controls Trump Entertainment Resorts, which will own 10% of the joint venture Lasry and Trump are planning if online gambling regulation comes into effect.

And as is usually the case, the Donald nailed it right on the head. 

“This has to happen because many other countries are doing it and like usual the U.S. is just missing out,” Trump said.

- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher