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It’s official, as per Reuters:
Treasury, Fed delay Internet gambling ban 6 months – Yahoo! News
Great news. I saw a lot of talk about this while in Vegas for G2E. All of the gaming industry lawyers felt 2010 was the year that the legalization of online gambling would be seriously considered.
The administration nightmare for banks and potential tax revenues will cause them to cave…let’s hope by June 2010 that Frank’s new legislation passes so this becomes a mute point anyway.
Great news for players, no doubt. However, legalization of the industry will be the deathknell for affiliates, as it will open the door for Las Vegas to go online, close the door to Operators outside the US, in the US, and change the landscape of affiliate marketing in this industry forever. My take is that it’s better that things just remain the way they are, at this juncture.
@Poker Dude 212976 wrote:
Great news for players, no doubt. However, legalization of the industry will be the deathknell for affiliates, as it will open the door for Las Vegas to go online, close the door to Operators outside the US, in the US, and change the landscape of affiliate marketing in this industry forever. My take is that it’s better that things just remain the way they are, at this juncture.
Seems to be a recurring discussion whenever the issue of legalization comes up. Why would Las Vegas ignore the affiliate industry when they would love to have the traffic that affiliates drive? Doesn’t sound like good business sense to me. Certainly the landscape would change, but this wouldn’t be the first dramatic change for our industry. My estimation is that the affiliate industry will continue to thrive, maybe commission percentages would be squeezed, but with an much larger pool of players to draw from it could still be a better environment for affiliates.
I think Las Vegas has much stronger brands names, and will need affiliates less than the current operators do. I don’t think the need for affiliates will go away – I agree with you there – but, I think the need will be less, the commissions will be commoditized (maybe you will see $ 20 or $ 25 CPA’s through Commission Junction), MGR and RB will go away, and the out-of-US operators will be enforced to stay out of the U.S. I can see that all coming, in the spirit of US regulation of online gambling. I think we have 12-24 months, before we see this major transformation in this industry occur. Just IMO, of course.
I fail to see how an online casino can be forced out of the US market if is owned by a non-US company, uses a non-US domain, is registered by a non-US registrar and processes payments via non-US banks.
Ha ! Ask that question to 888.com, Party Partners, etc. I didn’t think it was possible either, until it happened.
@Poker Dude 213086 wrote:
Ha ! Ask that question to 888.com, Party Partners, etc. I didn’t think it was possible either, until it happened.
I thought they voluntarily left the US market. Surely if legalization happened they would be right back in the market.
They’ll be the first ones back, especially Party. That’s why the voluntarily gave all those millions to the DOJ…
You guys are totally missing the point ! US regulation will happen for one reason, and one reason only — to raise revenue, to combat the massive US debt and budget deficit. Las Vegas is lobbying hard for their piece of the pie, and if regulation happens (and it will eventually), it will be for US-resident firms only. A massive witchhunt to eradicate all the foreign-based operators in the US will happen – mark my words. The current operators who are in the US, will lose a lot of market share to the well-branded Las Vegas firms, and many of them will go under.
Am I in favor of this type of regulation – no way ! Given all the UIGEA mess, which is irreversible, I vote for things staying the way they are.
It’s great to get people’s different ideas and perspectives, and try to work out which way things are headed. So why would 2 foreign online casino companies voluntarily exit the US market, and give millions of dollars to the DOJ if they think that they’ll be locked out of the US market once online gambling becomes regulated in the US?
@LandofOz 213183 wrote:
It’s great to get people’s different ideas and perspectives, and try to work out which way things are headed. So why would 2 foreign online casino companies voluntarily exit the US market, and give millions of dollars to the DOJ if they think that they’ll be locked out of the US market once online gambling becomes regulated in the US?
I really think that these foreign companies were deathly afraid of Bush and the DOJ, and they felt that to preserve their share price long-term, it was in their best interest at the time, to pay a fine and move on (millions of dollars is like pennies to us). Had they not left the US, and the US and DOJ pressed them legally, this could have taken an even bigger hit on their share prices. I think their actions were a long-term view of the situation. Just IMO.
This great news and it’s great too see things getting better as time goes by. I think the future is bright for online gaming.
