May 15, 2009 (CAP Newswire) — You know that American attitudes towards Internet poker are starting to turn in the direction of legalization when a powerful media company like NBC (National Broadcasting Company) launches its own online poker room.
True, it isn’t a real online poker site in the sense that players play for money, but all the same, when a company the size of NBC enters a market, you know there’s a strong corporate interest in it. That same sense of U.S. corporate interest certainly isn’t going to hurt the chances for Barney Frank’s new Internet Gambling Regulation Consumer Protection & Enforcement Act (read more about that here).
And here's where it gets interesting: NBC is a network that airs NFL games, and the NFL is one of the most passionate supporters of the UIGEA. So, even though NBC's poker room is more of a novelty than a real money-making enterprise, it's also a pretty strong indication of the network's desire to test the waters of the hugely profitable online poker industry. At this limited stage, that's not likely to create a direct conflict with its NFL interests; all the same, though, it's an interesting illustration of how the NFL's anti-online gambling stance just isn't practical in today's media environment, and how it isn't consistent with the policies of its corporate partners.