GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 40- February 2018

With the U.S. on the brink of a massive iGaming expansion, affiliates should be on the alert and fully prepared to cash in on this potential “gold rush.” BY VIN NARAYANAN A narrow window of OPPORTUNITY OPINION T he online gaming industry in the U.S. is at a cross- roads. Since the Department of Justice reinterpret- ed the Wire Act in 2011 to permit online gaming within a state’s borders (cross-border online betting remained illegal), only four states have embraced it. Four out of 50. That’s not good. But the push to legalize sports betting is providing the industry an opportunity to speed up the process. If iGaming advocates can take advantage of this narrow window of opportunity, as many as 25 states could have legal online casinos and poker rooms within five years. If iGaming advocates fail to take ad- vantage of this opportunity, online casinos and poker rooms could be stuck in the wilderness for another decade. The political climate for online gaming – which for the pur- poses of this column is online casinos and online poker rooms – isn’t improving. On the federal level, the iGaming industry dodged a major bullet last summer when Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a noted opponent of the 2011 interpretation of the Wire Act, had to recuse himself from any review of the industry’s legality. Sessions became ensnared in the probe into Russia’s meddling the 2016 U.S. election, and the attorney he hired to defend himself had lobbied against iGaming on behalf of billionaire casino magnate and major Republican donor Sheldon Adelson. It was a clear conflict of interest. But that reprieve is only temporary: Sessions is quietly remaking the DOJ in his own image. Another attorney at the DOJ can easily issue a new interpretation of the Wire Act, and there is a bipartisan push by senior members of the Senate Judiciary Illustration by AlexLMX/Shutterstock W W W . G P W A T I M E S . O R G 22