GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 44 - July 2019

On 14 May 2019, exactly one year after the repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), 1,600members of the gam- ing industry assembled at the Boston Convention and Exposition Center for the inaugural ICENorth America iGaming conference. Occupying a colorful, compact segment of the venue’s cavernous lower level in Boston’s waterfront district, well insulated from the unruly New England weather, the conference was further subdivided into three events: the main event, a busy exhibition floor where both foreign and American iGaming companies demonstrated their wares and networked with potential partners; ICE VOX, a series of panels, debates and presentations on iGaming topics relevant to the U.S.; and the Casino Esport Conference, a mini confer- ence-within-the-conference about the burgeoning esports market. EVERYTHING’S GONNA BE ALRIGHT Most immediately noticeable about the conference was the air of optimism, bordering on triumph. And there’s good reason for it — in the year since PASPA repeal, eight U.S. states have legalized sports betting, five of which include some form of online or mobile wagering. Pennsylvania, the first U.S. state to legalize online gaming since 2013, will see its first online casinos launch this summer. And daily fantasy sports isn’t dead yet, despite being eclipsed in the headlines by sports betting. This isn’t to say that the iGaming industry in the U.S. isn’t expected to face challenges. It is — lots of them, not least of which is the Department of Justice’s new reinterpretation of the Wire Act, about which the presenters had some choice words. It’s just that everyone was determined to see those challenges as opportunities, and none of themwere considered insurmountable enough to threaten the industry’s upward momentum. This optimism was on striking display at a panel debate on Day 1 titled “Motion: Sports betting and iGaming will under-deliver on policy makers’ revenue expectations.” Given the robust tra- dition of policy makers who don’t understand gambling making ludicrous claims about how much money gaming expansion will bring in, there’s a reasonable case for folks to be a bit cynical about revenue projections. Whether the projections matter, however, depends on whether raising tax revenue is a primary goal of legalized gambling —which the audience and panelists promptly determined it was not. When polled, the audience said the main policy goal of legal gaming was curbing illegal markets; two of the three panelists concurred. The third panelist, Jason Giles, executive director of the National Indian Gaming Association, said the goal of iGaming in Indian country, like the goal of all tribal gaming, was to create jobs for the community. The panel then continued onto cheerier topics, like how sports betting could drive foot traffic to casinos, which most of the room seemed confident it could — an especially important boon to BREAKING THE ICE IN BOSTON Most immediately noticeable about the conference was the air of optimism, bordering on triumph . And there’s good reason for it … This isn’t to say that the iGaming industry in the U.S. isn’t expected to face challenges . G P W A t i m e s . o r g 32