Thread: British Skepticism of Frank's Bill

U.S. iGaming Legalization "By No Means Certain"

From the CAP Newswire:

May 12, 2009 (CAP Newswire) -- The influential Times of London has joined a growing number of voices expressing doubt that the new legislation introduced last week into the U.S. Congress by Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank can actually achieve its intended aims.

Although the bill is being celebrated as the first step in a dismantling of the UIGEA gambling bans, and was greeted with impressive rises in the share prices of the U.K.'s leading iGaming companies (PartyGaming, Sportingbet and 888), the Times’ Dominic Walsh advises patience and explains some of the skepticism behind hopes for the new bill.

“Although Mr Frank is pushing for a vote before the August break, it is by no means certain to be passed,” writes Walsh. “The anti-gambling lobby in the United States is powerful and reversing the online gambling ban is unlikely to be top of the agenda for the Obama Administration, which has more pressing issues to sort out.”

The writer concedes that, if the bill hits early roadblocks, Rep. Frank has a wide variety of other options to use in getting in passed — including tying it onto other, more important economic-related legislation. But even in the unlikely case that the bill may pass quickly, the implementation of the new laws it seeks to create could take years.

Furthermore, writes Walsh, “the protectionism that is central to internet gambling bans all over the world” are unlikely to vanish anytime soon. “Nevada gaming revenues have just recorded their fifteenth consecutive monthly fall and the big Las Vegas operators, such as MGM Mirage and Harrah’s Entertainment, are unlikely to sit idly by as a lucrative new source of revenue is handed to overseas companies.”

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Actually currently Vegas is making a slight rebound... and Nevada politicians are actually backing the bill, while the Vegas casinos, previously opposed, now take a neutral stance. That is a lot of progress.