I dont believe the land based casinos will be online in 18 months either.
1. They want players at their casinos where they can maximize profits.
2. While online gaming may be permitted in some states its not permitted in most. Do you really think people in Nevada are going to prefer gambling online over going to one of the mega resorts? If a few do it certainly wont be profitable enough to warrant developing for that limited market.
3. Online gaming would create significantly less tax revenue for states then does land based casinos. You have to consider all the support jobs that go along with land based casinos IE hotel staff, taxis, limos, restaurants, bars, entertainers, dealers, airport staff, airlines etc… Land based casinos create an army of jobs and add billions of dollars to local and state coffers where its permitted. That will be protected vehemently by the Senators and Representatives whose constituents live in those districts. Remember guys this all about money and land based casinos produce far more revenue and taxes then online casinos ever could.
They’ve already got the tax revenue from money spend via online gambling. Players that were spending money online are more likely already dumping that disposable income into local economies.
Online gambling’s reputation aside, people want value for their money,
players just don’t get any with state lottery run casinos or online casinos, hence all the chargebacks.
I have no problem with the USA taking over this industry, with or without affiliate programs.