Costa Rica Will Join Antigua, Japan, India, EU re: US Online Gambling CasePoint-Spreads.com has confirmed that the Central American nation of Costa Rica will now be seeking compensation from the United States for economic hardships brought on by the US crackdown related to online gambling. They will join Antigua, Japan, India and the European Union.
But no country has been more hurt by recent US online gambling legislation than Costa Rica, which services more web gambling firms than any other nation in the world.
One of the biggest hits came last year when the United States government handed down nearly a dozen indictments against principals of BetonSports. That company was forced to shut down and lay off over 1000 employees.
Bodog.com, BetUS.com and other major Costa Rican employers have had to downsize their operations in that country as a result. At one time it was widely believed that the Internet gambling sector employed at least 10,000 Costa Ricans either directly or indirectly (through support jobs).
But the economic barometer really swings out of position when one considers that online gambling has helped to fuel dozens of other industries within Costa Rica. Everything from restaurants to banking to the hotel sector has been affected by the slowdown in online gaming.
Tommy Jensen, who reports for Point-Spreads.com demonstrated another after effect of the bombardment.
"Have you been to the Mall San Pedro?" He asked Gambling911.com, referring to the nine story shopping center that once housed BetonSports. "It is a complete ghost town now."
Merchants relied heavily on the hundreds of BetonSports employees who traveled in and out of the Mall each day, most of whom had significantly more spending power than their peers. The online gambling industry throughout the years has paid better than most other industries in the country outside of technology. Even doctors and lawyers were employed at BetonSports to supplement their income.
The US decision to effectively ban online gambling last October cut off a market worth US$15.5 billion (euro11.6 billion) last year. About half of the world's online gamblers are based in the United States.
The WTO ruled in December that the law unfairly targeted offshore casinos, telling the U.S. it could keep restrictions against sport betting in place if they were also applied to American business, such as operators of remote horse betting.
Point-Spreads.com sources had a dinner meeting with the Marco Vinicio Ruiz, the Costa Rican Minister of Commerce. At the meeting, Minister Ruiz indicated the letter would be sent to the WTO tomorrow.
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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com
Originally published June 21, 2007 2:04 pm ET
