Legalization of Online Gambling “Increasingly Likely” Says Ratings Agency
Fitch Ratings on Monday released its report labeling the likelihood of online gambling becoming legalized in the US as “increasingly likely”.
The Massachusetts-based firm refers to itself as a global rating agency dedicated to providing value beyond the rating through objective and balanced credit opinions, research and data.
The credit rating agency now sees Internet gambling gathering momentum in states and in Congress.
“Multiple states have been considering intrastate online gaming proposals, new federal proposals are being discussed, and the budget outlook at both state and federal levels remains strained,” according to the Fitch analysis. “Companies have been ramping up online initiatives and/or entering into alliances, such as Wynn-PokerStars and Caeasars-888 Holdings.”
The Fitch report notes that between $5 billion to $6 billion a year is going towards offshore gambling sites from US citizens and could “ramp up significantly if regulations are liberalized.”
Michael Paladino, a gambling industry analyst for Fitch, asked: “The question is, is it just poker? Is it broader than poker? Would be it just affiliated with interstate? Or is it a federal proposal?”
“There’s a lot of influences that would affect that equation. If it is interstate, does it go through the lottery commissions? Those are all questions that we have as well.”
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
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