More Jobs At Online Casino Says UK Gaming Analysts

A new study by UK gaming analysts shows as many as 32,000 jobs could be created by US regulation of online casino. A pair of high-profile reports were revealed in recent days that urge governments to legalize and regulate online casino in order to stimulate the economy.

In the U.S. Political website The Hill reports that “legalizing online gambling could create tens of thousands of new jobs over five years,” writes Kevin Bogardus, citing a new research report from H2 Gambling Capital, U.K.- based market analysis firm. In addition to the 32,000 new jobs the report cites, legalized online gambling would also yield “$57.5 billion in new tax revenue over five years. It could also lead to $94 billion in new economic activity, the firm estimates.”

“This study should provide further incentive for the Obama administration and Congress to act quickly to regulate Internet gambling,” Simon Holliday, a director at H2, said in a statement published in The Hill article.

The report also argues that the UIGEA and other anti-online gambling laws are throwing away billions of dollars "and leaving tens of thousands of U.S. players without any onshore regulatory protection" - the kind of protection that may prevent certain money launderers from manipulating an online gambling industry that's short in legal payment solutions.

In Australia, a similar study states that the online casino is experiencing an incredible popularity surge, and what is now a $790 million industry will likely double by 2012. Which accumulating $790 may seem like a somewhat paltry number compared to the billions cited above for the American market, but it seems less so when one considers that Australia’s population is about 1/12th of the U.S.

Simon Holliday remarked that this and past studies have shown that by trying to ban online casino rather than regulate it,US lawmakers are spending billions rather than collecting billions, all while failing to protect US consumers from unsavory elements in the gambling industry. Barney Frank is promising to soon push to advance his proposal to regulate online casino. A deadline of June 1st looms, as that is the implementation date for UIGEA rules against online gambling payment transactions (See VISA Blocks Online Casino Transactions In Canada).

Regulation of online casino seems to be a growing cause in Congress, as bipartisan legislators have called for the suspension of the UIGEA as well as submitted bills using funding from online casino taxes to pay for tax reform and foster care, among other causes.