“ It ’ s really a question of the market dynamics and , increasingly , if you are a land-based casino not named MGM or Caesars , you may think you won ’ t see a lot of upside to online gambling because of a belief that you cannot compete ”
Howard Glaser , Light & Wonder
“ We go to talk about igaming and they think we are talking about video games ”
Brandt Iden , Fanatics
MODEL LEGISLATION IN THE WORKS
Iden , the former Michigan representative who passed legal sports betting and igaming as a package in 2019 , and Shawn Fluharty , the West Virginia delegate who did likewise in 2018 , often find themselves at the forefront of the conversation .
To that end , the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States ( NCLGS ) has created an iGaming Model Legislation Committee , which will present model legislation at the group ’ s conference in mid-July . Fluharty is the president of the organisation .
The idea is to arm lawmakers across the country with a comprehensive proposal they can take to their state houses . So few states have legalised online casino , that Fluharty said “ we ’ re still in learning process ”. The draft legislation will be presented and discussed at the NCLGS conference next month in Pittsburgh and will then go out for public comment and revision before the group ’ s
December meeting in New Orleans . The goal then would be for NCLGS to pass the proposal and share it with lawmakers to take up the issue in their respective
states in 2025 and onwards . In 2024 , Maryland lawmakers were unable to get an igaming bill that would have allowed for 25 licences to the finish line . The same happened in Maine , where the state ’ s four tribes were gifted online gambling in a comprehensive gambling bill that the state ’ s governor , Janet Mills , signed in May 2022 .
In that state , the tribes would have had exclusivity for online casino , like they have for sports betting . The state ’ s two brick-and-mortar casinos , run by Churchill Downs and Penn Entertainment , would have been banned from offering digital gaming .
ONLINE CASINO IS A TAX CASH COW
At the start of 2024 , there was hope that multiple states – Illinois , Indiana ,
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