MONTREAL — Nevada gaming companies can’t participate today in the quickly growing business of Internet gambling, but Nevada’s top gaming regulator said Thursday that state lawmakers may be pressured to approve the controversial industry.
“Given the growth of this industry, I believe it’s only a matter of time before we see a bill (in the Nevada Legislature),” said Brian Sandoval, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission. “We realize Internet gaming is here, and it’s here to stay.”
Sandoval spoke 인터넷바둑이 Thursday at the Global Interactive Gaming Summit & Expo, an Internet gaming conference in Montreal.
Sandoval told hundreds of representatives from companies in the online gaming industry that it isn’t within the power of the commission to change Nevada’s ban on Internet gambling. And he made it clear that it’s not something Nevada regulators will currently tolerate, calling it “an unsuitable method of operation” under current laws that would put a gaming company’s license at risk.
But that wouldn’t necessarily stop a gaming company from lobbying a state legislator to introduce a bill to legalize the industry in Nevada, Sandoval said.
“The integrity of our industry (in Nevada) is unquestioned,” Sandoval said. “We cannot risk the integrity of Nevada gaming by plunging into Internet gaming.
“I’m not aware of any legislator now contemplating a bill of that nature. But the debate will find its way into the Nevada legislature. I believe that’s the proper forum, because they are the policy makers.”
One thing that might spur Nevada to move more quickly, Sandoval said, is the possibility the state would be preempted by another state in the union. The commerce committee of the New Jersey General Assembly will hold informational hearings on Internet gaming toward the end of this month, and Sandoval said there is talk New Jersey legislators are considering a move toward legalization.
If that happened this year, online gaming “would be a large issue that would come to the forefront of the (2001) session (in the Nevada legislature),” Sandoval said.
Sandoval’s views that there would be a push to legalize Internet gaming in some form in Nevada were echoed by attorney Tony Cabot of Lionel Sawyer & Collins, a leading authority in Internet gaming law.
“The times, they are a-changing,” Cabot said. “The (large casino operators) will get into this game. It’s a question of when they’ll do it.”
Cabot said Nevada casinos, until now, have not opposed efforts by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., to ban Internet gaming across the United States. Their move away from online gaming, he said, was partly triggered by the National Gambling Impact Study Commission — and the realization that supporting online betting would probably hurt the gaming industry’s stance that gambling was ultimately a “state’s rights” issue.
But as more forms of Internet gaming — such as horse racing, lotteries and possibly Indian gaming — gain exemptions under the “Kyl Bill,” Nevada’s support of the bill may soon erode, Cabot said.
“The gaming industry can only sit on the sidelines for so long,” Cabot said. “(Kyl) needs to get it passed into law this session, or casino (companies) will go back on their pledge of non-opposition.”
The reason is simple, Cabot said — Nevada’s gaming companies need new markets to continue their growth and Internet consumers could prove extremely lucrative.
“Las Vegas is still growing, but we no longer are enjoying the days of double-digit growth,” Cabot said. “(Gaming companies) have got to find ways to expand. Where are you going to find expansion opportunities? Asia and the Internet.
“This is a market with great potential. There are no strong brands yet. A traditional casino brand could grab significant market share with minimal cost outlays.
“Internet gambling is a major topic with every major casino company in Nevada. The day is going to come soon (when Internet gaming will be legal). All are trying to figure out their Internet strategy.”
Currently Nevada law specifically prohibits gaming companies from accepting wagers via the Internet. One Nevada company that began taking wagers over the Internet through an Australian subsidiary — American Wagering Inc. — now faces a complaint from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. The subsidiary doesn’t accept bets from Americans, but the board initiated disciplinary action after one of its agents used a false birth certificate and a Canadian Internet service provider to successfully place a wager at the subsidiary’s site. The case is pending.
Sandoval declined to comment on the American Wagering case, but Cabot took a not-so-subtle shot at the effort.
“There is not a single prosecutor in the United States who would have brought criminal charges against American Wagering based on what occurred,” Cabot said. “American Wagering … did not want to take American wagers.”
But because of the crackdown, Cabot said he is advising all of his clients to stay out of any business partnerships or alliances with any companies that accept wagers over the Internet, at least for now.
That’s advice being heeded by Nevada’s major operators, said Tony Fontaine, vice president of complex business solutions at Station Casinos Inc.
“We don’t want to fall into the same pitfall as American Wagering,” Fontaine said. “We’re laying low until everything is explicitly laid out for us.
“The desire is there, but (Nevada gaming companies) are suspicious of the technology. Until they can operate safely (on the Internet), they aren’t going to make a move.”
But it’s not something Nevada’s operators will stay out of for long if given the green light by lawmakers, Fontaine added.
“If it were legal, of course we’d be involved, but only if it were explicitly legal,” Fontaine said. “Pretty much all of the industry has some interest in this somewhere.”
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