SECAUCUS, N.J. (AP) — Internet casino gambling is legal in only a handful of states, but the industry is convinced it is the future of betting, even as some worry about cannibalizing physical casinos.
Industry executives, speaking at the SBC Summit North America on Wednesday, a major conference in the gambling industry, acknowledged the challenges they have faced in expanding the legalization of online casino games.
Yet they remain certain that, like many other industries, the future of gambling is online.
“Once you get to millennials, people are comfortable basically running their entire life off their cell phone,” said Elizabeth Suever, a vice president with Bally’s Corporation. “This is where gaming is going.”
At present, legal online casino games are only available in seven U.S. states: Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia. However, Nevada permits internet poker but does not offer online casino games.
In contrast, legal sports betting is available in 38 states plus Washington D.C., with the vast majority of wagers being placed online, primarily through mobile devices.
Last month, Deutsche Bank issued a research note saying it is likely a matter of “when, not if” internet gambling in Atlantic City overtakes revenue from physical casinos.
Panelists agreed the industry needs to do a better job of educating state lawmakers about internet casino games, drawing explicit comparisons with the illegal, unregulated offshore web sites that attract customers from across the country. Legal sites are strictly regulated and offer customer protections, including responsible gambling options like self-imposed time-outs and deposit and activity limits, they said.
Despite concerns about cannibalizing physical casinos and ongoing debates within the industry, many believe online gambling can complement traditional casinos and even create job opportunities in related sectors like marketing and media.However, this maybe one reason why online casino games have not spread more widely.
Some casino executives have said they believe online gambling is hurting the revenues of brick-and-mortar casinos. Rob Norton, president of Cordish Gaming, which owns physical casinos and internet gambling operations, has become one of the loudest voices raising the alarm that online gambling is hurting established physical casinos.
“We’re setting ourselves up for our own failure,” he said Wednesday.
Quincy Raven, the U.S. managing director of NeoGames Group, a technology platform company recently acquired by Aristocrat Leisure Limited, emphasized that what some may perceive as cannibalization could actually be viewed as successful business strategy. He argued that if a company gains market share by providing customers with what they want, it’s not cannibalization but rather healthy competition.
