New Online Gambling Study: Regulate to Create Jobs

This week the leading English gaming consulting company H2 Gambling Capital released a study showing the effects of regulating internet gambling in the United States. The study showed that the positive effects would be much greater than first predicted.

H2 Gambling Capital provides market information and data for private companies and the industry in general. The Safe and Secure Gambling Initiative (leading advocate for the legalisation of gambling in the US) are paying close attention to this latest study and believe it adds more power to their legalisation argument.

The study indicates that the potential benefits of regulating online gambling including sports betting and poker would far exceed previous estimates and would have an enormous impact on employment and tax revenues. H2 Gambling Capital has indicated that nearly 32,000 jobs would be created over a period of five years and expenditure from regulated online gambling would exceed $94bn. The tax revenues from the legalisation of online gambling would be $57.5bn over the same five year time period.

These figures are approximately double the numbers that representatives are currently using to persuade the government to legalise online gambling. Representatives Frank and McDermott are using figures such as $42bn over ten years in federal government revenues and $30bn in state revenues over ten years.

A spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, Michael Waxman endorsed the study and believes that this could help politicians realise the importance of online gambling:

““This analysis further reinforces the fact that a regulated environment will pay dividends throughout the economy. With unemployment nearing 10%, this study sends a clear message to policymakers that internet gambling regulation is a common sense way to immediately stimulate the economy, create close to 32,000 jobs, and raise billions in much-needed new government revenues.”

This is the latest in a series of positive moves for the legalisation team after they secured the support of the American Gaming Association just last month. The AGA will support government regulation if it is passed.

We will leave the last words to Mr Waxman:

“We believe the significant job and revenue creation potential provides an immediate incentive for the Obama Administration and Congress to act quickly to regulate internet gambling. Leaving in place a failed prohibition should no longer be the government’s misguided policy approach, leaving millions of Americans vulnerable as they continue to find a way to gamble online in a thriving underground marketplace.”