The latest state to make dramatic moves to legalize sports betting in the U.S. is that of New Jersey. Gov. Christie recently stated that he intends to go ahead with legalizing sports betting in the state at its casinos and four state race tracks. The current position is that sports betting is illegal in the U. S. except for four states namely Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana.
Sports betting is just one aspect of gambling that is set to be legalized. It is no coincidence that sports betting is so popular both with politicians and online players. Like online scratch cards many millions of people enjoy the social aspect to sports betting just as they do on scratchgames. For many the idea of online gambling is not just to have a flutter but also to enjoy it as a social hobby.
Many interested parties are waiting to see who makes the first move in challenging the federal government when it comes to online gambling and sports betting.
The present reality is that millions of online scratch card and sports betting players are finding alternative avenues to play their preferred scratchie games. Many supporters of legalized gambling point out that billions of potential revenue is being lost to illegal overseas operators who are only too happy to enjoy the scratch cards and sports betting revenues.
The only logical solution would be to regulate and control sports betting and scratch cards on a federal basis which would benefit all parties. The latest interested party to put its hat in the ring is that if Cantor Entertainment Technology which is a division of the financial powerhouse Cantor Fitzgerald. In an interview In Bloomberg’s June edition, the Chief Executive Lee Amaitis was quoted as saying that he intends to transform Cantor into one of the major sports betting powerhouses in the world. Depending on the legal situation they also intend to expand beyond Las Vegas.
Currently the Professional Amateur Sports Protection Act is what is restricting sports betting in all but four U.S. States. In light of the new developments due to the Justice Department’s stance on the Wire Act of 1961, many U.S states intend challenging the Professional Amateur Sports Protection Act as they are in desperate need for alternative ways to generate revenues.
Presently Cantor Entertainment Technology has invested over $150 million in sports betting in Las Vegas as well as being the first to introduce wireless technology that lets players use hand held devices to place bets. Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets are key to CEO Amaitis and they have developed an Android app that lets players bet from smartphones and tablet devices. It is worth noting that sports gamblers are estimated to spend over $2.9 billion in Las Vegas alone in 2011.
Mobile technology has revolutionized online gambling like scratch cards because the ability to win million dollar scratch card jackpots are literally in the palm of the players’ hands. There is no doubt that website developers are keen to provide the latest mobile scratch card apps which manage to spread the magic of the game globally.
This may sound a lot but in fact the overall sports gambling in the U.S. is estimated to be a whopping $380 billion.
CEO of Cantor, Amaitis made some bold and confident statements in the Bloomberg article stating that Cantor will dominate sports betting in Nevada despite fierce competition from rivals MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment.
Online gamblers and scratchcards players in particular can only sit back and enjoy the ride. It seems that nothing can stop the multi-billion dollar online industry from taking off in the U.S. We can say with a lot of confidence that the online scratch card community will soon include that of the U.S.