Online gambling is a billion-dollar business and expanding quickly. While some governments oppose it, others have welcomed this industry and offer players legal gambling options from real-money games at regulated online casinos to digital slot machines. What determines whether online gambling is legal in any given jurisdiction lies squarely with state legislators who will pass new laws that regulate this sector of industry.
Though some states and local municipalities are starting to create gambling ordinances of their own, most gambling legislation occurs at the state level for several reasons, including more leeway afforded to state lawmakers when it comes to authorizing new forms of gaming as well as setting parameters to measure tax revenue from any potential new form of gaming.
State lawmakers have typically been more accommodating of new gambling legislation for online poker, iCasino and lottery games than for sports betting. As a result, many successful gambling initiatives have taken root in states such as Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey; however, several major federal statutes still stand in the way of new legislation being passed for these forms of online gambling.
One of the biggest roadblocks to online gambling expansion is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, passed in New Jersey. While this law prohibits certain forms of transactions relating to online gambling, states still permit most forms of it within their borders and interstate gambling compacts that allow states to pool player data and create more efficient markets.
Recent developments in the ongoing debate regarding legality of online gambling are intriguing. A new interpretation of the Wire Act has reopened the door for online gambling, although most states are unlikely to adopt sports betting anytime soon given longstanding political and cultural opposition to gambling in many states.
One major challenge facing new online gambling laws is their failure to secure advertising contracts from major companies for gambling sites, including search engines like Google and Yahoo that have been pressured by the Justice Department to pull their ads for online gambling websites as these could possibly aid illegal gambling activity.
Although obstacles remain, there are positive indicators that point towards legal online gambling initiatives eventually being accepted by society. Of particular note is Connecticut’s launch of legal iGaming; their first iCasino opened for business in 2021 followed by poker rooms shortly afterwards. Virginia legalised instant lottery plays online as well, setting them on course to becoming next state to approve sports betting.