Several companies that have previously occupied the bricks and mortar casino space are now the front runners in the race to win the largest share of the US i-gaming market when it opens.
In recent years, the debate over the US ban on internet gaming has centred on how to treat the companies that operated in the market place previously and have subsequently been pursued by the authorities for continuing to accept US wagers after the ban was in place.
This has been a particular sticking point for many of the US’ biggest and most influential land-based casino operators who, up until recently, viewed i-gaming as a significant threat to their business. The American Gaming Association was staunchly opposed to the ban being overturned until last year when it’s members put forward their own proposals for legalising online poker – including the possibility of penalties for those companies that flouted the law.
Unsurprisingly, such plans put the interests of the land-based casino industry first, favouring Nevada as the first to regulate i-gaming and, therefore, the major casino operators that are licensed there.
The news this week that WMS Gaming has submitted an application to the Nevada State Gaming Control Board for an interactive licence in the state follows a similar announcement from Lottomatica earlier this month. Others, such as Beneficial Holdings and Fertitta Interactive – owned by Station Casinos’ Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta – have also revealed their interest in operating online gaming services in Nevada.
Major slot machine manufacturers Bally Technologies and Aristocrat recently announced an agreement that will see them offer the same third-party poker networks to operators once i-gaming in legalised in the US. IGT, meanwhile, is already a significant player within regulated online gaming markets around the world. A host of other companies are also placing greater emphaisis on the interactive side of their businesses.
All this suggests that these leading land-based gaming companies, with their links to the major bricks and mortar casino operators, are now well positioned to bring their i-gaming solutions to the US market place first, once it is legal to do so.
