Indian Gaming > States facing increased competition as gambling options grow

States facing increased competition as gambling options grow

Friday, August 3, 2012
Filed Under: Connecticut | Legislation | New York

Tribal gaming, Internet gaming and commercial gaming continue to put pressure on states to expand their gambling options.

The biggest action is taking place on the East Coast. Delaware has become the first state in the region to legalize Internet gaming amid fresh threats from Pennsylvania, where slot machines became legal in 2007 and table games were added in 2010.

“If we had not approved gaming along these lines this year and put ourselves at the forefront, other states would have moved ahead of us and we would have been back in a year or two playing catch-up,” Tom Cook, Delaware’s secretary of finance, told The New York Times.

The competition has taken a big hit on New Jersey, which long enjoyed a monopoly on gaming in the region. More pressure is coming from New York, where a new land-based slot parlor opened last year.

Meanwhile, tribal revenues in Connecticut have taken a dip since the recession. And two tribes in New York are withholding gaming revenues from the state in an exclusivity dispute.

Get the Story:
States Up the Ante in Bid to Lure Other States’ Bettors (The New York Times 8/3)