California has missed out on an online gambling bonanza

Well known and respected California legal expert, Martin Owens, authored a telling op-ed article in the Sacremento Bee this week, bemoaning the lack of progress on legalising online gambling over the past eight years which has denied substantial revenues for the state.

Owens says that California has all the elements that could have made it a world-leading licensing and hosting jurisdiction: a large population, a tech savvy society and a tolerant public attitude.

“But for at least the past eight years, we have seen licensed gambling establishments fight each other to a standstill rather than cooperate in building the future,” he says, commenting that in the meantime the Internet changed the way games are available to the public…and the federal government passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act with exemptions for fantasy sports which have led to the creation of a multi-billion dollar industry, supercharged by the daily fantasy sports genre.

Owens claims that society’s attitude toward gambling has changed over the past few decades, and the legitimate pastime is now widely regarded as a generator for economic growth, with even the major US sports leagues lending support to fantasy sports games.

With the millennial generation and mobile communication now moving to centre stage, current gambling laws are becoming obsolete, and the time has come for a more practical, modern approach, he suggests.

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