U.S. Gaming Association to help in fight illegal gambling
News on 14 Apr 2015
News on 14 Apr 2015
In an address to a summit meeting of state attorneys general in Biloxi, Mississippi Monday the CEO of the American Gaming Association, Geoff Freeman, unveiled a new initiative designed to assist enforcement organisations in cracking down hard on illegal gambling.
The trade body’s plan embraces four key areas – illegal sports betting, black market machines, Internet sweepstakes cafes and illegal betting online, Freeman revealed.
Titled “Stop Illegal Gambling – Play it Safe,” the plan targets five areas through which illegal gambling operations will be targeted, including AGA-commissioned research that will “dig into the roots of this problem,” by studying criminal patterns in order to develop “actionable intelligence.”
The AGA will also establish an online central facility that will contain resources and information about illegal gambling; and it will establish an advisory board of experts, lobby lawmakers and partner with law enforcement.
Freeman’s address went down well, with Mississippi Attorney General and National Association of Attorneys General president Jim Hood applauding the AGA’s “proactive partnership with law enforcement.”
Hood also revealed that the NAAG intends to establish a committee focused on combatting illegal gambling of all types.
Freeman noted that the AGA wants to maintain a clear distance between legal and illegal gambling, and hopes that enforcement leaders share that ambition.
“Consider the fact that every dollar diverted by illegal operations is a dollar siphoned away from legal activities that contribute taxes to support education and public safety,” Freeman commented.
Last year the AGA focused on boosting perceptions of the legal (mainly land) gambling industry with its “Get to Know Gaming” campaign, which included a survey showing that the industry generates $38 billion in tax revenues and supports more than 1.7 million jobs nationwide.
This year, in addition to the enforcement campaign, the Association is driving a “Gaming Votes” initiative, which strives to make gaming issued a key element in the 2016 presidential elections.
