Iowa has one of the strictest regulations on gambling. The state is not open-minded about gambling expansion. This is provable by how long the state has taken to legalize gambling.
For instance, the online casino bill was introduced in 2021 by Representative Bobby Kaufmann. The legislation did not see the light and barely received any mention this year. Speaking at the National Council of Legislators from the Gaming States conference, Representative Jacob Bossman also believes the state may not pass the online casino legislation in 2024.
Kaufmann also cosponsored the state’s sports betting bill in 2019. That bill passed. The representative returned with the casino bill in 2022, admitting it would not pass.
According to Kaufmann, all 19 Iowa commercial casinos must support online casinos for the bill to pass. Until then, all online casino bills have zero chance to pass. According to Wes Ehrecke of the Iowa Gaming Association, only 13 commercial casinos supported online casinos at the beginning of this year.
This discouraged Kaufmann from introducing the online casino legislation until March. Based on Jacob’s state during the conference in Denver, addiction, cannibalization, and minority access are some of the reasons stopping Iowa from legalizing online casinos.
No Gambling Expansion for Now
Apart from gambling addiction, minority access, and cannibalization, Bossman feels lawmakers have had enough of gambling expansion. This is because the state recently passed sports betting and feels passing another gambling bill is too much expansion.
Bossman also explained that lawmakers were concerned about children wagering. The officials feel that children can easily use their parents’ phones to place bets online.
Another reason lawmakers are hesitant about gambling expansion is cannibalization. Yet, there is proof that expanding gambling will not steal business from existing gaming facilities.
For instance, New Jersey has nine land-based casinos. Following the spread of the Coronavirus, the state had to allow online gaming. The state recently added another five years of online gaming, partly because it did not affect business at land-based casinos.
As mentioned earlier, some casinos are supporting online casinos. For instance, Caesars, a casino operator based in Las Vegas operating four casinos in Iowa, supports online casinos. However, Elite Casinos Resorts, a local casino operator running three Iowa casinos, is against gambling expansion.
Destination casinos with other amenities like hotels, golf courses, and concert venues have no reason to support online casinos. These casinos fear that people will choose online casinos and fail to visit their land-based facilities, putting them out of business.
Who Will Get the Piece of the Growing Pie?
Howard Glaser of Light & Wonder joined Bossman to clarify that Iowa casinos had no reason to fear cannibalization. Glaser continued to say that local casinos were afraid of the big casino brands in the state.
For instance, Caesars is a bigger brand compared to Elite Casino Resorts. Howard challenged Bossman to think about the growing market and who would benefit from it.
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