MORE U.S. ADVOCATION FOR ONLINE GAMBLING FIRMS

Posted 1/29/11 : USOGA gets some heavyweight support
 
With the growing likelihood that state, rather than federal, initiatives will determine the future of online gambling in the United States, several major companies have joined together to advocate legalization.
 
This week the US Online Gaming Association came into being, supported by sponsors like Sportingbet.com and PKR.com, and headed up by former Poker Voters of America chief Melanie Brenner.
 
Brenner summarised the goals of the new body as “…to advocate for the legalization and regulation of online gaming in the States”.
 
“With the failure of a federal solution to this issue, the opening of the lucrative US market will be through state capitols such as Tallahassee, Sacramento and Trenton," said Brenner this week. "The work we have done through Poker Voters has uniquely positioned us to be the most effective voice in moving this issue.”
 
PKR chief executive Malcolm Graham confirmed his company's financial and technical support, saying that the formation of USOGA was necessary when there was such a great momentum at state level towards internet gambling legalization in the United States.
 
“I think it is important [that] the industry, which will be supporting local operators from this side of the pond, has a collective voice and a consistent message," he remarked.
 
The sponsor list is expected to grow substantially, judging by the presence at the launch meeting of over twenty representatives of different companies, most of them industry leaders in their fields.
 
USOGA is the second new legalization body to announce its existence this week; earlier an as yet unidentified group of companies involved in the recent legalization victory in New Jersey (see previous InfoPowa reports) came together to form the American Institute for iGaming (AIIG) under the leadership of top US lobbyist Bill Pascrell.
 
Pascrell revealed that the AIIG, consists of gaming companies, payment processors and casino operators, and will welcome online gambling entities from other countries, provided only that those entities did not have what he referred to as "US legacy issues."
 
The AIIG is focused on legalization at national as well as state level, he said, noting that state-by-state legalization may provide the quickest route through ‘the domino effect.'