Cato Institute
Policy Analysis
<<  <  >  >>
Page 15
3.  Steven Crist, "All Bets Are Off," Sports Illustrated,
January 26, 1998, p. 85.  Note that this sum represents
what American gamblers risked on their bets ("handle" to
gambling businesses) rather than what they lost (gambling
businesses' gross revenues).
4.  Ibid.  It bears noting that this represents an esti-
mate of illegal bets on professional and college sports
alone; other types of illegal bets, such as unlicensed
poker games, are not included in the estimate.
5.  Allison Flatt, "Overview of Internet Gambling," Staff
briefing on Internet gambling prepared for the National
Gambling Impact Study Commission, May 13, 1998, p. 2,
<http://www.ngisc.gov/meetings/may2198/flatt.pdf>, counted
over 90 casinos, 39 lotteries, 8 bingo games, 53 sports
books, and various dog- and horse-racing sites as of May
1998.  For general discussions of the scope and operation
of offshore gambling sites, see Crist, p. 85; Mary Ann
Akers, "On-Line Betting Makes Some Rich, Others Edgy,"
Washington Times, January 27, 1998, p. A1; and Brett
Pulley, "With Technology, Island Bookies Skirt U.S. Law,"
New York Times, January 31, 1998, p. A1.
6.  Sebastian Sinclair, Casino Gambling and the Internet
(New York: Christiansen/Cummings Associates, 1998), p. 8,
estimates that in 1997 worldwide Internet casino revenues
reached $1,090.1 million and that revenues from the com-
bined U.S. and Canadian market reached $603.5 million.
7.  Those contributions have, moreover, been on a sharp
upward trend.  In the 1991-92 elections, the gambling
industry gave $1.7 million to candidates.  Peter H. Stone,
"Upping the Ante," National Journal, June 6, 1998, p. 1289.
8.  "We cannot support it without tough regulation," said
Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming
Association, of Internet gambling.  Quoted in Tony Batt,
"Study Panel to Address Internet Gaming," Las Vegas
Review-Journal, May 20, 1998, p. D1.  Batt reports that
"Fahrenkopf and other industry supporters prefer not to
dwell on the competitive threat posed by Internet gaming.
Instead they argue that the absence of regulation could
lead to a major scandal that could taint the entire indus-
try."  It would hardly prove surprising if the gambling
industry privately cared a great deal about the competi-
tive threat posed by Internet gaming, however.  The incum-
bent industry clearly profits when licensing practices bar
new competition, but admitting that fact would harm public
relations.