Straight Talk At Last About Online Gambling
Added: Sept. 7, 2015
Maybe this is finally showing up because the United States is in the beginning stages of the next Presidential election. Or perhaps it is happening because some folks are finally willing to take the time to actually examine the issue in detail. Whatever the reason or perhaps for no reason at all, there are some fresh and lively conversations going on about the topic of online casinos and legalizing online gambling.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the State of Pennsylvania. You see, at this very moment the state legislature is hard at work. This time around, the Pennsylvania legislators are scratching their collective heads and desperately attempting to find a way to make sense of the state budget. As you might have already guessed, there is a bit of a shortfall. That is to say, Pennsylvania has more expenses than it has sources of revenue to cover those expenses.
So perhaps not surprisingly, the topic of online casinos and online gambling in general is being actively debated. As a quick background review, recall that as of now, there are only a few states in the U.S. that have legalized some sort of online gambling or online sports betting.
Interestingly, at this point in time, the Pennsylvania legislators are looking specifically at the opportunities available for online sports betting. You see, the legislators already know and understand that the residents of Pennsylvania are big sports fans and that quite a few of them already engage in sports betting. But here’s the rub. Since at this point, online sports betting is not allowed within the state, the money is essentially being spent elsewhere.
A very wise state Senator by the name of Sean Wiley was quick to point out this disparity. The Senator was quoted as saying “Right now it’s not legal but it happens, it is happening all over the state. It is very difficult to enforce because it is so prevalent.”
In other words, Senator Wiley is only articulating what the average Pennsylvanian already knows to be true. Sports betting fans are already wagering on their favorite sports anyway but the state of Pennsylvania does not benefit from any of that.
Since the state is hard at work to construct a viable budget, the topic of legalizing online sports betting is now getting top billing. Not only that, but some legislators are quick to point out that revenue from legalized sports betting activities could be used to bolster education spending.
However this works out in the end, it is clear that times have changed. More and more forward thinking states such as Pennsylvania are finally willing to take a good hard look at the topic of online gambling and online sports betting.