Washington Gambling Revenues to Hit $3.56BN by 2020

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Monday, December 5th, 2016 | Written by Charles Washington

A new report from the Spectrum Gaming Group was recently released, providing a detailed analysis of the gambling industry in Washington. Through its 173 pages, every aspect of the state’s gambling industry is discussed, including whether or not the time is ripe to consider legalizing and regulating online gambling. Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

iGambling To Be Worth $100m

The Spectrum Gaming Group predicts that a regulated online gambling market in Washington could potentially be worth as much as $100 million. The report draws this conclusion by comparing Washington to New Jersey, and although the Garden State has more residents and a larger median income, the cost of living is higher on the east coast state. As a result, using New Jersey as an indicator for the prospective online gambling market in Washington seems fair, and as such the Spectrum report explains:

“In our opinion, Washington has similar demographic factors to New Jersey, such as household income and population over 21 years old. As such, with a reasonable tax rate (15 percent or less) and an offering that includes slot machines, table games and poker, Spectrum estimates the potential for Washington iGaming GGR to be approximately $100 million.”

No Negative Impact on Land Casinos

The Spectrum Gaming Group goes on the record as saying that it does not believe that legalizing online gambling would negatively impact Washington’s brick and mortar casinos. The report points again to New Jersey, stating that if a law was passed that only operators of brick and mortar casinos and card rooms were allowed to apply for the new iGaming gambling licenses then permitting online casinos would help rather than hurt the industry.

It provides examples of how the New Jersey online gambling sites have supported and complemented brick and mortar casino operations, driving more gamblers through the doors. Plus, the report points out that brick and mortar gamblers and online casino gamblers tend to represent different markets, saying that 91 percent of Caesar Entertainment’s online players in New Jersey were not on any of the casino’s databases as brick and mortar customers. As the report states:

“In fact, researchers conducted a statistical study that found “economic concerns around the cannibalization of traditional gambling industries should be reconsidered, and provide support for prior research showing that Internet based firms can be complementary to brick and mortar businesses.”

A Major Opinion Shift Needed

Of course, Washington legislators will need to see things from the Spectrum Gaming Group’s perspective if there is any hope of the state becoming one of the next to legalize online gaming. It would have to be a major shift, too, as back in 2006, Washington passed a law that actually makes online gambling illegal, and currently anyone found guilty of doing so can be convicted of a Class C felony and sentenced to pay a fine of up to $10,000, or spend up to five years in jail. The law isn’t known to be readily enforced, but it’s still on the books.

After the then State Senator Margarita Prentice introduced the anti-online gambling bill, some of the state’s online poker players, including professional player Dan “wretch” Martin, lamented their career options being cut off and said that they would now need to consider moving to another state. In her now infamous response, Prentice retorted with:

“You mean you’re going to move so you can play poker? Gee, lots of luck in your life. I have nothing against card playing. That’s fine. If you want to do that, but I’m sure not going to worry about someone … you know. Let them go pump gas.”

Indian Gaming Opposition

Furthermore, it will take more than just open minds to get online gambling legislation done in Washington as at this point in time, tribal casinos and card rooms in the state seem adamantly opposed to the idea of iGaming. In fact, they have been known to lobby the state legislature on Olympia, saying that online gaming would hurt their businesses. As the Spectrum Gaming Group’s report points out, this actually is unlikely to be the case; however, the tribal leaders will need to accept that fact if there is any hope of Washington moving forward with online legislation.

We can be hopeful, though, that the very professional, well thought out report by the Spectrum Gaming Group will at least get a conversation about iGaming started.