AGA pulls support for US online gambling

Geoff Freeman the Chief Executive of the American Gaming Association (AGA) has told the Wall Street Journal that his association no longer supports legalising online gaming on a federal or state by state level.

The iGaming Post reported for several months of the strain between association members for those supporting and those against, primarily Las Vegas Sands boss Sheldon Adelson and that the AGA was in danger of breaking up over the subject. However it now seems that Las Vegas Sands has won the day with Mr Freemans announcement.

He said in his statement, “One of the things I’ve learned in this industry is we are extraordinarily competent at shooting at one another,” he said. “The snipers in this industry are of the highest quality, and if you let that be the focus, we’ll kill each other.”

With Sheldon Adelson using his billions to oppose the spread of online gambling in the US, there was a big question on how the operators could co-exist in the same association with such strong opinions, but it seems the AGA has now buckled to the pressure but now the question is how will they keep those operators happy that want online gambling, such as Caesars Entertainment?

With three states already legalising online gambling, Neveda, Delaware and New Jersey, with New York and Pennsylvania considering introducing bills to enter the sector, how can the AGA represent both sides of the argument in the same association?