European operators or suppliers need to know that a state-by-state process affords a myriad of opportunities to get a foothold in some part of the US online gaming entertainment market.

This article addresses the scenario that no “single market” federal law will emerge and any federal law which may be enacted will delegate market entry requirements largely to individual states.

First, what are the US markets? 

As this article is written, there has been no unified federal legislation enacted to create a single US market for expressly legal online gambling operations. Current proposals link an online poker enabling legislation to a must-pass piece of federal legislation. While express legalisation is a practical requirement for anyone considering US market entry, it need not await further federal action.

Any legislative proposal has a puncher’s chance of a KO victory and some heavyweight sluggers are backing the current federal legislative effort. However, it seems likely that no such legislation will have been enacted into law as this EGL issue hits your inbox.

If some federal bill does pass, it likely would have delegated considerable authority to state-level regulators for licensing matters, recognising the historic state sovereignty claim to gaming regulation and revenues: CF Pic-A-State Inc v Reno, 76 F3d 1294, 1304 (3d Cir 1996), cert den 517 US 1246 (1996) (lotteries). See also “Federal online gaming legislation needed now more than ever” by Frank J Fahrenkopf, Jnr, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association in Global Gaming Business, February 2012 (“Such legislation should allow states that want to license and regulate online poker to do so, following federal guidelines”).

So, what are the US markets today that might serve for entry to an emerging US-facing, real money online gaming industry?

The unregulated “grey area” US market: can you proceed full steam ahead across the Atlantic into “grey area” waters?

This report can be read in full in the Spring 2012 issue of European Gaming Lawyer