The Department of Justice has extended the period in which enforcement would begin of a 2018 memo that made online gaming and lottery sales illegal once again. The 2018 memo countermanded a 2011 memo that determine that Wire Act of 1962 only applied to sports betting, not online gaming or sales of lottery tickets via the internet.
The DOJ last week extended the deadline on enforcement of the 2018 decision until June 30, 2020 because of a suit filed by the New Hampshire Lottery challenging the decision. The memo’s deadline had already been extended until December 31. A circuit court ruled in favor of New Hampshire, but the DOJ appealed. Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen said the extension would continue until the case is resolved and then 60 days thereafter should the DOJ win the appeal.
The ruling will delay any enforcement of sales of multi-state lottery sales such as MegaMillions and Powerball, as well as any interstate agreements on poker and casino game liquidity. Even interstate online gaming could be at risk if the state allows information from out-of-state sources to enter the state.
Analysts say that the original 2018 decision was payback from the Trump administration to mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, the chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands, who is a vociferous opponent of online gaming. Several Democrat presidential candidates, including Joe Biden, support the original 2011 memo.
In a statement provided to CDC Gaming Reports by the Joe Biden campaign, the former vice president “doesn’t support adding unnecessary restrictions to the gaming industry like the Trump administration has done.”
The Biden campaign also provided a brief comment concerning a proposed bill backed by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) that would establish federal guidelines for sports wagering.
While not coming out in opposition to the measure, Biden said he “believes states and federal authorities should cooperate to ensure that gambling is safe, fair, and corruption-free.”
Biden addressed members of Culinary Workers Local 226 in Las Vegas last week. The union, Nevada’s largest, represents some 60,000 non-gaming employees in hotel-casinos on the Strip and downtown. Union members asked questions on healthcare and immigration reform but shied away from gaming-specific questions.
In a statement from the campaign, Biden called gaming and tourism “huge drivers of Nevada’s economy, (supporting) more than 360,000 jobs.” Biden said the current administration’s “effort to turn its back on the international community” has “resulted in recent drops in international travel to the United States.”
