The land-based industry has a vested interest in the status quo and does not welcome relatively unregulated competition from online sources. Furthermore, it finds it difficult, for public relations reasons, to publicly advocate yet another expansion of gambling opportunities. In the long run, however, the land-based industry could leverage its brand name capital to do quite nicely online. The problem is getting from here to there. With the advent of legalized Internet gambling in the U.S., the land-based industry will stand ready to seize the field.
Financial institutions face similarly conflicting goals.
Being heavily regulated, they can hardly afford to upset the federal government. At the same time, legalized Internet gambling would afford them with ample new opportunities to advance online financial tools, especially at the consumer level. It would certainly force gambling services to move operations and assets to overseas havens. It may also complicate access to domestic financial services, such as if prohibitionist legislation made credit card debts for online gambling services unenforceable. Apart from these deterrents to Internet gambling, however, domestic prohibitions may end up promoting the industry.