Whether gamblers placed their money on the St. Louis Rams or the Tennessee Titans, growing numbers of them made their wagers online. The number of companies offering Internet betting sites has tripled in the past year from about 30 to close to 100. The 'crack cocaine' of gambling But the growing popularity of placing online bets is bringing together opponents with widely differing agendas, from casino lobbyists to gambling opponents, the NFL, politicians and credit card companies who are worried about the unregulated nature of the industry. Kyl has sponsored legislation that would outlaw Internet betting and wants to force Internet service providers to terminate services to online casinos and bookmakers.
Sports gambling in the United States is legal only in Nevada.
We do think that it's imperative that gambling is appropriately regulated to maintain its integrity, and with the Internet we just don't think that's possible. Online casinos based outside U.S. Most of the virtual gaming industry operates out of places such as Curacao, Costa Rica and Antigua, which are beyond the reach of U.S. government regulators. Easy access to online gambling makes it a dangerous industry, said Kevin O'Neill of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey. So the upshot is that more and more young people will have access to sports gambling that never would have had it before. Credit card companies object to the online gaming industry because it isn't regulated.