The internet gambling ‘gold rush’ continues across the United States. Gambling operators are thriving, but how about the public? Is iGambling delivering the economic windfall peddled by proponents? What about unintended consequences and socioeconomic costs? We partnered with the globally-respected National Economic Research Associates (NERA) to get a proper reality check.

Key findings, which have been reported on by The Guardian, include:

• The fundamental flaw in gambling proponents’ economic forecasts which wrongly presumes gambling spend is additive, new economic activity — in other words, money that would not have been spent elsewhere. This unsound assumption helped persuade a lot of lawmakers and voters that iGambling would provide a major economic boost.
• The stunning revelation that internet gambling has actually been a net-negative to New Jersey’s economy. Garden State residents would understandably experience buyer’s remorse if only they knew before now that they would not be the economic beneficiaries of iGambling proliferation.
• The cold reality that internet gambling does not deliver anywhere near the same economic benefit as land-based gambling. At least land-based gambling spurs local jobs and downstream economic activity, while iGambling just benefits gambling operators based somewhere else.

We hope policymakers and the public they represent take notice of not only this eye-opening cost-benefit analysis, but also the perils of one-sided, short-sighted policymaking. The Campaign for Fairer Gambling plans to perform this much needed public service, so that mistakes aren’t needlessly repeated and people aren’t misled or harmed.

Read CFG’s press release here

Read the summary of NERA’s Economic Assessment of iGambling in New Jersey here