South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham has stated his intent to make an exemption for online lotteries in the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA), which seeks to ban most forms of iGaming in the U.S.
Graham, who’s pushing RAWA in the Senate, told GamblingCompliance that he wants to “find some accommodation” for state lotteries and include a carveout for them. Assuming online lotteries are ultimately exempted from RAWA, they would join the following forms of iGaming that are excluded from the proposed legislation:
– Charity online gaming
– Online horse racing betting
– Online fantasy sports
But there’s a catch here: Sheldon Adelson
As we’ve often reported in the past, billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson is financially backing RAWA to protect his land-based Las Vegas Sands company. And he has previously stated that he’s against making an exception for internet lottery sales in his proposed iGaming ban.
Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who’s promoting RAWA in the House, shares Adelson’s vision on lotteries. During a conference call with 20 state lottery reps, he basically told them to introduce their own online gaming legislation if they don’t like his. So obviously Graham needs to have a little chat with both Chaffetz and Adelson based on his vision of RAWA.
Hopefully lotteries remain in this battle
If online lotteries did receive a carveout, that would basically leave proponents of online poker and casino games left standing in this fight. And there are certainly some powerful allies in the corner of iPoker/casino games – namely the three states that regulate iGaming along with various tribal and state online gaming interests. However, the push against RAWA will be even stronger if lotteries aren’t exempted and remain in the battle.
Most U.S. states draw a significant amount of tax revenue through land-based lottery sales. So state lottery corporations collectively have a pretty big voice when it comes to gaming laws. And considering that four states already feature an online operation – with multiple other states close to joining the mix – they aren’t going to sit idly by and let RAWA determine their fate.