Online Casinos are Threat to Canadian Land Casinos

The Canadian Gambling Association says that $500 million is spent on online casinos annually when it should be spent at Canadian land casinos. The Association says that online casinos are the biggest threat to the land casinos industry. Bull Rutsey, the head of the Canadian Gaming Association and the main player in the country’s $14-billion land gambling industry does not like the online casinos business. Rutsey claims that online casinos suck $500 million a year out of the Canadian economy, which he would personally prefer to see gambled in land-based casinos.

Rutsey made these comments about the online casinos industry in an address to more than 600 gambling industry representatives in Vancouver for the Association’s national conference and trade show. Rutsey told members at the convention that online casinos and internet gambling are the biggest threat to Canada’s gambling industry. He claims that millions of dollars just disappear – the money is sucked right out of the economy. He continued to say that online casinos and internet gambling is a real competitive threat, and law enforcement needs to take steps to deal with the issue.

He said that clear-cut laws regarding online casinos were not forthright and that they exist in a legal limbo at present under Canadian law. The gambling head said that online casinos, sports betting and horse races are illegal in Canada and the U.S.. However, in the last five years, online casinos and internet gambling have grown from a $5 billion international industry to $12 to $14 billion today. The Canadian portion of the business is estimated at $500 million a year.