Why Legalized Gambling Can Benefit US?

The United States of America is currently feeling the economic “pinch” hence the reason it’s in the process of legalizing online gambling. In this article we’re going to briefly explore the various benefits online gambling could offer the United States if it’s legalized and properly regulated.

Annual Revenue of Commercial Casinos

Before we list the various benefits online gambling could potentially offer the US economy, we’re going to indicate the revenues commercial (land-based) casinos yielded in 2011 and compare these figures against the potential revenues of online gambling.

Last year the annual revenue land casinos generated $35.64 billion in 22 states of which $7 billion was paid in taxes to state and local governments. On average every state yielded approximately $1.6 billion of which $360 million went to the tax man. Now, let’s have a look at these figures if online gambling is legalized in all 52 US states. In total it could yield a total revenue of $81 billion of which $18 billion would be paid to tax. Therefore, the annual tax revenues would increase by an amazing $38 billion.

Benefits of Legalized Online Gambling to the US

Education

More than 850,000 new teachers could be employed. The annual salary of a teacher is $43,000.

Law Enforcement

Hire an additional 750,000 police officers. The average salary of a police officer is $50,000 per year.

College Tuition

More than 5 million students could benefit at an average of $7,000 university tuition fees.

Purchase Laptops

More than 85 million laptops could be purchased for students at an average cost of $456/laptop.

Text Books

320 million new text books could be purchased for students at an average cost of $120 per text book.

Space Shuttle Launch

A single space shuttle could be launched more than 30 times at an average cost of $1.2 billion per launch.

Infrastructure (Roads)

More than 4.3 million miles of interstate could be constructed at an average cost of $9 million for 1 mile of interstate.

Gary Loveman, CEO of Caesars Palace said that internet poker could yield as much as $8 billion per year and that the tax revenue to individual states could be worth $2 to $3 billion.

In conclusion

It goes without saying that if legalized, gambling online could benefit the United States in the long run. Doug Walker, economics professor at Charleston College said, “The main political motivation for legalization of gambling is tax revenues and employment,” He also pointed out, “It is unlikely that online gambling will lead to significant increases in jobs, but generally, more economic activity is better than nothing.”

Additional Sources

More information: http://www.casino.org/blog/gambling-usa-debt/