Internet and Interactive Gaming - May 2003

US lawmakers are attempting to prevent Americans from gambling online by blocking their access to overseas gambling sites - such as those registered in the UK. … A bill approved by a House panel yesterday takes a two-pronged approach toward curbing Internet wagers. It could require ISPs to delete hyperlinks to offshore gambling sites and would order credit cards and online payment systems such as PayPal to identify unlawful transactions that might be related to gambling. Declan McCullagh, Silicon News, 5-7-03

After one House panel put the brakes on an Internet gambling ban last week, the chairman of another committee on Tuesday put it back on track. Rep. Mike Oxley, R-Ohio, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, rammed a scaled down version of the ban through his committee in less than three minutes with no debate and no amendments. …the ban preserves exemptions for the horse racing industry and other factions whose support is considered vital to move the ban through the House and Senate. Tony Batt, Stephens Washington Bureau, Las Vegas Review-Journal, 5-22-03

A Pennsylvania principal has resigned over accusations she used her school computer to gamble on the Internet. Rosa Calvet, the principal at Lehman Intermediate School in Bushkill, gave up her $79,000 post this week after district officials confronted her with details of an investigation into her computer records. Associated Press, WPVI, Philadelphia, 5-16-03

Regardless of the debates in Washington, the Internet is becoming increasingly more important and at least for some, profitable. Marriott booked 20,000 rooms in one day, $5 million in sales; and Youbet continues to grow with revenues increasing over 300 percent in one quarter.

"It's the first time we've broken through 20,000," in hotel rooms booked online in a single day, said Marriott International spokesman John Wolf. The rooms represent about $5 million in gross sales, up from the record of about $4.8 million when just under 19,000 room-nights were booked one day earlier in the month. Marriott International's online sales topped $1 billion last year, a nearly seven-fold increase in two years. Jerry W. Jackson, Orlando Sentinel, Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, Hotel Online, 5-21-03

Youbet.com, Inc., the leading online live event and wagering company, today announced that First Quarter 2003 marked the company's fourth consecutive quarter of record growth. The gross handle for the first quarter set a new record at $61.0 million, up substantially from $27.1 million in the first quarter 2002, and includes a record-breaking gross handle of $21.1 million for the month of March, 2003. Gross revenues increased 323% to $11.0 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2003 as compared to $2.6 million in the first quarter of 2002. Net revenues, after payments to our track partners and licensing fees, were $3.8 million for the first quarter 2003 compared to $1.7 million in the first quarter of 2002. Business Wire, Yahoo Business, 5-16-03

The growth rates are stunning in both cases and both have implications for all of the gaming industry. There are some in the industry that think it makes sense to try and stop the growth of Internet gaming, but for the rest of the industry it makes more sense to try and understand it and find ways to integrate the Internet into the business and operations.