The news that Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), the California based internet service company, has opened an online poker room which would target primarily U.K. residents seemed to be a surprise to many people. And it should not. Not just because gambling is by far the most lucrative business in the world after baby food manufacturing, but it’s because this illustrates the business practice of most US companies.
Many people saw the news about Yahoo getting its own poker room due to the high Internet profile of the company, but if they were to keep with the online gambling industry on a daily basis - they would not have been all that surprised. People seem to be surprised mostly because Yahoo! Inc. is an American company which operates online gambling website, where foreign online gambling websites are not allowed to operate in the US.
Well, folks, though stuff, but it’s the E.U.’s and other countries fault. They should have hammered better laws to prevent US companies operating online gambling websites in their countries, the same way US did. But that’s not my point. My point is that the fact that Yahoo! Inc. has an online poker room in the US is nothing new.
US gambling company to launch online casino - The Las Vegas Sands is opening an online casino which targets U.K. citizens. The new online casino will have its license issued by the U.K. and Cantor Gaming will provide the software. On the same note, Harrah’s Entertainment was the last to try online gambling in Britain, but failed just six months after it opened virtual doors in 2004.
How about a “little somethin’-somethin’ for the online gambling advertisers? Well, how about the fact that The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) is running advertisements for online betting and gambling websites? You didn’t know that? Oh, yeah, the ESPN.com, which is owned by Disney along with ABC and FamilyFun, runs advertisements for Bet365 and Skybet. So the good ole Disney is making money off of online gambling, too.
Do not be surprised if more US companies start opening their own online casinos, poker rooms and online betting websites. It’s just too lucrative for them to miss on such an opportunity. Will MySpace have a gambling website? Possibly. MySpace is owned by News Corp. (NYSE:NWS.A) and everything is possible when it comes to Mr. Murdoch.
Political rant: We all know that Congressman Jon Kyl, and the rest of the sponsors of the Internet gambling ban in the US, claim that Internet gambling is addictive and hurts minors. I would love to hear what those prominent US legislators think about the fact that US companies are benefiting from the minors and addicts in other countries. And Disney for Christ sake… eog.com
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