Jeff Sessions, the US Attorney General is reportedly considering the reintroduction of a federal ban on all state-regulated online gambling in the US.
Reports in the Huffington Post say that Sessions could consider reintroducing the ban despite a lack of public support and strong opposition from the National Governors Association.
The move follows lobbying by a number of groups to restore America’s Interstate Wire Act, which would effectively outlaw any form of internet gaming in the country.
A 2011 US circuit court ruling which said that the act only applied to sports betting created a legal loophole which allowed individual states to legalise online gaming within their boundaries.
So far only New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware have taken the option to introduce a state-regulated online gaming service, with a number of other states currently considering similar schemes.
Chris Grove, a consultant working in the regulated gambling market, said that the reintroduction of a federal ban would “be a tremendous loss for consumers and states” adding that “it would be a massive victory for the illegal, offshore betting industry”.
