"Could Outside Pressures Force Gambling on Utah?"

Of all states that you would not expect to allow online gambling, Utah might be at the head of the list. But now many inhabitants of the state of Utah believe that it won’t be long before they will be able to gamble over the net legally. It is still unlikely that Utah state officials would ever legalize gambling. But international developments, to which the United States is a party, very well might end up making gambling legal there.

In particular, a recent ruling by the World Trade Organization states that the United States cannot block other countries from offering Internet gambling to U.S. residents. This might make a way for Internet gambling to become available to all U.S. residents. So regardless of whether residence is in Utah or Hawaii or any other state that expressly forbids gambling, all would be affected. There is yet another potential threat to Utah’s ability to maintain gambling’s illegal status, and that is the Central American Free Trade Agreement. A considerable amount of Internet gaming and free trade litigation from Costa Rica is included in this agreement. All of this can appreciably affect Utah’s right, or any other state’s right, to prohibit gambling.

One should not overlook, at the same time, the emerging interest among Utah residents themselves in Internet gambling and their desire to see gambling legalized there. A Desert Morning News/KSL-TV poll reports that 30 percent of Utahans say they favor the legalization of gambling in their state. Pollster Dan Joners says that even though overall it is still unpopular. he notes a growth in support for legalized gambling. If gambling were to become legal, studies have shown that close to a quarter billion dollars a year would be kept in the state instead of being lost to neighboring states where gambling is legal.

Some support amongst some state officials in Utah has even been reported. Stephen Berry, the city of Wendover’s mayor, as an example, believes that legalizing gambling in his city would help it vie with neighboring West Wendover, Nevada, which because of its casinos, attracts a lot of tourists, businesses and consequently a great deal of revenue.

Another institution that is pushing for the legalization of Internet gambling is the horse racing industry. This is at least true when it comes to horse race betting. As recently as 1992, in fact, the horse racing industry lobbied for a referendum that would have legalized pari-mutuel betting in Utah. Although the proposal started off well, it was eventually decided against because of heavy resistance from the Church of Later-day Saints.

Regardless of these external and internal pressures, it is generally agreed by most officials that Utah lawmakers would not ever agree to legalize gambling themselves. They would more probably fight against any form of legalization.