Offshore bookmakers are making a few members of the American horse racing industry nervous. Perturbed by the formation of offshore closed-loop gambling services, the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) is forming an Internet/offshore betting task force to address the issue.
"Many of these sites aren't regulated. They don't put any money back into the industry and they don't pay any taxes," explained Tony Chamblin, the association's president.
Although there's no formal agenda, Chamblin explained that the task force hopes to "gather information on how significant the problem is." He added, "We also hope to bring legitimate offshore operations under some kind of regulatory control so they can work with the industry and not against it."
An announcement of the task force's members is due within two weeks, Chamblin said. The group will probably meet for the first time in July.
The ARCI hasn't spoken formally with offshore bookmakers, but Chamblin said some operators have indicated they would be willing to work with a regulatory body. That doesn't mean, however, that all operators would cooperate. It remains to be seen how such a regulatory body would work and who it would be at the helm.
One way of handling the situation could be for the ARCI to development its own closed-loop system, Chamblin acknowledged. The association is watching the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act closely with an eye on that possibility.