For social gaming giant Zynga ,the money they make from the immensely popular game Farmville is small potatoes compared to the estimated $5 billion the company could make every year from real money social gaming. Zynga, the creator of popular Facebook games such as FarmVille, Zynga poker, Words With Friends and Zynga bingo, has expressed an interest in offering players a real money option. Currentl,y they have more than 30 million monthly players. An unnamed Zynga spokesperson told interviewers: ?We know from listening to our players that there?s an interest in the real-money gambling market. We?re in active conversations with potential partners to better understand and explore this new opportunity.?
Cory Aronovitz, an attorney and gaming expert, said of Zynga?s real money gaming: ?It?s coming. They?re taking baby steps, and they?re working within state laws, but it?s coming. And it?s going to be big.? A January investor?s note from J.P. Morgan told investors that there is a potential for $5 billion in annual revenue for the gaming giant from online gaming. Facebook would also benefit from the 30% the company receives from a 30% revenue share from Zynga products purchased on Facebook.
Unfortunately there are some serious legal hurdles standing in the way of real money gaming on Facebook. Legal issues abound and very few US states have legalized online gaming. Sue Schneider, a gaming-industry consultant told reporters ?They would have to be licensed by whatever jurisdiction they want to operate in, and they would have to have the controls in place to clarify that the player is in a specific spot [that offers legalized online gambling]. The other option is, they provide the technology to partner up with an operator who would get the license.?
Rumor has it that Zynga has been in talks with Steve Wynn and Wynn Resorts about an internet gambling partnership. There are still legal problems facing the potential partnership. Wynn Resorts has a Nevada gaming license and a license in Macau, but Wynn does not have a license in any other state. Gaming experts believe that Indian gaming interests will put up a fight against legalized online gambling to protect their casino interests. Furlong expressed his opinion about some of the licensing issues facing Zynga and said ?Those are the issues that are being worked out now. It?s not a federal licensing system, it?s a state-by state system, and it?s quite challenging. Everyone will want their piece of the tax revenue as well. It?s a complex issue and, frankly, I don?t know if the country has come to grips with the ability to game from the house yet.?
Furlong also said that Zynga would have to change its corporate culture if they enter the real money gaming industry. Furlong said ?They?re going to be regulated.? Mr. Aronovitz, founder of the Casino Law Group and an adjunct professor of gaming law at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, said that last December?s DOJ decision gave the gaming industry a huge boost. Aronovitz stated ?interstate transmissions of wire communications that do not relate to a ?sporting event or contest? fall outside the reach of the Wire Act. ?It has opened a floodgate of people of looking to get involved in internet gambling and it has spawned a huge debate of whether online gaming [and games like online bingo] would be allowed. For instance, Illinois had been sitting on an online retail lottery-ticket bill. It has now launched; you can now go on their website and buy lottery tickets. Now the question is, ?When will states offer poker, either through intrastate, or offer their own gaming bill?? And then the question is, ?What is the platform?? Currently the gaming industry is divided by those who want state by state regulation and those who want federal regulation.
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