Morongo Casino which is a tribal casino in Southern California has recently announced that it will undertake a large expansion project that will introduce hundreds of new jobs for both locals and nearby towns.

It is expected that the Morongo Casino will start accepting applicants from cities around Los Angeles while being located near Hemet itself. The list of cities where people could potentially get employed in the casino includes Santa Clarita itself as it lies around 120 miles from the resort.

However, the point about growth needs to be addressed. A casino resort that is seemingly quite far away from the heavily populated Los Angeles area is growing like crazy and expanding a whole 65,000 square feet.

This is definitely a testimony of how well the gaming industry is performing in California, especially considering how there is huge competition despite it being “monopolized” by local tribes.

Which in itself is a disaster in the making. Dozens of cases have been noted when monopolies are strongly opposed by either the business sector or the retail sector. The most recent case was recorded in Finland by a local gaming news outlet NorskeCasino where people strongly opposed the continuation of the state-run monopoly on gaming.

If you’re interested in the story and how it played out you can check the original article here and derive your own conclusions.

The same could potentially happen in the future, as the rest of the world develops this sector, while the United States stays behind due to archaic laws.

Would allowing online platforms benefit the state?

If we take a look around the country, it’s easy to notice how most of the states are starting to make amendments to their laws regarding online betting and wagering. It seems that everybody is quickly jumping on the bandwagon in order to retain the funds being funneled outside of the state to the ones that allow betting.

California is definitely no different. Every year, millions, if not billions of dollars are taken out of the state and funneled into Las Vegas, or nearby states that allow online betting or gaming.

But the argument about introducing a hazardous industry in an already struggling economy is understandable. It’s hard to resist the temptation to “try again” or to just close the website and stop playing, but studies have shown that online gaming is much more controllable than offline.

You see, whenever you enter a casino, be it owned by tribes or just a separate private enterprise, they do everything they possibly can to keep you there. Free drinks, free snacks, whatever as long as you stay.

With online, it’s much different. You play for 5-10 minutes and you’re done, nothing much to it.

Would places like Santa Clarita benefit?

Most of the folk in Santa Clarita tend to work in companies located in either downtown LA or in the outskirts. Any online gaming company, considering that it will be a startup will not require to have such a central location as they can cover most of the market through pretty much any location.

Therefore, it’s extremely likely that they will find places in towns just like Santa Clarita, where costs are reduced dramatically as real estate is nothing near as expensive as in downtown LA.

The growth of Morongo Casino is a testimony to the industry having long-time fans in the state or even in nearby states.

The house of representatives needs to start asking themselves this question. Would it truly be a violation of the law created to support tribes’ monopoly on casinos to allow online options? No, definitely not. Online and offline industries are completely different.

Would it save millions of dollars every month for the citizens as they don’t have to travel and spend more money than they’re supposed to in land-based casinos? Most definitely.

Will it bring more jobs that don’t require a physical presence in commercial centers to small towns like Santa Clarita? Most definitely.

Why fall behind the rest of the nation when everybody’s starting to amend their laws for the future?

KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.