Chances of Texas Gaming Expansion in 2025 Now ‘Greater Than 50 Percent”
Numerous years of political progress in Texas have made it so that the chances of passing gaming legislation in the 2025 session are better than ever, according to a panel of lobbyists Oct. 8 at Las Vegas’ Global Gaming Expo (G2E).
The discussion drew a packed house to hear about the latest progress in the Lone Star State. David Rittvo, principal at Tailored Hospitality Advisors, moderated the discussion alongside three heads of governmental relations:
- Andy Abboud of Las Vegas Sands (LVS);
- Rick Limardo of MGM Resorts; and
- Caesar Fernandez of FanDuel.
Abboud was the most bullish of the group, proclaiming several times that Texas gaming expansion is “inevitable.” Even if 2025 isn’t the year, he said, it will still be “another session of great progress.” When asked about the probability of passage next year, he asserted that it is now “greater than 50 percent.”
The path to legalization is not easy–it requires a constitutional amendment, enabling legislation and passage through a statewide referendum. And as Limardo noted, the immediate hurdle is still senate support. In 2023, bills that would’ve legalized casinos and sports betting cleared the house but were killed in the senate.
“We have to show this is viable in the senate and get the votes there,” he said. He later confirmed that “we’ve been told directly we don’t have the votes.”
Integrity Monitoring is Working
Panelists at G2E said there’s always been illegal gambling going on, the industry is just getting better at catching it. In 2023, 10 NFL players were suspended for violating league gambling rules and a college baseball scandal involving insider information was uncovered. An outcry questioning the legal industry followed. But those who specialize in integrity monitoring say that instead, the industry – and others – should celebrate, according to iGB.
“Let’s not fool ourselves – matching fixing and integrity issues aren’t new,” Jim Brown, head of integrity services & harm prevention in North America for Sportradar, said. A regulated market “brings better protections.”
The NFL and NCAA examples were among many in 2023 and 2024 that involved the gambling industry policing itself and uncovering banned or illegal activity.
Brown was speaking as part of the ‘Tackling Match Fixing: Gaming and Global Sports Cooperation’ panel at G2E in Las Vegas on Monday (Oct. 7). Jess Feil, OpenBet VP of regulatory affairs and compliance and Matt Fowler, head of global operations for the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA), joined Brown and moderator Santiago Asensi, managing partner, Asensi Abogados SLP, on the panel.
CA Sports Betting Initiative ‘Probably’ 2028
Two years after a pair of California legal sports betting initiatives lost in spectacular fashion, a key tribal leader teases what’s coming next and when.
James Siva, chairman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, said Oct. 8 that Indian Country is restarting discussions about what a tribal legal sports betting initiative would look like. As for timing, he said “maybe 2026, but probably 2028,” at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas, reports iGB.
Siva was on a panel titled “Tribal Sovereignty and Sports Betting: A Delicate Balance.” He was joined by Washington Indian Gaming Association chair Rebecca George, Minnesota Indian Gaming Association executive director Andy Platto and Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association board chairman Matt Morgan. Indian Gaming Association convention chair Victor Rocha moderated the panel.
California would be the biggest online gaming market in the U.S. and the fight to legalize sports betting has been fierce and protracted. It is possible, and perhaps even likely, that whether the tribes come with an initiative in two years or four, it will either be for in-person betting only or staged. Either way, Siva said, any initiative Indian Country crafts will contemplate online casino in some fashion.
Industry Ripe for M&A, Investment
The global gaming industry is in a more favorable business environment than in previous years and this should facilitate further M&A and financing opportunities, according to a panel discussion on Oct. 7 at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas. Monday’s discussion was moderated by Edward King, former head of gaming investment banking for Morgan Stanley and current co-chief investment officer for Acies Investments. King was joined by three guests:
- Andrew Zarnett, head of gaming investment for Jefferies;
- Shannon Demus, chief financial officer, Americas for Light & Wonder (L&W); and
- Matt Davey, founder and chairman of Tekkorp Capital.
King started the conversation by acknowledging that gaming has become “one of the most active spaces” for private equity. There has been a marked uptick in private equity deals over the last year. Notable examples include Brightstar Capital’s $1.1 billion acquisition of AGS in May and Apollo’s $6.3 billion acquisition of IGT’s gaming assets and Everi in July.
Davey agreed and lauded “the strength of the American consumer” as a key component of the industry’s success. He noted, though, that the environment is still tough for smaller, asset-light companies. Those companies didn’t have access to capital until recently. The Federal Reserve’s September decision to lower interest rates for the first time in four years was seen as a positive step in the right direction.
Demus gave several insights to L&W’s finances and its potential M&A and investment strategies. She noted that when she joined in 2021, the company’s balance sheet was “appalling.” It was a “confused” company, she said, before the 2022 divestitures of its lottery and sports betting divisions. It has since become “a darling of the industry” she said, notching several consecutive quarters of growth.
Grooming Tomorrow’s Game Developers
For the past 12 years, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) has run the Center for Gaming Innovation at the UNLV International Gaming Institute. A panel discussion Oct. 7 at the Global Gaming Expo demonstrated the dynamics of three components—class instruction, manufacturer recruitment, and the UNLV official that brings those two together. The panel, titled “Cultivating the Next Generation of Game Manufacturers,” was moderated by Dr. Daniel Sahl, the director of the Center for Gaming Innovation and a principal professor of undergraduate and graduate classes in the program.
Panelists included Dr. Nicole Hudson, UNLV’s executive director of workforce education, in the school’s Career Services and Workforce Development Department; Connie Kim, senior talent acquisition partner at IGT; and Amani Adeoye, a UNLV computer engineering student who completed Sahl’s class last year and was hired by bingo supplier Arrow International.
Sahl laid out the nuts and bolts of the program. It starts with one week of class instruction featuring manufacturers partnering in the program. Guest lecturers from IGT, Acres, Everi, Ainsworth, Playtech, Arrow International and the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers provide orientation for the students.
What follows is a six-week paid summer internship for each of the students with one of the partner companies. Many of the companies offer the students employment upon graduation.Sahl said of the 10 students that took his class last year, eight are seriously considering employment with slot suppliers, and five of the students were offered continued placement at the companies where they interned.
Battling Illegal iGaming is of Paramount Concern
Cooperation among licensed internet gaming operators, state law enforcement and the federal government will be essential in battling the ever-present operation in the U.S. of unlicensed, offshore iGaming sites, according to an Oct. 9 panel of experts in the field at the Global Gaming Expo.
The panel, titled “The Far-Reaching, Negative Impact of the Illegal Gambling Market,” featured moderator Lindsay Slader, senior vice president of compliance at GeoComply, and panelists including Kurt
Steinkamp, chief of staff of the Michigan Gaming Control Board; Cory Fox, vice president of new market compliance at FanDuel; Joel Trella, lieutenant at the New Jersey State Police Gaming Bureau; and David Rebuck, former director of the New Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement.
The panel examined how pervasive illegal internet gaming remains in the U.S., despite the presence of legal, regulated options in many states. “Just this morning from the lobby here, I created an account on an offshore operator utilizing an identity that I have access to that is not mine,” commented New Jersey’s Trella.
Rebuck estimated that there are more than 100 illegal iGaming sites operating in New Jersey alone, advertising on the internet with consumers having no indication whether or not the site is legal. FanDuel’s Fox noted that advertisements from national sites like Bovada are readily accessible to children.
