The sports betting partnership between MGM Resorts International and the UK gaming giant GVC Interactive has concluded an agreement, a first-of-its-kind, to operate sports wagering for a California Indian casino.
The deal with the United Auburn Indian Community will see MGM-GVC installed as the bookmaker at the tribe’s 300-room Thunder Valley Casino Resort in the town of Lincoln, near Sacramento, once California legalizes sports betting. MGM-GVC will provide its brands and proprietary technology on both land-based and remote platforms, as well as online casino and poker, which also are awaiting legalization in the Golden State.
Since a May ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a decades-old federal ban on sports betting, states have begun lining up for a piece of the action, led by Delaware, New Jersey, Mississippi and West Virginia, with Rhode Island and Pennsylvania expected to follow later this year, and another dozen or more states considering regulation.
The path in California isn’t expected to be smooth one, however. A variety of stakeholders𑁋Indian casinos and racetracks and card rooms, mainly, all with political influence𑁋have been wrangling for years over online and remote gambling and likewise are struggling to reach any consensus on sports betting. The most recent bill to create a regulated market died in the state Legislature in August.
Nonetheless, “The potential of this partnership is significant for MGM-GVC,” said Adam Greenblatt, GVC’s director of corporate development and strategy.
“It is not yet clear if California will authorize sports betting or interactive games generally, but with the (Supreme Court ruling) possibly opening the door for sports betting, our tribe wants to be well-situated, and this agreement with the national leader in the field does just that,” said United Auburn Chairman Gene Whitehouse.
