“One of the silver linings in all of this is that it’s created a lot of new fans for non-traditional markets like table tennis, Nicaraguan soccer, Taiwanese baseball and basketball. I’ve been in the business for more than 25 years and can’t say before that I saw people getting interested in table tennis and darts.”
—Jamie Shea, head of Sports Digital, DraftKings, who thinks once-obscure sports now popular among mobile bettors may stick around
“We’re going to run the Kentucky Derby in 2020. I don’t care if there are two horses on the track and two fans in the stands; the Kentucky Derby will be run.”
—Kevin Flanery, president, Churchill Downs, quoting late racetrack president Matt Winn
“We have the potential of an Armageddon in Atlantic City.”
—George Tibbitt, Atlantic City Council president, on widespread joblessness in the casino town
“With so much positive momentum building for Atlantic City, and all the excitement coming into summer 2020, to see that trajectory change so rapidly is a bit of a blow. But if Atlantic City is anything, it’s a survivor. The city will get through this and come out stronger.“
—Rummy Pandit, Atlantic City tourism expert, on the long-term impact of Covid-19 on the city’s chief industry
“For the first time in 40 years running this company I’m having a drink at work because this is the hardest, most painful thing I’ve had to do.”
—Tilman Fertitta, casino and restaurant owner, announcing the layoffs of thousands of employees; Fertitta called Covid-19 “a meteor that hit the United States and the world”
“I think that we’re closer to coming out the other side in many jurisdictions, if we continue to be really disciplined and deliberate. And over the next couple months, we’re going to see the monster bull growth in our economy.”
—Jim Murren, former MGM Resorts chief, now heading up a coronavirus task force in Nevada
“Nobody thought it would be like this. People were thinking maybe two weeks, three weeks tops. Now, as reality is setting in, people are really, really scared.”
—Jeff Payne, Atlantic City casino worker, on growing concerns about the effect of Covid-19
“One of the perfectly possible, viable and even necessary alternatives we can do to help recover the economy after the pandemic is over is to legalize the gambling sector.”
—Pompeo de Mattos, Brazilian federal deputy, urging lawmakers to finally legalize casinos when the Covid-19 crisis is over
“When July and August comes, we will be back to MLB and NBA and write as many bets on table tennis as we did last year, which is none.”
—Jason Scott, BetMGM, on what will happen to obscure sports once traditional games return
“I have concerns that when the light gets switched on for the economy, people aren’t going to be running to the casinos to spend their money.”
—Izzy Trejo, executive director, New Mexico Racing Commission, on the need to open casinos that contribute to racetrack purses at the same time the tracks resume
“We don’t want to put money over life. You cannot have a thriving economy unless you have a healthy community.”
—David Bean, chairman, Puyallup Tribe, on when the Emerald Queen Casino in Washington may open
“It’s as though the federal government has thrown us a lifeline, but continues to keep it just out of reach.”
—Robert Miguel, chairman, Ak-Chin Indian Community, complaining that the Treasury Department isn’t issuing pandemic aid to Indian tribes fast enough
