“From the outset, I’ve been saying we have a public health crisis and a business crisis going on in the country. There’s only so much you can do on the business side until you solve the public health issue.”
—Joe Asher, William Hill CEO, who remains optimistic that sports and sports betting will resume in time
“What a visionary policy. The ACT government has seized the unique opportunity presented by this crisis to truly consider what its economy and community could look like as things return to ‘normal,’ or what will undoubtedly be a ‘new normal.’”
—Reverend Tim Costello, Australia’s Alliance for Gambling Reform, on a move by the ACT government to offer $15,000 in coronavirus aid to gaming halls in exchange for the surrender of one poker machine
“Our prayer is eventually the casino is going to return. But now you have a lot of people just trying to make ends meet, let alone having any disposable income. There will be safety precautions, but it hasn’t crossed my mind how things will look when our members get back to work.”
—Dave Cassidy, president, Unifor Local 444 in Ontario, on the uncertain future for employees of Caesars Windsor
“By being furloughed, you will be better off. You will receive more money from both the state and federal government than what you are currently receiving from South Point.”
—Michael Gaughan, owner, South Point Casino in Las Vegas, in a letter to employees informing them they will be laid off the first week of May
“We are currently modelling a more conservative reopening on June 1 and expect a gradual ramp of operations, possibly with VIP returning first.”
—Union Gaming forecast for the Philippine gaming market
“The longer this goes, the steeper the hill will be on the other side.”
—Paul Burns, CEO, Canadian Gaming Association, on the ongoing shutdown of casinos across Canada
“I am really proud that we at Casino Cosmopol can contribute to social benefit in the difficult situation we are in. It’s important that all good forces work together now.”
—Thérèse Liljeqvist, manager, Casino Cosmopol in Stockholm, on a plan to retrain resort workers for temporary health care jobs
“Restricting daily life is not the only thing we should endure as we’re also sacrificing the economic activities.”
—Chung Sye-Kyun, South Korean prime minister, who says the country will reopen on May 6, with social distancing in place
“Let’s not forget that no major businesses have gone totally bust because of a cyber-attack. It takes good communications, owning up to the mistakes, getting a clear message across that the errors were understood and rectified, and that the company has learned its lessons.”
—Predrag Popovic, co-founder, Fincore, which develops digital risk management and wagering software for the global betting industry
“At the moment, I’m feeling very stressed and overwhelmed. It’s impacting my mental state as well. At the moment it’s really up in the air. Not being able to get clarification about what’s going on is sort of hard.”
—Matt McClean, bartender, who was laid off last month from his job at Crown Resorts in Australia
“I am insanely worried about what this virus can do to our people. We’ve seen it spread in other tribes and we’ve seen the way it takes off like wildfire. We don’t have the experience to deal with something like that.”
—Joseph Talachy, governor, Pueblo of Pojoaque of Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the tribe has opened its Buffalo Thunder Casino to Covid-19 patients
“Tying tight federal strings around Covid‐19 federal response funds for tribes will be counterproductive. It is clear that tribes make extremely large economic contributions to their own reservations and the broader states and regions in which they are embedded. The need for Covid‐19 response funds is correspondingly great.”
—Harvard report urging the federal government to rescue tribal economies slammed by the Covid-19 pandemic
“The people who work at these small businesses are struggling right now, and it’s shameful that the Treasury Department would try to ignore the intent of Congress.”
—Dina Titus, Nevada congresswoman, criticizing Small Business Administration policy that prevents small casinos from qualifying for federal Covid-19 relief
“It’s unbelievable. It’s surreal, this whole thing.”
—Carol Speirs, Atlantic City casino worker, on thousands of her out-of-work colleagues who turned out for emergency supplies at a local food bank
