“Maybe we should thank MGM Resorts International. Without them coming to Springfield, maybe the tribes would not be building here and this is a great site.”
—Robert Maynard, first selectman of East Windsor, remarking on how MGM’s Bay State casino prompted the Connecticut tribes to want to build a casino in his city
“It’s big business, it’s serious money potentially and the revenue impacts for the commonwealth, favorable revenue impacts, are likely substantial and I think we need to try to get ahead of the curve.”
—Rep. Joseph Wagner, calling for the Massachusetts House to quickly take up the issue of sports betting if the Supreme Court lifts the ban on it
“We won’t speculate. We are as anxious as anybody else to get to the bottom of this and to establish the facts. Every possible outcome is on the table, but not until we get all the facts together.”
—Stephen Crosby, chairman of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, commenting on the investigation of Wynn Resorts, and whether the commission will revoke the company’s license to build a casino near Boston
“Japan’s integrated resorts tender will likely become global gambling’s Willy Wonka Golden Ticket competition. Industry stakeholders should expect fun and lots of frolics.”
—SBC News, in a story about emerging details of Japan gaming regulations
“Chinese politics is not just opaque to outsiders, but to insiders as well.”
—Trey McArver, co-founder, Trivium/China, on the vulnerability of some wealthy Chinese—but not others—under President Xi Jinping
“Why do we do it? Well, they ask for it. If they stop asking, we’ll stop giving.”
—Ian Horne, Australian Hotels Association, on the AHA’s campaign donations to both Liberal and Labor politicians
“James Packer’s Crown Resorts really needs to remain under the regulatory radar both in Australia and in China. But it is failing miserably.”
—Sydney Morning Herald, in a news story about the Aussie operator’s slot-tampering snafu
“With the law as it stands, anyone who wins in a casino can be told to just f*** off by the operators. The law is like winning the jackpot for casinos. It is a gangster’s paradise.”
—Sayed Mirwais, who lodged a complaint against a Dublin casino after it refused to pay €11,713 (US$14,500) in roulette winnings
“As the battle over the details of sports betting bills in many states is far from over, expect lawyers lobbying for MLB and the NBA to continue to invent new arguments for why the leagues should get a cut of the action. The sad thing is that they are apparently already scraping the bottom of the barrel.”
—Realsport101 columnist Derek Helling, charging Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association of hypocrisy in seeking sports-betting bills that pay the leagues a 1 percent “integrity fee” on wagers
“There are a number of implications for us with kick offs staggered at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. from 2018, with the majority of them being positive. The key one being, in line with UEFA’s intention of allowing fans to watch more football, is that it allows them to bet on more football in the process. Currently with all group stage matches kicking off at the same time, cannibalization is an issue we struggle with as one individual game takes fans away from betting on other games that are on at the same time. With the staggered kick offs fans will be much more able to get involved in betting on a variety of games. It will be interesting to see the level of the impact however, with only two games kicking off in the 6pm slot and the other six still kicking off at the same time at 8pm.”
—Alistair Gill, sportsbook commercial relations manager at Kindred Group to SBC News on the UK Champion’s League announcement of new staggered kick-off time for matches
