The $6.4 billion acquisition of leading slot-maker International Game Technology by GTECH is complete, the merged company rechristened International Game Technology Plc. The merger creates one of the largest gaming companies in the world, a worthy rival to Scientific Games.
Florida developer Glenn Straub (l.) finalized his deal to purchase Atlantic City’s closed Revel casino and immediately found himself in a showdown with the casino’s energy provider. ACR Energy Partners shut down power to the casino tower late last week. The move came even as Straub was continuing to promise a major investment in both the closed casino and the Atlantic City area.
Environmental clearances have proven to be the Achilles Heel of the Everett casino planned by Wynn Resorts (l.). A state official has ruled that the project needs to do more to get the approval necessary. In another casino zone, competition between commercial casino interests and tribal applicants is heating up.
A report by New England gaming expert Clyde Barrow (l.) predicts dire economic ills for Connecticut if it doesn’t build several small casinos to try to keep players inside the state as Massachusetts opens four casinos resorts. Are border casinos that would pick off in-state gamblers the answer?
Governor Rick Scott (l.) wants to make sure the Seminoles are not going to be left behind in any deal to expand gaming in the Sunshine State, as that yet another bill to authorize resort-scale casinos in South Florida is dead on arrival just weeks into the new legislative session. But voters in South Florida could have their voices heard.
Lawrence Ho’s long-stalled casino project in Russia’s Primorye gambling zone has been delayed yet again. Now officials with First Gambling Company of the East say the $700 million resort will open in phases starting this summer. Two other megaresorts will break ground this year.
In the aftermath of a government crackdown on corruption in Macau, high-rolling gamblers have fled their former playground to play elsewhere. Some jurisdictions are picking up the slack, but a loss of junket operators and problems in other markets are leaving a lot of VIPs high and dry.
A third bill designed to legalize online poker in Pennsylvania has been introduced by Rep. Tina Davis (l.) as legislative hearings are scheduled for bills calling for both internet poker and casino games.
This week, the GGB Podcast features an interview with Sabby Gill, the senior vice president of international sales for IGT about how the company’s products perform in different global markets.
MGM Resorts International has announced that its Chinese subsidiary has agreed to an amendment and extension of senior credit facilities. The loans will be expanded by US$1 billion and the maturity extended by 18 months; monies are earmarked in part for Macau development (l.).
Singapore’s casino market, which like other jurisdictions is relying on mass-market play to fill in the gap left by absent VIPs, is expected to be hard-hit by the lower value of the ringgit. The currency is at its lowest value against the Singapore dollar since 1998.
Chinese gamblers are more social than their peers from other regions. Taiwanese gamblers are more likely to play alone. Hong Kong gamblers are more apt to complain and ask for favors. So says a university study on three groups of players who patronize casinos in Macau.
The Nevada Supreme Court has temporarily intervened in a lower court decision ordering Sands China Ltd. to pay $250,000 in penalties for withholding legal documents in a wrongful termination case. The case was filed by former Sands Macau President Steven Jacobs.
The Cambodian National Assembly is expected to approve a casino bill sometime this year, according to a senior official from the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Ros Phearun says the ministry will OK the bill first, after which it will go to the National Assembly.
Philippine-listed Ayala Corp. says it will be among the bidders to redevelop Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The job has been valued at PHP15 billion (US$338 million). Ayala is not interested in a proposed “bundle” approach that would include five other airports.
Lawrence Ho’s company, Summit Ascent Holdings, is almost finished its integrated resort in Russia’s Primorye region. The casino complex is targeted at players from China and throughout East Asia, South Korea and Japan.
Sri Lanka has amended its Betting and Gaming Levy Act to include a US$100 entry fee for every person who enters a casino in the country, including the “StarDust” casino in Colombo. The amendment was approved on March 30 as part of the government's interim budget.
The government of the Turks and Caicos islands has signed a development agreement with Desarrollos Hotel Group to build a $224 million hotel, resort, casino and spa project in the British Overseas Territory.
Jamaican Minister of Tourism and Entertainment Wykeham McNeill says tourism is leading the country’s economic recovery. More than 3 million people visited the island nation in 2014, contributing more than US$2.1 billion in revenues, he said.
The world of online fantasy sports betting has gotten a whole lot richer in the wake of a deal that will see cable giant Disney-ESPN invest $250 million in fantasy operator DraftKings. The tie-up is expected to boost DraftKings’ value to close to $1 billion.
New Jersey is one of three states to legalize online gambling and its gaming regulators have launched a “New Jersey First” initiative to attract innovative new games to the Garden State, according to the DGE’s Eric Weiss (l.)
Two hundred companies have applied for licenses to offer online gambling in the Netherlands. The Dutch parliament will take up a possible expansion of the country’s online gaming market sometime this spring.
Though long thought to be in favor of national online poker regulations, recent comments from Senator Harry Reid show he has switched to opposing online gambling. The change comes as Reid nears retirement, leading many to speculate he’s worried about his legacy.
Swedish gaming regulator Lotteriinspektionen will introduce stricter rules for online gambling advertisers. The amendments included in the Lottery Law are designed to rein in unlicensed operators, at home and abroad, who target Swedish players.
Revenue figures for February show that online poker revenue was up 25 percent in Delaware. Still, the online action took in only about $35,000. Delaware online gaming sites took in a total $143,101 in February for all casino games and poker.
In January, Ontario become the eighth Canadian province to offer online gaming, leaving only Alberta and Saskatchewan behind. Alberta is looking to be the next province to legalize internet gaming.
Paddy Power has announced a program to return possibly more than €800 million in surplus cash to its shareholders. The capital return plan will begin with €382 million in returned payments. The company said the program is being implemented because it has no investments plans for its surplus cash.
China has conducted the largest online gambling investigation in its history with more than 1,000 suspects detained by Guangdong police. The probe focused on an online gambling network that included hundreds of different websites.
Spanish gaming operator Codere has signed a partnership agreement with NetEnt to deliver a range of casino games to the operator’s online casino in Spain. NetEnt is currently being reviewed for a Spanish license and hopes to launch its line of gambling products and services in Spain this year.
Unibet performed an industry-first “triple play launch” in releasing the game Mystic Monkeys to online casinos, mobile casinos and the Spin City App at the same time.
A report from an independent advisory firm eviscerated the practices of Wynn Resorts, and suggested the firm not bring any nominated candidates to the board or even retain current board member Elaine Wynn (l.). In the report, several criticisms arose over executive pay structure, Steve Wynn's private jet use, among other areas.
There is nothing that New Hampshire residents hate more than raising taxes. Supporters of building casinos to raise revenues hope to ride that dislike to victory as they try to pass a casino authorization bill in the House. One casino would be located at the Rockingham Park racetrack (l.).
A prominent Delaware attorney is working with legislators on a bill that would create licenses for three new casinos in the state, with $10 million license fees. Dover Downs CEO Denis McGlynn (l.) says more casinos in the state is “not a good idea.”
A new bill authorizing up to nine casinos, six of them at the state’s racetracks, isn’t expected to go far in the Texas legislature. But a more modest proposal for amending the state Constitution to allow two Indian tribes to engage in Class II gaming could have legs.
Reaction to a bill introduced by Ohio Senator Bill Coley (l.) who wants to tax free promotional casino credits has been swift. The state’s casino operators say such a tax could “cripple” their operations.
Z Capital Partners hope the second time is a charm, as it has put in an offer to buy up the rest of Affinity Gaming. Z Capital currently owns 39.5 percent of the Las Vegas-based company.
Four casinos closed in Atlantic City in 2014, but that allowed the city’s remaining casinos to post a 45 percent increase in profit. The casinos also saw an increase in hotel occupancy. Seven of the city’s eight casinos were profitable.
A new report alleges that Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane shut down the investigation into alleged mob ties of Mount Airy Casino founder Louis DeNaples, original owner of the Mt. Airy Lodge casino (l.).
Are you ready for the future in arena advertising? You may not have much of a choice in the new MGM arena in Las Vegas, where new technology will scan audiences to determine which ad experience best suits the crowd.
Virginia’s struggling Colonial Downs canceled last year’s racing season and has now closed its off-track betting operations in an ongoing dispute with the state’s breeders and trainers over the length of the racing season and other core economic issues.
Mandalay Bay Convention Center is in the middle of a $66 million expansion which will see an addition 350,00 square feet of exhibit space in addition to 900 underground parking spaces.
A policy has been approved in New York which will see an expansion of video lottery terminals. The expansion would introduce more skill-based games into the state.
The Atlantic City Sheraton is the city’s convention center hotel, but has never enjoyed a major influx of convention guests. Officials hope the latest push to bring more conventions to the resort will help as it seeks to refinance its debt.
After years of the Las Vegas Strip building resorts which shied away from the themes of the 70's and 80's, Resorts World will have a Chinese theme dominating their property.
As Cleveland’s ThistleDown Racino prepares for live racing, the facility has also launched a full schedule of simulcasting for the first time in four months. A dispute over simulcast fees kept 23 racetracks around the country in the MidAtlantic Cooperative—including ThistleDown—from simulcasting popular tracks controlled by Monarch Content Management.
The Ho-Chunk Indians, owners of a lucrative casino in the Wisconsin capital of Madison, are talking with city officials and other stakeholders about developing 48 prime acres the tribe controls near its gaming complex. Proposals include a sports complex and a major entertainment venue.
The Oneida Indian Nation has written a letter to the New York Gaming Commission in the hopes of rescinding the gaming license which would see the Lago Resort & Casino (l.) in the Finger Lakes.
California’s North Fork Mono Rancheria, having failed to convince the voters to support its tribal state gaming compact, is resorting to the federal courts to be allowed to build a casino resort in Madera.
The Idaho legislature voted to repeal a law that allows the state’s racetracks to operate slot-like machine games. The Coeur D’Alene Tribe backed the ban. But the tracks say they need the machines to remain viable and Governor Butch Otter (l.) vetoed it.
Sam Nazarian will return as chairman, CEO, and president of the sbe Entertainment Group, known for their upscale boutique hotels, in addition to the SLS Las Vegas.
GTECH has named former IBM executive Neil Abrams as the company’s new senior vice president and general counsel, reporting directly to CFO Alberto Fornano.
Respected tribal gaming executive Wendell Long is resigning as CEO of Michigan’s Little River Casino Resort to take a job with the Snoqualmie Casino Resort near Seattle, Washington. At Little River, Long is credited for creating an era of “planning and growth.”
David Hunter has resigned as chief executive officer of Ukash after online payment processor Skrill Group completed its acquisition of the online cash payments provider.
NYX Gaming Group Limited last week announced the acquisition of Chartwell and Cryptologic, as well as a new preferred supplier licensing agreement with Amaya Inc. NYX CEO Matt Davey says the deal strengthens the ties between the two companies and expands NYX’s B2B businesses.
Duetto last week announced that it had achieved full integration with Trust International's CRS technology, providing greater insights into the pricing schemes of almost 7,000 hotels worldwide. Patrick Bosworth, Duetto CEO, says the system will increase profits for hotels.
The British betting shop and casino operator Gala Coral Group has launched a series of new games from Inspired across a number of brands for desktop and mobile devices, the company has announced. Content will be delivered through the supplier’s Remote Gaming Server Virgo.
Networking luncheons, receptions and seminars highlight the spring events planned by the AGA’s Global Gaming Women initiative. A breakfast meeting was held last week at NIGA’s Indian Gaming tradeshow (l.).
An executive of the National Basketball Association will discuss the potential of the U.S. sports-betting sector at the GiGSE trade show in San Francisco.
