Analysis of oral arguments and questioning from U.S. Supreme Court justices in New Jersey’s sports betting appeal show the court receptive to New Jersey’s position that PASPA is unconstitutional. A decision in the case is expected sometime in June of next year. But could a congressional hearing to repeal PASPA make a court decision moot?
GVC Holdings Plc is in advanced talks to acquire U.K. bookmaker Ladbrokes Coral Group Plc for a price approaching $5.2 billion. The move is seen as another step in the ongoing consolidation of online betting companies and bookmakers in the face of changing regulations. GVC owns online platforms PartyPoker and Sportingbet while Ladbrokes maintains retail betting shops in the UK. The deal values Ladbrokes Coral at £3.9 billion, but the deal could be cut by £800 million depending on the final result of a UK government review of fixed-odds betting terminals.
The legislature of Bermuda last week destroyed any appearance of regulatory transparency when it allowed the Bermuda Casino Gaming Commission to fall under the influence of Minister of Tourism & Economic Development Jamahl Simmons (l.). The commission will now be required to follow the directives of the minister or risk dismissal.
Scientific Games and William Hill have ended their dispute over the former’s acquisition of NYX Gaming, with William Hill agreeing to sell its NYX shares to Scientific Games. In addition, SkyBet, another shareholder in NYX, has thrown its support behind the deal.
Just as it was getting to the finish line, the bill that would legalize gambling in Brazil has been sidelined yet again. Senator Benedito de Lira (l.) said amendments were needed to improve the bill and pushed off a vote until the next session of the committee.
Macau posted gross gaming revenue of $2.9 billion for the month of November for the second-highest monthly total of 2017. A 23 percent increase hiked YTD GGR above $30 billion for the first time in three years. MGM China has lost market share due to the delay in opening its Cotai project (l.).
Penn National Gaming is considering acquiring Pinnacle Entertainment. The potential cash-and-stock deal could affect four of St. Louis' six casinos, since each operator owns two in the market, including Pinnacle’s Ameristar (l.) in St. Charles. The merger would require approval from companies' boards and shareholders, plus state and federal regulators, who may require selling some properties. A combined company would have $5 billion in revenue.
The New Jersey Assembly last week approved a bill that would permit racetracks in the state, including the Meadowlands (l.), to participate in internet gambling. Currently limited to casinos, the bill would open up the industry to casinos and licensees of casinos.
U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-California, at left) have sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to revisit a 2011 Department of Justice opinion that cleared the way for online gambling within state’s boundaries. The Senators—who have introduced legislation to ban online gambling—say that online gambling could “sweep across our country.”
The Hopi tribe became the last Arizona tribe to enter the casino industry last week when it signed a compact with Governor Doug Ducey that allows it to operate up to 900 slots. A new tribal chairman, Tim Nuvangyaoma (l.), will evaluate how to implement gaming.
This week, the GGB Podcast sits down with gaming veteran Andrew Tottenham, the founder of the premier gaming consulting group, Tottenham & Co., to talk about the state of gaming in Europe.
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party was pushing lawmakers last week to approve a gambling addiction bill before the current Diet session ended December 9.
Locals-only casinos in Vietnam could bring back the estimated $800 million per year gambled by Vietnamese nationals at casinos across the border. A three-year trial of locals gaming has been OK’d by the government. Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung (l.) says casinos bring significant investment.
With its hotel in receipt of a five-star rating by the government of Nepal, Silver Heritage Group Ltd. says it may now proceed with plans to open a casino at Tiger Palace (l.) in Bhairahawa, near the capital of Kathmandu.
The Indian Gujarat High Court has rejected a petition to have poker classified as a game of skill. The petition was brought by the Indian Poker Association after a series of police raids on local card clubs in the Indian State seeking to redefine poker under Gujarat’s gaming laws.
The Japanese machine gaming giant is seeking compensation for the costs of an in-house investigation that led to the ouster of its billionaire founder and chairman, Kazuo Okada (l.), earlier this year. The probe claims Okada defrauded the company on at least three occasions.
Macau authorities have rejected what they call the European Union’s “unilateral and biased” decision to include the territory on a blacklist of 17 purported global tax havens.
Hong Kong-listed Amax International Holdings Ltd. has signed an agreement with Cambodia’s Crown Resorts Co. Ltd. to operate a VIP room at Genting Crown Casino (l.) in the casino town of Poipet.
Traces of the legionella bacteria have been identified at the Parisian Macao, a property of Sands China Ltd. The Macau Health Bureau has ordered the resort to ramp up inspections of the water supply.
Tigre de Cristal (l.), the sole casino resort in Russia’s Primorye economic development zone near Vladivostok, may suspend operations over a new law that would require it to collect taxes from its customers.
The UK Gambling Commission has ordered Broadway Gaming is to pay a penalty package of £100,000 for misleading ads on its websites that omitted important conditions for promotions. Broadway gaming also admitted that its affiliate websites had also run the ads and it must exert greater control over its advertisements.
Online bookmaker CrownBet has withdrawn from a legal bid to block the A$11 billion merger of Australia's two biggest gambling companies, Tabcorp and Tatts groups. Tabcorp it had struck an agreement with CrownBet where it would withdraw its opposition to the merger in the Australian Competition Tribunal in exchange for CrownBet customers being able to stream Tabcorp's Sky Racing vision.
To attract more visitors, Baha Mar and Atlantis in the Bahamas must distinguish themselves as "two separate kinds of experiences" while Nassau/Paradise Island must be marketed as a singular destination, said former Bahamas Minister of Tourism Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace (l.). He added Nassau/Paradise Island makes up only 2 percent of developable property in the Bahamas.
British Columbia’s new government is instituting tough reporting measures for casino transactions of $10,000 or more. The policies are part of a comprehensive assault on a system of lax controls it says have allowed criminal syndicates, operating mainly out of China, to safely funnel illegal cash through the province, according to BC Attorney General David Eby (l.).
The government of the Bahamas has come under severe criticism for allowing the Gaming Board of the Bahamas for firing about 30 employees. The board said the employees didn’t have enough tech skills.
Australian casino operator Crown Resorts is the subject of a class action lawsuit filed by disgruntled investors. The investors contend the company failed to inform them of its risky marketing practices in Mainland China.
Grupo Codere is the fifth sports-betting operator to receive a gambling license from Colijeugos, Colombia's gambling regulator, and the second to enter Colombia's new regulated gambling market, after Gaming1 and Zamba.co debuted in November. Codere already operates the land-based Crown and Royal Ferrias casinos in Bogota.
Canberra’s ACT clubs contributed a mere $72,000 to fund problem gambling programs in the city in in 2016-17, though they reaped more than $168 million from poker machines in the same period.
Online gaming providers in Australia are lobbying to keep the state of Victoria from adopting a 15 percent tax on internet betting. The point-of-contribution tax is already being implemented elsewhere Down Under.
The UK online gambling market topped £4.7 billion from April 2016 to March 2017, representing an about 10 percent increase over the previous fiscal year. The figures were released by the UK Gambling Commission. Online gambling now makes up about 34 percent of the UK gambling market, the report said. The figures also show that retail betting shops in the UK have been closing.
A report commissioned by the Remote Gambling Association found that about 68 percent of Portuguese online gamblers are gambling on sites not licensed in the country. The report concludes that Portugal’s efforts to curb the use of unlicensed sites through gambling regulation have been unsuccessful.
PhilWeb Corp., a Philippines eGames provider that saw its license go unrenewed in 2016, has been approved by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. to resume business.
The Ohio legislature has passed a law regulating daily fantasy sports contests in the state. The law gives the Ohio Casino Control Commission the authority to regulate fantasy contests and to exempt fantasy contests from state gambling laws. The bill sets a $10,000 yearly license fee in the state. It now goes to Governor John Kasich.
The UK Government has said it will ban third-party bets on EuroMillion draws conducted outside the UK by introducing a new licensing condition to prohibit consumers in Great Britain from placing bets on international EuroMillions games. The ruling comes after complaints from the national lottery about operators such as Lottoland undercutting its own EuroMillions revenue.
FansUnite, a startup sports book based in Vancouver is betting that it can reduce operator margins on all bets through the use of its own cryptocurrency. The company says that it can offer the lower margins to bettors and maintain profitability through the digital currency and by its own risk management platform around machine learning calculations currently only utilized by the most advanced betting syndicates.
Dubuque, Iowa has included legalizing daily fantasy sports among its 2018 Legislative Priorities List. Officials said regulating DFS would bring additional revenue to Dubuque and the state. However, casino owners said DFS would create more competition without benefiting Iowa communities, and they question how the games would be regulated.
Satellite Information Services Limited has signed a multi-year deal to provide Spanish bookmaker Orenes Grupo with its new SIS greyhound service for use across the operator’s VivelaSuerte.es online gaming and sportsbetting brand, the company announced. The agreement will see SIS supply Orenes Grupo’s entire land-based retail estate with live pictures, data and commentary for horse and greyhound racing events.
Gaming software provider Tom Horn Gaming has signed an agreement to provide its full suite of games for the EveryMatrix platform. Tom Horn’s library of video slots will be accessible to EveryMatrix’s network of operators through its CasinoEngine content aggregator.
A Las Vegas blog last week reported that Wynn Resorts has purchased the site of the failed Alon (l.), across the Strip from Wynn Las Vegas. Owner James Packer was asking $400 million for the land, but it’s unlikely he got that price, according to Vital Vegas.
The list of municipalities opting out of the “mini-casino” provision of Pennsylvania’s new gaming law—banning satellite casinos in their jurisdictions—stands at 130.
In November 2018, Florida voters may have the chance to approve ending greyhound racing. A committee of the Florida Constitution Commission recently unanimously approved advancing the issue. Sixty percent of voters would have to support the proposal, which would end greyhound racing after December 31, 2019.
Opened in December 2016, MGM National Harbor (l.) has had an impact on Maryland casinos. For November 2017 versus November 2016, Horseshoe Casino Baltimore revenue dropped 20.3 percent to $22.7 million and Live Casino & Hotel revenue decreased 13.5 percent to $43.4 million. MGM posted $50.6 million for November, its seventh $50 million-plus monthly report.
A prominent Pennsylvania businessman who is a shareholder in Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem is suing to challenge the state’s ban on political giving by those involved in the gaming industry.
MGM, which will open a new casino resort (l.) on the south end of Springfield, Massachusetts, is working with two community colleges to put together a career class to help train people to work at the new casino.
A year after it opened as New York’s first full-scale commercial casino, Tioga Downs now has a hotel (l.) to bolster its competitive position in the south of the state. The 161-room venue is part of an expansion that includes a golf course and convention and meetings facilities.
Dave Sinker, owner of the Comedy Shrine in Aurora, Illinois, said he "did everything I was asked to do" for a video gambling license. His 2015 state application wasn't approved for more than two years. By then Aurora had enacted a 6-month moratorium on video gambling licenses. The city council denied Sinker's exemption request.
Nevada has released the first official gaming revenue results since the October 1 mass shooting, and it could have been a lot worse. In all, Las Vegas held up well against a tough comparison with October 2016.
Some members of the Nooksack tribe of Washington state are crying foul about an election in which they claim many people did not get their ballots. The Bureau of Indian Affairs will decide later this month if the election was on the up and up. The tribe’s casino (l.) remains open pending a BIA investigation.
The Wampanoag tribe that wants to build a casino on Martha’s Vineyard has thrown its support behind the Wampanoag tribe that wants to build a casino in Taunton (planned First Light casino at left). The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) last sent a letter of support to the Department of the Interior for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe.
The governor of Connecticut, Governor Dannel P. Malloy (l.), and the Mohegan and Pequot tribes have sued in federal court to try to force the Bureau of Indian Affairs to issue a ruling that would allow the tribes to begin work on a third casino. The BIA allowed a 45-day period to go by without issuing the ruling the tribes need. At the same time, MGM continued its push to build a casino in Bridgeport.
Pechanga Resort and Casino in Southern California has upped its game in a very competitive casino market by completing its $285 million expansion that includes a new hotel and spa. It will open on December 22.
The Barona Band of Mission Indians, near San Diego, have become the first California tribe to be issued a certificate of self-regulation by the National Indian Gaming Commission. The tribe operates Barona Casino (l.).
The Seminole Tribe warned Florida legislators it would "cease all revenue sharing payments to the state," more than $200 million annually, if they pass fantasy sports legislation. Tribal officials claim DFS would expand gambling in violation of the tribe's compact. Supporters said fantasy sports are games of skill, not chance, and therefore not gambling.
A tribe based in the Phoenix Valley of Arizona, the Tohono O’odham Nation, has broken ground on a permanent $400 million casino resort. Once completed, the old Desert Diamond West Valley Casino (l.) will be converted into a warehouse.
Adding to its collection of culturally significant objects, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians installed two massive "float copper" rocks at the Copper Rock Steakhouse (l.) at Four Winds South Bend in Indiana. The tribe considers copper a "sacred healing metal," according to Chairman John Warren. The rocks were found in Michigan's Northern Peninsula.
Since its Gun Lake Casino opened in 2011 in Wayland, Michigan, the Gun Lake Tribe has made revenue sharing payments of more than $100 million. The fall payment, the tribe's 14th disbursement, was $8.2 million, a 24 percent increase over the spring payment. Tribal Chairman Scott Sprague credits the casino's recent $76 million expansion.
The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s Mystic Lake Casino Hotel will present Nomadic Entertainment Group's Club NOMADIC before and after Super Bowl LII, Sunday, February 4, 2018 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Previous Club NOMADIC performers include Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Dave Matthews Band, Pharrell Williams and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (l.) vetoed legislation that would officially recognize the 1,500-member Montaukett Tribe. He denied the tribe official status in 2013 claiming the process the legislature approved for recognition was too burdensome. This time he said the bill would require the state to recognize the tribe "as a nation, without any process."
In April, the Stockbridge-Munsee sued the Ho-Chunk and Wisconsin alleging the Ho-Chunk violated its compact by expanding its Wittenberg casino. A federal judge said the Stockbridge-Munsee filed too late and dismissed the Ho-Chunk from the lawsuit. Now the Stockbridge-Munsee asked the judge to not dismiss the state, which sued the Stockbridge-Munsee for $1 million in withheld payments.
In response to retailers and social conservatives, the North Carolina Education Lottery is going slow on expanding games to include digital instants, electronic versions of scratch-off tickets, accessible via desktops and smartphones. The lottery wants to attract new, younger players to generate more sales and profits for public education.
Rob Long, a respected casino executive with nearly four decades of gaming leadership, has been named to lead the Rivers Casino in Schenectady, New York. The property has struggled since it opened last year, and Long’s experience with new properties should help start a rebound.
Golden Entertainment, the new owner of the property, has appointed Christopher Fiumara as the new vice president and general manager of the Stratosphere Casino, Hotel & Tower in Las Vegas. Golden completed the acquisition of the property last month.
Choi Heung-jip, former CEO of Kangwon Land, has been arrested on charges of currying favor with local politicians and other “bigwigs.” Hundreds of people allegedly got jobs because of high-level connections.
AIC Hotel Group named David Luber president of casino marketing, overseeing marketing initiatives and executives at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana. Luber previously was vice president, national marketing. He also worked in marketing and sales positions at Revel Casino in Atlantic City, Destron Inc./MGM Resorts International and Mohegan Sun.
Aristocrat Leisure Limited recorded record earnings for the fiscal year ended September 2017, reporting revenues up 15.3 percent an EBITDA up by 24.2 percent. And just a week after the purchase of Big Fish Games, Aristocrat announced the acquisition of a promotional kiosk solution developed by Phi Gaming. Aristocrat CEO Trevor Croker (l.) called the report “high quality results.”
International Game Technology has introduced its CrystalCurve gaming cabinet (l.) at several casinos in Chile. It has also introduced its Texas Tea Pinball skill games to the same market.
Everi Holdings announced the closing of a private offering of $375 million worth of senior unsecured notes with 7.5 percent interest, becoming due in 2025.
The Japanese machine gaming manufacturer sees the Silver State as a springboard for plans to expand across North America. Its first games are expected to hit the U.S. market early next year.
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay (l.) opened a spinoff of his Las Vegas steakhouse at Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore. Gordon Ramsay Steak is his first East Coast venture, replacing Jack Binion's Steak. About 20 percent of the menu is locally sourced. Favorites from Ramsay's Las Vegas restaurant include beef Wellington, roasted bone marrow and rib cap.
Universal Entertainment has announced a joint venture with China Guangcai International Investment Group to expand the sales and maintenance of casino products in Southeast Asia.
Crane Co., supplier of gaming industry payment and merchandising technology, will acquire Crane Currency for $800 million. Crane Co President and Chief Executive Max Mitchell said, " Our combined businesses will be able to offer end-to-end currency and security solutions, from substrate manufacturing and banknote design and printing to micro-optics and banknote validation."
Clarion Gaming has reported that its ICE London 2018 trade show and conference will draw exhibitors from a total of 62 sovereign states and gaming jurisdictions.
