Melco Resorts & Entertainment last week bought 19.99 percent of former partner Crown Resorts Ltd. and said it would welcome the opportunity to buy a larger share of the Australian operator. Lawrence Ho (l.), Melco chairman and CEO, said it was an “incredible opportunity. Melco and Crown were partnered in Macau and the Philippines for 13 years before Crown sold out two years ago.
It came down to the wire—the last day of the Illinois legislative session—but a gambling expansion and sports betting bills, passed the legislature and was signed by Governor J.B. Pritzker (l.). The bill includes $217 million in sports betting revenue in his proposed budget but a "penalty box" provision against DraftKings and FanDuel. It also includes six new casinos and up to 30,000 new slot machines.
With the trial by fire from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission now behind Wynn Resorts Ltd. has decided to take its bitter punishment and pay $35.5 million in fines related to sexual allegations against its founder and former CEO Steve Wynn, although it takes issue with the penalties imposed on CEO Matt Maddox. It says it will now concentrate on opening the $2.6 billion Encore Boston Harbor (l.) by June 23.
SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia became the first Pennsylvania casino to offer online sports betting, a development expected to be a game-changer for the state’s nascent sports books. Rush Street Interactive President Richard Schwartz (l.) said the launch was perfect timing for the NHL and NBA finals.
Japan lawmakers have announced they will not issue their Fundamental Policy on Integrated Resorts until after this summer’s elections. As a result, the expected timeline for IR openings may be pushed back too. Osaka City Mayor Ichiro Matsui (l.) called the decision bad policy and weak politics.
At last week’s deadline there were five applicants for the two vacant Arkansas casino licenses approved by voters last year. But four of the applications are for a casino in Pope County and only the Quapaw Nation's Downstream Development Authority for the Saracen casino (l.) in Jefferson County.
Sun Dreams, Marina del Sol and Clairvest are combining their gaming operations. The merged portfolio will be Chile’s largest, and one of the largest in South America, totaling more than 10,000 slots, 450 table games and nearly 1,000 hotel rooms. The Sun Dreams Iquique (l.) is one of the jewels in the crown.
Gaming regulators in Pennsylvania unanimously approved the sale of Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem by Las Vegas Sands Corp. to Wind Creek Hospitality, an arm of Alabama’s Poarch Band of Creek Indians.
Police in Spain have arrested 11 people in a match-fixing case following a sting called “Operación Oikos.” Among those detained were athletes and sports club “presidents and executives,” according to reports. Spanish football organization La Liga was grateful to law enforcement for busting up the ring.
The big American companies are being left behind in Asia. Although they have beachheads in Macau, the expansion into other parts of Asia favors Asian companies and their partners. Who will be the winners in Japan? It appears more likely that Asian companies may have an edge.
This week the GGB Podcast features an in-depth discussion with Blaine Graboyes, the president of GameCo, on how his company has moved beyond the “skill games” discussion to figure out how video game gambling can work in the casino environment.
The city of Sihanoukville, Cambodia has become a hotbed of casino gaming particularly popular among Chinese players. Of an estimated 100-plus casinos there, the Jin Ding Hotel and Casino (l.) has been ordered to close, but continues to do business.
Japanese gaming titan Kazuo Okada has filed theft and estafa charges against executives of Universal Entertainment Corp., including CEO Steve Wolstenholme (l.), and a subsidiary for ousting him from the companies he founded.
Australian gaming operator Donaco International Ltd. has announced it will convene an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders after three of them called for the ouster of board directors Joey and Ben Lim (l.).
The casino boom has gifted the Chinese territory with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world. As new data released for the first four months of 2019 show, unemployment stands at a mere 1.7 percent𑁋and that’s down slightly from last year.
The unrelated crimes both occurred in or near the Four Seasons casino hotel on Cotai. A mainland Chinese man was stabbed to death in a reputed clash between mainland gangs. A week later, four mainland residents were apprehended as suspects in an armed heist of HK$3.1 million from a baccarat table.
Widus Philippines Inc., owner and operator of the Widus Hotel and Casino (l.) in the Clark Freeport Zone, has secured a PHP7 billion (US$133.9 million) loan to finance a fourth hotel tower on the property
Finnish law enforcement and Traficom will join forces to curb illegal gambling ads. Only Finland’s state-owned Veikkaus is permitted to operate and promote gaming in the country.
Norway’s largest pension fund has blacklisted companies that produce alcohol and gambling products. KLP will divest its shares in companies like Heineken and Carlsberg and gaming giants William Hill and Betsson.
The government of Belgium has OK’d CDV Minister Koen Geens’ “gambling protection mandate,” giving the Belgium Gaming Commission the authority to enact stricter gambling ad controls.
Ontario Place on Toronto's waterfront—home of the iconic Cinesphere cinema (l.)—closed in 2012 due to decreasing attendance. Now the provincial government has put out a call for proposals for redeveloping the government-owned theme park. Sports facilities, entertainment venues, public spaces and parks, retail and more could be considered--but not casinos.
The government of Uganda has announced that it will nationalize the country’s sports betting industry and cease the issue or reissue of licenses to foreign betting companies “with immediate effect.” Finance Minister Matia Kasaija (l.) told regulators to stop taking applications and issue no licenses.
Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Ltd. announced a new timeline for the opening of Cascades Casino Delta (l.), a $70-million casino/hotel complex at the former Delta Town & Country Inn site in Ladner. The casino is set to open in late fall 2020.
Measures to limit online gambling incentives have taken effect in Australia. The country’s new National Consumer Protection Framework came into effect on May 26.
The New Zealand government has announced it will repeal its betting levy on racing to help the industry rebuild. The tax will be phased out gradually over the next three years.
Kenya’s High Court has rejected a proposed ban on gambling ads, calling it unconstitutional. The ban would have covered outdoor, electronic and online advertising.
Governance for the gambling group Paddy Power Betfair Plc has confirmed that it has officially approved the firm’s corporate rebrand to ‘Flutter Entertainment Plc’. The Flutter Entertainment rebrand was approved overwhelmingly by company shareholders.
A recent study has found that fans of competitive video gaming aren’t concerned about match fixing in the sport, which could cast a cloud on casinos taking bets of contests. Brett Abarbanel (l.), director of research of the University of Nevada Las Vegas’ International Gaming Institute said the study found fans of eSports aren’t concerned about teams throwing contests, but were more concerned about teams cheating to win.
The Alabama legislature passed a daily fantasy sports bill, which will now go to Governor Kay Ivey (l.). The bill calls for fantasy sports operators to register with the Alabama attorney general’s office and to pay fees and taxes to the state. Meanwhile, a daily fantasy sports bill has advanced in North Carolina.
Nintendo will remove two mobile games from the Belgian market as the game maker moves to comply with local gambling laws. Belgium has banned games that use loot boxes. Nintendo will remove Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Fire Emblem Heroes from the country in August.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee allowed the Tennessee Sports Gaming Act to become law without his signature, effective July 1. Tennessee is the first state to legalize online-only wagering, require operators to use official league data for in-play bets and allow leagues to restrict the types of bets available. Jeopardy champion James Holzhauer (l.) is a fan of Tennessee.
Sports betting legislation hit a wall in Louisiana as a House committee defeated SB 153, which would have legalized sports betting on a parish-by-parish basis. The bill was doomed by mandating the use of official league data, as demanded by state Rep. Jack McFarland (l.), and by allowing the state's 2,800 video poker parlors to offer sports wagering.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan (l.) says the tour is exploring ways to capitalize on the legalization of sports betting, with programs to be instituted on the distribution of data and other plans.
Live sports-streaming service fuboTV announced a partnership with daily fantasy sports provider FanDuel. The deal will see FanDuel’s betting data integrated into fuboTV’s streaming platform. FanDuel -owned horse-racing networks TVG and TVG2 will also be seen on fuboTV, as well.
NCAA and other collegiate officials are concerned student athletes may bet on sports as sports wagering expands across the country. There is also a concern that sportsbooks will add more collegiate sports for betting. Officials speaking at a recent conference said they were worried that athletes might think they are allowed to bet under NCAA rules because sports betting is now legal.
The Bay State legislature is proceeding at a deliberate pace to hold hearings on sports betting. It began last week with the Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies. House Speaker Robert DeLeo (l.) wants hearings to be slow and deliberate.
A sports betting app is set to launch at Penn National's Hollywood Casino at Charles Town in West Virginia. Powered by DraftKings, the app marks online sports wagering's return to the state, following the March shutdown of BetLucky (l.), operated by Delaware North, owners of Mardi Gras and Wheeling Island casinos, due to a contract dispute.
A Maine House committee approved sports betting regulations and taxation. On-premise and online and mobile betting would be allowed but lawmakers split on "tethering" the sites to physical, in-state locations. Those in favor argued they'd "get cannibalized by the online people." Those against it noted Amazon and "a ton of other businesses" operate untethered.
Las Vegas sportsbooks could see more than a million in losses if the St Louis Blues win the NHL’s Stanley Cup Championship. The Blues were 300 to one longshots to win the cup in January. Nearly all sportsbooks contacted by the Las Vegas Review Journal said they would lose money of the Blues win.
Speaking at an Ohio House hearing on sports betting legislation, Penn National Gaming official Eric Schippers (l.) called professional sports leagues' proposed mandate requiring use of official data a "money grab in lieu of the integrity fee." To date, no state has included an integrity fee in a sports betting bill.
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu could soon be affixing his signature to a bill that would legal sports betting in the Granite State. Already approved in the House, it’s close to approval in the Senate.
The painful duty of reducing staffing was done last week when MGM Chairman and CEO Jim Murren (l.) announced that 557 employees would lose their jobs. The list concludes the company’s effort to trim $100 million from its labor costs toward the MGM 2020 strategy announced earlier this year.
The Nevada take statewide was down 1.8 percent to $936.5 million for the fourth straight decline in as many months. Baccarat (l.) was up on the Las Vegas Strip, but not enough to offset a relatively flat slot performance and double-digit decreases in blackjack, craps and roulette.
The Catskills, which had a golden ages in the last century as a famed summer resort and birthplace to modern comedy is experiencing a revival—a revival assisted in part by the $1.2 billion Resorts World Catskills, which just celebrated its first anniversary.
Looking ahead to the day when the expanded Las Vegas Convention Center will be too big to walk, the authority has tapped a company owned by Elon Musk (l.) for a solution. It’s a system of electric vehicles that will rapidly move more than 4,400 passengers per hour on a mile-long loop of below-ground tunnels.
A Massachusetts man has been charged in Rhode Island with counterfeiting free slot mailers from Plainridge Park and using them to play at Tiverton Casino Hotel (L.). He was assisted by a group of about two dozen who also played with the “free” casino money.
Iowa has one of the lowest U.S. unemployment rates at 2.5 percent. As a result, Iowans are gambling more. However, admission rates have been falling but officials believe sports betting may help that. The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission anticipates finalizing sports betting regulations by August, in time for football season.
Atlantic City is still grappling with the addition of two casinos in its market a year ago in June 2018. Add on the start of sports betting in the same month and total revenue has soared. Yet, profits for individual casinos are down 30 percent for the first quarter as increased competition has meant more expenditures to lure in visitors.
Although full-blown casinos lost again in New Hampshire for the 20th year, a proposal to add historic racing machines (l.) is beginning to get some traction in the state legislature.
Two frequent customers of Philadelphia’s SugarHouse Casino are suing the casino over what they say were a combined $250,000 in losses due to broken shufflers and “illegitimate” playing cards.
The New Jersey State Assembly has unanimously passed a bill that requires hotels to provide panic devices for housekeepers that alert security in case of an emergency. The bill was previously approved by the state’s Senate, but another vote is needed on the amended version that passed the Assembly.
A 26th horse died at Santa Anita racetrack last week. That continues the nightmare that has plagued the venerable Southern California racetrack since the day after Christmas. Some are calling for the track’s closure.
Thirty-eight North Carolina state Senators wrote to the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee opposing legislation by South Carolina U.S. Senator Lindsay Graham (l.) allowing the Catawba Indian Nation of South Carolina to build a $340 million casino in North Carolina. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, owners of two lucrative Harrah's casinos in North Carolina, also oppose Graham's bill.
The bill that would put land into trust for the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe has impressive bipartisan support. But it also has a host of enemies, including the president of the United States. Vice Chairman Jessie “Little Doe” Baird (l.) said the damage caused to her tribe is reaching “catastrophic” levels.
Two casinos in Oklahoma, River Spirit Resort (l.) and the Cherokee Casino Fort Gibson, were forced the close by the rising waters of the Arkansas. More often so sedate that it is possible to walk across, the Arkansas showed a different face as it began to flood just before the Memorial Day weekend.
The much-anticipated opening of the 35-story guitar-shaped hotel at the Seminole Hard Rock & Casino in Hollywood, Florida will be Thursday, October 24, officials said. It's part of the property's $1.5 billion expansion, including two other hotels, an expanded gambling floor, Bora Bora lagoon pool, Rock Spa, Hard Rock Live clam-shaped concert venue and glass-roofed retail area.
Oregon gaming tribes are fighting against a proposal that would eliminate the gambling losses deduction and redirect the funds towards allowing taxpayers to deduct the costs of a secondary education. Tribes say the bill is, “terrible for Indian Country.”
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds recently signed legislation allowing sports betting at the state's 19 commercial casinos. But two tribal casinos also want to offer sports wagering—WinnaVegas Casino Resort near Sloan and Blackbird Bend Casino near Onawa. The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission is expected to finalize sports wagering rules this summer.
It’s the little things that trip you up. Like agreeing on whether you fired or didn’t fire the CEO of your casino. Tribal Chairman Lee Spoonhunter of the Northern Arapaho Business Council is certain his council voted not to renew the contract of Wind River Hotel and Casino CEO Jim Conrad. The rest of the council doesn’t remember it that way.
Harrah's Ak-Chin Casino broke ground 25 years ago. The Maricopa, Arizona venue, which now employs 900 people, recently completed a $180 million renovation and expansion project including a 229-room hotel tower, two new restaurants, 2,000-seat events center, new spa/fitness center and the first bingo hall in the Caesars Entertainment Corporation network.
The paper-ticket lottery measure failed in the Alabama legislature for several reasons, according to state Rep. Ed Oliver (l.). Those included a faction of legislators opposed to all gambling; competing bills allowing dog tracks to offer electronic gaming machines like those at Poarch Creek casinos; lawmakers wanting revenue to help education; and the Poarch Creek's powerful lobby.
Scientific Games is expanding its global lottery instant game manufacturing technology in North America and Europe, increasing design innovation, production capacity and speed to market.
Intralot’s U.S. subsidiary has signed a contract with the British Columbia Lottery Commission to provide a lottery central system with its platform Lotos X. The contract is for an initial five-year term that can be extended up to another six years.
Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson was ranked No. 1 in pay among Nevada chief executives in 2018, according to a new state-by-state study. He was first in compensation of the two gaming executives who made the list, just ahead of Churchill Downs’ William Carstanjen.
Scientific Games has named former Aristocrat CEO Jamie Odell special advisor to Chairman Ronald O. Perelman and CEO Barry Cottle, to advise top management on growth strategies.
Paysafe Group has named Philip McHugh CEO replacing Joel Leonhoff, who will become vice chairman of the Paysafe board. McHugh previously worked in payments with TSYS and Barclays.
Gaming industry veteran John Garner has joined Konami as vice president of finance and accounting. He will be responsible for leading core fiscal and financial strategy, planning and processes.
The AGA touted benefits including 33,000 jobs and $1.8 billion in wages as evidence of how gaming has benefited Pennsylvania, it the organization’s latest “Get to Know Gaming” event. Congressman Guy Reschenthaler said the partnership with gaming strengthens the state economy and expands job opportunities.
A 9 percent jump in the price of Everi Holdings stock in after-hours trading last week has led to speculation that potential buyout offers are on the table.
GLI will more than double the engineering staff in its Macau lab in response to a new regulation on supply and requisitioning of gaming machines and systems. Regulators in Macau, says VP Global Services Ian Hughes (l.), are being very cooperative.
AGS has announced it is now providing online, real-money game content to Malta-based online gaming operator ALEA for its SlotsMillion online casino brand. The deal marks company’s first with a Malta-based real-money online casino operator.
The new 64.5-foot-wide curved NanoLumens Nixel Series display provides a canvas where the casino can engage guests with visual content unlike any they’ve seen before.
Jumbo Technology launched “Bao Ni Fa,” a new progressive link, at the G2E Asia show, with plans to release it to Asian casino floors in the third quarter.
