The University of Sydney has released the first in-depth research on how gamblers responded to the Covid-19 lockdowns. It showed that gambling frequency was reduced during first wave, and the majority of gamblers were dissuaded by fewer walk-in opportunities.
Ohio’s four casinos collectively broke records for gaming revenue in the month of July, despite the impact of Covid-19—or because of the virus’ impact on other entertainment options. Hollywood Casino Toledo (l.) has a record month. But now that Detroit’s casinos are open, the revenue picture may change.
Hurting for revenues in the Covid age, Pennsylvania lawmakers will be peddling yet another mini-casino license—the proposed Penn National Hollywood Casino in Morgantown at left—next month. A new report from GGH Morowitz says there may yet be opportunity in the Keystone State—but only for the strategic, prudent investor.
A century after women won the right to vote in the U.S., the advancement of women in the gaming industry is still not where it should be according to gaming observer Richard Schuetz (l.). Why? He points the finger at regulators.
Analysts are looking for gaming revenues to come back strong now that the Chinese government will again issue tourist visas for individual travel to the casino hub. The program, which is already back in neighboring Zhuhai, will be expanded to all of Guangdong province—up to 70 percent of the Macau market—later this month and will go nationwide in September.
How much potential does online media mogul Barry Diller (l.) see in online gaming? About $1 billion worth. That’s how much he ponied up for 12 percent of MGM Resorts International and a seat on the board of directors.
The acquisition of Caesars Entertainment by Eldorado Resorts Inc. has created the largest casino company in the U.S. The deal also brings three casino resorts under the new Caesars brand in Atlantic City, plus one under a new owner. The dealmaking could be a boon for the local landscape.
In a new ruling the Internal Revenue Service has said that daily fantasy sports should be subject to the same regulations as sports betting, which means that compines participating in DFS such as DraftKings and FanDuel will have to pay the same 0.25 percent excise tax as sports betting companies do.
Genting Singapore has confirmed that a planned US$3.3 billion expansion of Resorts World Sentosa will be delayed and possibly redesigned due to the far-reaching impact on supply chains of Covid-19.
After a four month absence, British casinos were finally permitted to reopen on August 15. Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) leader Michael Dugher (l.) called the move “welcome relief” for 12,000 casino workers nationwide.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (l.) has signed off on a bill to create a regulated gaming industry. Legal gaming was a key campaign issue for Zelensky, whose SoP Party won control of the government last summer.
The Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences called it quits for the 2020 sports season, blaming Covid-19. The impact on sports betting will be palpable in sportsbooks all over the country. William Hill US CEO Joe Asher (l.) says the short-term impact will be bad.
Widener University Commonweal Law School has expanded its gaming law curriculum with a class offered by Adjunct Professor Susan Hensel (l.), director of licensing for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
Imperial Pacific International, operator of the only casino resort on the Pacific island of Saipan, said it is not part of a U.S. investigation into racketeering, money laundering and more.
Once postponed, G2E Asia has now been canceled for 2020. In addition, the first satellite show of G2E Asia to be held in Manila was also canceled. Both will be held in 2021 in May and November respectively.
In a new revenue tracker released last week, the American Gaming Association revealed that gross gaming revenue from U.S. commercial casinos plunged almost 80 percent in the second quarter.
Is there a silver lining to the Covid-19 economic meltdown? Gaming stocks have tumbled but some companies are doing better than expected. How can the investor profit?
This week, the GGB talks with Terry Glebocki, the CEO of Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City on how the city’s casinos endured the lockdown and how they’ve been doing since reopening in early July.
The Jeju Dream Tower, now in development on Jeju Island in South Korea, is scheduled to open in October 2020. The new resort will include a foreigners-only casino.
Japanese gaming company Universal Entertainment Corp., which operates Okada Manila in the Philippines’ Entertainment City, saw an almost 25 percent increase in net sales for the first half of 2020, driven by its pachinko and pachislot business.
Martin Lycka, GVC Holdings’ director of regulatory affairs, says revised German gaming regulations will send more bettors on the hunt for black market bookies.
Colorado-based Century Casinos has sold Century Casino Calgary to 2267166 Alberta Ltd. for $7.5 million. The deal is expected to be finalized later this year.
The Colombian government has approved a plan to let gaming venues reopen under the usual safety restrictions, including socially distanced gaming floors and physical barriers between players. Fecoljuegos President Evert Montero Cárdenas (l.) said casinos and bingo halls “are committed to the health and well-being of Colombians.”
The government of Auckland, New Zealand closed down businesses including casinos for three days due to a rash of new Covid-19 infections. Just a day before, the country had marked 100 days without a new case.
Aquis Entertainment Group reopened its Casino Canberra property in the Australian Capital Territory on Monday, August 10, more than four months after it closed its doors in March.
Cordish Companies’ Live! Casino division is launching its online casino brand, Play Live!, in Pennsylvania before its two brick-and-mortar casinos are open.
Everi Digital has expanded its relationship with Parx Casino’s online gaming, adding more player-preferred slot content for online casinos in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Wind Creek Hospitality announced the launch of its online gaming platform in Pennsylvania, and the addition of Pala content to its existing social casino platform.
Online slot developer Booongo has signed an agreement to provide iGaming content to Rush Street Interactive for its online casino brand in the Colombian market.
A second set of proposed sports betting regulations has been issued by the Virginia Lottery, including rules for operations, internal controls and enforcement. The regulations must be approved by September 15. The first licensed operator could take wagers before the end of the year.
Supporters expected big things of sports betting in the District of Columbia. But two months after wagers began, mobile sports betting has produced just $1.2 million in handle.
New Hampshire’s first retail sportsbook has opened. The operation, managed by DraftKings, is located at the Brook at Seabrook, owned by Eureka Casino Resorts.
Midweek occupancy remains in the doldrums absent the convention trade for which Las Vegas became famous. All in all, though, compared to April and May’s near-zero visitation, the first month of the gaming industry’s reopening looked pretty good.
An analysis by the Allegheny Institute found that the shutdown of Pennsylvania casinos cost the state $424 million in taxes. The study, co-authored by Institute Executive Director Frank Gamrat (l.) said first-half revenues “didn’t cover a quarter of estimated losses from slot and table games.”
Caesars Entertainment has launched the Caesars for Danville campaign to encourage voters in the Virginia town to support the company's proposed $400 million casino resort at a former industrial site. The project, if approved, would provide 900 construction jobs and 1,300 permanent jobs.
Century Casinos Co-CEO Peter Hoetzinger said the company's casinos in Cape Girardeau and Caruthersville, Missouri have seen "record-breaking" results, despite temporary Covid-19 closures.
According to the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, the state’s 19 commercial casinos reported adjusted gross revenue in July of $120.4 million, about 4 percent less than in 2019. One-third fewer people visited. Commission spokesman Wes Ehrecke (l.) said, “We’re inching our way back.”
You read that right: the Silver Slipper Casino Hotel in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi posted the best month in its 14-year history in June, said Dan Lee, CEO of Full House Resorts. With only half of the venue's slots in operation, revenue soared by 28 percent.
Ohio's four casinos posted a record $86 million in revenue for July, according to the Ohio Casino Control Commission. The closure of Detroit's three casinos, which recently reopened, contributed to the record revenue. On top was the Hollywood Casino in Toledo.
Arkansas voters won’t have the chance to approve 16 more casinos in the state. Arkansas Wins in 2020, the committee behind the proposal, asked the state Supreme Court to dismiss its challenge against Secretary of State John Thurston's (l.) rejection of the ballot issue.
The casino well ran dry for Tiverton, Rhode Island after the Twin River Tiverton Casino Hotel (l.) was closed by the pandemic. The casino has reopened, and a trickle of payments has resumed.
At the August 13 meeting of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission the panel turned down the request of the Encore Boston Harbor and MGM Springfield that they be allowed to reintroduce roulette and craps. The commissioners said now is not the time.
An Atlantic City union his calling on New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy to insist casinos follow Covid safety protocols. The union led by Bob McDevitt (l.) says five casinos have failed to take the temperature of all visitors as they enter, and some rooms were not cleaned appropriately.
A bill introduced in the U.S. Congress could put an end to greyhound racing at West Virginia's Mardi Gras and Wheeling Island tracks, owned by Delaware North. The bill would amend the Wire Act to ban gambling on commercial dog races.
Across the U.S., horse racing has seen a surge despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The future holds promise for continued success even as major sports come onboard after months of lockdowns.
Wynn Resorts is the only major U.S. operator so far to report the number of employees, roughly 300, who have tested positive for Covid-19. Will Wynn’s example induce other companies to open up? Others have refused citing privacy restrictions.
The Kentucky Council on Problem Gambling's helpline answered more calls in June and July because more people were and searching for distractions, said KCPG Executive Director Mike Stone. He noted those most at risk are people with existing gambling problems.
Governor Gavin Newsom (l.) of California has signed six tribal state gaming compacts and sent them to the legislature for ratification. Newsom also concurred with a recent Interior Department ruling that allows the Tule River Indian tribe to put 40 acres into trust for a relocated casino.
The state of Kansas, Sumner County, the city of Mulvane and two Indian tribes have sued the U.S. Department of the Interior in an effort to block the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma from building a casino in Park City. Interior in May reversed an earlier decision blocking the casino.
Attorneys for Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt (l.) have asked the state Supreme Court to rehear its July 21 decision, ruling Stitt's compacts with the Comanche Nation and Otoe-Missouria Tribe were invalid since they included house-banked card games and sports betting.
The U.S. Department of Interior has appealed the reversal of its ruling to remove land put in trust for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts. Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell (l.) called the action “consistent with this administration’s constant failure to acknowledge or address the history of injustice against our tribe and all Native Americans.”
Casinos at the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians' Pearl River Resort in Philadelphia, Mississippi are reopening in phases. New health and safety protocols have been implemented
The Spirit Lake Nation and other tribes in northeastern North Dakota closed their casinos in March due to Covid-19. July 4 celebrations caused a spike in infections, and now the tribes may close the casinos again.
Hard Rock International and Seminole Gaming has won the Corporate Social Responsibility Award of the National Council of Problem Gambling for their PlayersEdge employee training program.
The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery posted record sales for July, up $8.5 million to $49.7 million. Fiscal 2020 revenue set a new record of $53, beating the previous record of $516.2 million in fiscal 2019. Of that, the scholarship fund got $89.4 million, the sixth-highest total in lottery history.
Las Vegas-based Scientific Games has partnered with Atlantic-based InComm to enable shoppers to buy lottery tickets in the checkout lane. It includes such popular games as Powerball and Mega Millions.
Two months after resigning as CEO of MGM China, Grant Bowie (l.) completed his exit from the Macau gaming operator he led since 2008. Replacing him as a non-executive director is Ayesha Khanna Molino, senior vice president of government affairs for parent MGM Resorts International.
Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment has added David Martinelli and Judy Newman-Locke to its executive team. Martinelli will be chief marketing officer and Newman-Locke as vice president of Human Resources Management.
The new Crown Sydney Hotel Resort has select the IGT Advantage casino management system, citing the system’s “inherent flexibility and proven efficiency.”
AGS has reported a net loss of $42.6 million, but the company beat revenue estimates as its CEO reported potential positive results to come as the industry recovers.
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario has approved TCSJohnHuxley’s Qorex electronic gaming solutions, which present table games in an electronic multi-game machine.
Konami Holdings Corp. reported a loss of JPY925 million for the second quarter for its gaming and systems divisions, citing worldwide casino shutdowns due to the Covid-19 crisis.
The Gun Lake Tribe selected Red Square as agency of record for its Gun Lake Casino in Wayland, Michigan. Chicago-based Red Square will help the casino with brand and promotional advertising, strategic planning over media and digital platforms and promote new amenities in the casino's $100 million expansion.
The 2020 edition of the ASEAN Gaming Summit has been cancelled, with the next gathering scheduled for the second half of 2021, according to show organizer Asia Gaming Brief.
