Las Vegas has many markets from high rollers to low-rolling locals. But where should casino executives concentrate to jump start the recovery from Covid? Turns out, every segment has possibilities.
For years, Atlantic City’s Bader Field, one of the largest plots of vacant land on the eastern seaboard, has been idle. Proposals for its use have come and gone, including a casino plan that was killed first by the state, and then by the Great Recession. What’s next for the former airport?
Virginia’s ban on games of skill, including the popular “Queen of Virginia” game (l.), is set to take effect July 1. But six business owners have sued the state, the governor and others claiming the ban would “substantially affect, damage and hinder” their operations.
Can regulators really understand the nuances of multi-billion-dollar transactions when even the most educated financial whiz has trouble? They missed the boat—along with a $150 payment to Jeffery Epstein—in the Caesars/Apollo transaction, so can we count on them to wake up for the Las Vegas Sands/Apollo transaction?
Single-game sports betting has passed in Canada. Provinces and territories will regulate betting on hockey, football and other sports, and bettors can wager on teams like the Toronto Blue Jays or the Montreal Canadiens (l.), which ironically just advanced to the NHL Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1993.
The U.S. Department of Justice will not appeal a lower court ruling that held the 1961 Wire Act applied only to sports betting, effectively ending the use of the act by iGaming opponents.
After decades of trying, Maine’s four federally recognized tribes have won the right to offer gaming. A bill that passed in the House and Senate must meet with approval from Governor Janet Mills (l.).
Melco International and the Agile Group will build a multibillion-dollar nongaming complex in Guangdong Province, China. Melco’s Lawrence Ho said the firm will bring its “incredible expertise” and intellectual property such as the City of Dreams brand to nongaming projects.
Sources say the heads of Australian gaming giants Matt Bekier of Star Entertainment and Crown Resorts’ Steve McCann met in a virtual meeting June 16 to discuss the former’s proposed merger.
Resorts World Las Vegas opened June 17 and the reviews so far have been favorable. As the first new Strip megaresort in more than 10 years, it offers a host of new technologies and lots of gee-whiz features.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards (l.) signed the last two of three bills making sports betting legal in the state. Analysts said the activity could generate more than $2.5 billion by the third year.
Codere Group will spin off its Codere Online business, which will become a new publicly listed company on the Nasdaq market through a special purpose acquisition company.
This week, we sit down the Brandt Iden, the head of U.S. government affairs for the online sports betting supplier SportRadar, on how he helped to guide the legalization of sports betting in Michigan when he was a legislator.
Asia American Entertainment Corp. continues to seek compensation for an alleged breach of contract by the Las Vegas Sands Corp. AAEC worked with the Sands to enter Macau, then was dropped by the Vegas giant. It’s the second time the company has been sued for essentially the same reasons.
Yokohama’s plan to develop an integrated resort hangs in the balance depending on the winner of the city’s mayoral election in August. Hachiro Okonogi (l.), an LDP candidate, says he would oppose the IR plan.
Marina Bay Sands (l.) and Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore may now permit four players at each gaming table under new Covid-19 rules for the jurisdiction.
There is no firm opening date for the Lisboeta Resort in Macau’s Peninsula district, even though facilities inside the hotel are part of the city’s current tourism initiative
Officials in Jeju, South Korea have announced a plan to inspect all gaming equipment at the region’s foreigners-only casinos to ensure compliance with local regulations.
A year away from Macau’s casino concession retender, the government wants to more than doubled the number of gaming inspectors and add a deputy director under Director Adriano Marques Ho (l.).
Vietnamese officials are warning their people to disregard lucrative job offers in Cambodia. Kristin Parco (l.), of the UN International Organization for Migration, said the country is a “recruitment ground for traffickers.”
Regulators in the Ukraine have published the nation’s first responsible gaming regulations, including a ban on bonuses that are contingent on player losses.
Limits on how much Finnish bettors can lose took effect during Covid-19. After several extensions, the limits will now become permanent, with a loss limit of €500 a day.
In the 2020 Danish Gambling Report, online casino activity exceeded sports betting as a percentage of market share by 27 percent to 25 percent. Lottery sales did even better. Covid-19 closed land-based casinos and live sports.
Italian authorities expect to increase gaming license fees and reduce the number of licenses, which concerns the European Gaming and Betting Association. The group worries illegal gambling will rise as a result.
Norway’s Minister of Culture is tired of illegal gaming sites operating with impunity. Abid Raja (l.) supports a new gambling law that would enable him to go after unlicensed offshore operators.
Gaming regulators in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands have laid off 60 percent of their workforce due to the closure of Saipan’s only casino, Imperial Palace (l.).
Gambling on the island nations of Trinidad and Tobago bring in some $15 billion a year but pay less than $100 million in corporate taxes. The government wants to correct the oversight with the Gambling Control Bill.
The government of Quebec has announced that criminals and other “high-risk” individuals aren’t welcome to visit its casinos. The announcement came after an independent audit on casinos run by Loto-Quebec.
Step 2 of the Covid reopening in Saskatchewan, Canada signaled the reopening of bingo halls and casinos, including the Northern Lights casino (l.). The gaming halls, closed for a total of 10 months, have lost an estimated $100 million in revenue.
The state of New South Wales, Australia will soon offer a new gambling support service called GambleAware. The service unites all gambling support services that are currently operating as Gambling Help NSW.
Kindred Group’s 32Red has a deal with Fast Track to help develop player engagement campaigns. The program provides some 499 data points to each segment to create a personalized experience.
The Ohio Senate has approved legal sports betting, but opponents including small businesses say it shortchanges them in favor of professional leagues including the Cincinnati Bengals (l.).
The Arizona Department of Gaming expects to launch sportsbooks in the state just in time for NFL season in September. It plans to finalize rules and regulations for sports betting by mid-July.
Revenue projects for sports betting in the District of Columbia have fallen short of what the DC Lottery hoped for. Blame Covid-19, some legal issues and a lack of commuters and tourists. The results are expected to improve.
Sixty-one percent of Massachusetts voters support legal sports betting. The casinos that commissioned the survey are trying to influence lawmakers, who are now holding hearings on the wagers.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (l.) will sign a bill that lets tracks in the state offer fixed-odds betting instead of pari-mutuel wagers. Fixed odds lock in the price instead of a fluctuation until post time. And a bill that will allow residents to be on New Jersey colleges has advanced.
Bally’s signed a multi-year deal with Dodge City’s Boot Hill Casino to offer mobile sports betting when state legislators approve it. The new agreement expands Bally’s mobile sports betting platform into its 14th state.
The co-owners of Las Vegas' new National Lacrosse League team include NHL legend Wayne Gretzky (l.), Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash and pro golfer Dustin Johnson. The team will start its first season in 2022.
A report by Hindenburg Research alleged that SBTech was working in illegal gaming markets. Since SBTech has a partnership with DraftKings, it cast the sportsbook in a negative light. But the response is more of a yawn.
Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, Illinois has signed an agreement to serve as the official casino of the Chicago Bears of the NFL, and announced BetRivers as the team’s official sportsbook.
The Professional Tour of Pickleball has signed an exclusive partnership agreement with Genius Sports, which will provide official data on the sport to sportsbooks.
A group of investors that includes Jim Murren and Tom Wittman have pumped $36 million into U.S. sports betting exchange Sporttrade. The company expects to go live in New Jersey this year.
Jim McIngvale (l.), the Houston furniture store owner, already bet more than $3.35 million on the Astros to win the World Series. With a $35 million payout, he could afford to return customer costs on furniture with a win.
The Virginia Lottery Board is now accepting gaming license applications from casino operators approved by voters in Bristol, Danville, Norfolk and Portsmouth. Richmond will hold a casino referendum in November.
The Indiana Gaming Commission has ruled that Caesars Entertainment doesn’t have to sell its Hammond Horseshoe Casino to avoid “undue economic concentration.” Caesars owns five of the state’s 13 casinos.
A proposed $325 million casino in Slidell, Louisiana would give a portion of revenues to local governments, nonprofits and other local entities under a new agreement. Voters will decide on the casino in November.
MGM Resorts International, operator of Yonkers Raceway and the adjacent Empire City Casino, has completed a major renovation of the 122-year-old track.
A judge has ruled that a dozen gamblers may proceed with a lawsuit to recover money they lost playing historical horseracing machines at racetracks in Lexington, including the Red Mile (l.), when the machines were still considered illegal.
In 2016, New Jersey lawmakers approved a state takeover of most Atlantic City government functions. The goal was to curb overspending and reduce high taxes. State control has been extended for another four years.
A poll commissioned by a voters group showed that more than eight in 10 Pennsylvania residents favor shifting funds from the Race Horse Development Fund to other purposes.
Penn National Gaming executives have predicted an early August opening for Hollywood Casino York (l.) in eastern Pennsylvania, the operator’s first Category 4 satellite casino.
Shreveport, Louisiana officials passed a smoking ban in 2020 set to take effect August 1. But at a recent council meeting, the city’s casinos cited a report claiming their revenue and attendance would decline.
Housed in 23 prefabricated buildings merged into a single unit, the Catawba Two Kings Casino “prelaunch facility” in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, may open July, offering 500 slots, a snack bar and food trucks.
Ground was recently broken on new Osage Nation casinos in Bartlesville and Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Both are expected to open in fall 2022, featuring gaming floors, hotels, pools, spas, fitness areas and meeting space.
The Navajo National Gaming Enterprise could soon reopen all its casinos and more importantly, open them to non-tribal patrons. CEO Brian Parrish (l.) said, “We're keeping our guys safe (and) protecting the patrons.”
Wynn Resorts senior executive Ellen Whittemore (l.) says the company remains committed to diversity and corporate culture changes in the wake of the scandal involving former CEO Steve Wynn.
Everi Holdings announced that it expects “record results” for the second quarter of 2021, prompting a planned refinancing of its outstanding total debt.
Morongo Casino near Palm Springs, California is adding 40 NexGen Fast Cash mobile chip devices to its table games. The solution from AGS and NexGen enables players to buy chips at the table without cash.
The Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers is now accepting nominations for the 2021 operations award honoring Jens Halle and communications award honoring Peter Meade.
The Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana opened last month with cash-processing equipment provided exclusively by JCM Global, including the iVIZION bill validator and ICB Intelligent Cash Box system.
Zitro presented its top products including the Link King and 88 Link progressives at the recent Gaming Industry Exhibition in Kiev, which heralded the opening of the Ukrainian gaming market.
Technology provider Engine Australia will develop that country’s first national self-exclusion register for online and mobile gambling. It previously created a similar program for the U.K. Gambling Commission.
Clarion Gaming has appointed Fulwood Media, the consulting firm launched by former Clarion Managing Director Kate Chambers (l.), as an adviser on Clarion’s global strategy.
