Waiting for Godot in Macau By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • July 18, 2021 Macau is the only region in China allowed to conduct gambling. Gambling in Macau is a leftover from the Portuguese era when it was controlled by Chinese Triads. Portugal, Triads, and unbridled gambling are gone. The casinos in Macau are nothing like those old gambling dens. Today, casinos in Macau are billion-dollar resorts that offer a wide variety of entertainment, shopping, and culinary … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: Bordering on the insane? By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • July 14, 2021 Europe has more than 800 land-based casinos that employ some 70,000 people. This excludes slot arcades, which in some countries meet the legal classification of casino. You might think that these casinos are evenly distributed around the population centres, but that is not the case. Europe´s patchwork quilt of casinos has some threadbare parts to it and others where there is an … [Read more...]
As time goes on, Las Vegas becomes a good fit for Big League baseball By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • July 14, 2021 Back when the thought of having a Pacific Coast League baseball team in Las Vegas gave Commissioner of Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn sleepless nights, no one anywhere would have taken a bet on the possibility of a Major League team taking up residency in Sin City. Officials with the Las Vegas Stars of the PCL were run ragged back in 1983 when they considered leasing billboard space to – … [Read more...]
Smoking is back in Atlantic City, for now By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • July 11, 2021 The Fourth of July in Atlantic City was different in 2021 than in 2020. Last year, the casinos reopened on July 2nd and 3rd, except for Borgata. Borgata waited for three more weeks. The casinos opened under heavy restrictions. The number of customers was limited to 25 percent of full capacity. Social distancing and masks were required. Smoking and indoor food and beverage service were not allowed … [Read more...]
New players in town: Tribal casinos a welcome sight in Las Vegas By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • July 7, 2021 Longtime observers of the Las Vegas casino scene might have been stunned to see the May announcement that the shimmering Palms Casino Resort had been purchased from Station Casinos for $650 million. It wasn’t the price tag that was surprising, but the buyer: the Highland, Calif.-based San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. Although the transaction was heralded by some as a new chapter for the … [Read more...]
Igaming Focus: Wire Act – Is this a defining moment for poker in the U.S.? By Hannah Gannagé-Stewart, CDC Gaming Reports • July 6, 2021 Few in the industry wouldn’t welcome more clarity around the Wire Act. For years it has hung over the burgeoning U.S. igaming market like a Sword of Damocles. However, the passing of last month’s deadline for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to appeal a First Circuit decision stating that, contrary to the DOJ’s 2018 interpretation, the Wire Act only applies to sports betting, has come as a … [Read more...]
Igaming Focus: Regulated icasino is long-term key to U.S. growth By Jake Pollard, CDC Gaming Reports • July 6, 2021 The U.S. igaming industry is in hyper-growth mode at the moment, but much will also depend on whether current regulatory levels continue, especially with regard to icasino. The U.S. igaming industry is currently described as being in a phase of hyper-growth, and looking at the numbers and the levels of investment, start-up, buyouts or listings activity surrounding it, this is an accurate … [Read more...]
Horse racing, UFOs, and baseball By Bernard Kroviak, CDC Gaming Reports • July 4, 2021 The summer is well underway, the final Triple Crown race has been run, and another year has passed without a single horse winning all three contests. Three races, three victors - Essential Quality in the Belmont, Rombauer in the Preakness, and, of course, Medina Spirit in the Kentucky Derby. Maybe. Or maybe not. Most people are probably aware that Medina Spirit tested positive for a small … [Read more...]
Pennsylvanians kept on gambling during smoking ban By Mark Gruetze, CDC Gaming Reports • July 1, 2021 So much for all those platitudes about protecting the health of Pennsylvania casino customers and workers. On June 28, the state lifted an indoor mask mandate that had helped slow COVID-19, which is spread by respiratory droplets. As welcome as the repeal is for almost everyone, the move returns another respiratory threat to the gaming floor: secondhand smoke. With masks no longer required, … [Read more...]
Focus on Asia: India – The gaming industry’s greatest development opportunity By Andrew Klebanow, Principal, Klebanow Consulting • July 1, 2021 The world’s largest and most successful integrated casino resort (IR) operators are faced with a dilemma. There are very few markets where they can deploy their expertise and capital to develop integrated resorts on the scale seen in Macau and Singapore. Countries in Asia, once viewed as ideal markets that could support multi-billion dollar developments, are proving to be problematic. … [Read more...]
Focus on Asia: Has Japan lost its way? By Ben Blaschke, Managing Editor, Inside Asian Gaming • July 1, 2021 The 2018 Japan Gaming Congress in Tokyo saw a large crowd of hundreds of industry and government professionals coming together to discuss what was, at that time, the most exciting new casino gaming jurisdiction on the planet. Key industry stakeholders ranging from high-ranking politicians to global integrated resort operators, gaming product suppliers, potential investors and expert … [Read more...]
As Las Vegas reopens, Taxicab Authority scrambles to keep customers, industry satisfied By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • June 30, 2021 Those searching for insight into the challenges facing the Las Vegas ride industry need have looked no further than last week’s Nevada Taxicab Authority meeting. The meeting inside the Nevada State Business Center on West Sahara Ave. provided a reminder of the cab industry’s diminished, but still vital, role in the gaming and tourism economy. Representatives of the industry aired a variety of … [Read more...]
Going a-courting in Macau By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • June 27, 2021 The Las Vegas Sands (LVS) is defending itself in court in Macau. Asian American Entertainment Corporation (AAEC) is suing for breach of contract. AAEC contends it had a contract with LVS to jointly pursue a gaming license in Macau. An LVS partnership was indeed awarded a gaming concession, but with Galaxy Entertainment as its partner, not AAEC. Calling it a breach of a valid and existing … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: Channelisation – the key to successful regulation? By Hannah Gannagé-Stewart, CDC Gaming Reports • June 23, 2021 The Danish regulator Spillemyndigheden released a self-congratulatory notice earlier this month, announcing that it had achieved 90% channelisation in 2020. Hitting this milestone probably felt worth shouting about, given that ‘channelisation’ has become somewhat of a buzzword and bone of contention in European regulatory circles of late. It is an interestingly overlooked factor of many … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: AI is here to stay, so let’s take a deeper look By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • June 23, 2021 artificial /ɑːtɪˈfɪʃ(ə)l/, adjective: made or produced by human beings rather than occurring naturally, especially as a copy of something natural intelligence /ɪnˈtɛlɪdʒ(ə)ns/, noun: the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills There is no doubt that artificial intelligence will assist humans in understanding far more than is currently known about the universe we live in, whether it … [Read more...]
Igaming Focus: DraftKings moves on from Hindenburg report claims By Jake Pollard, CDC Gaming Reports • June 22, 2021 So far the claims made in the Hindenburg report about SBTech’s business set-up in black markets don’t seem to have done much damage to DraftKings. The fact that the allegations are now public is probably the biggest service the report has done. It is never a good look to be too blasé or cynical about business, but there was little that surprised industry executives when the Hindenburg Research … [Read more...]
A 21st-century gold rush: remote gambling By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • June 20, 2021 Remote online gambling is exploding in Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, leading other states to rush to duplicate the success — rushing to the gold, as it were. In May, the three states reported $392.9 million in online gaming and mobile sports betting revenue. That was up from $115.4 million in 2020 and from $52.2 million in 2019. New Jersey was the only state with online gaming in … [Read more...]
In Macau, a familiar refrain: litigation over Sands’ casino license By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • June 16, 2021 Though Las Vegas Sands founder Sheldon Adelson is gone, yet another lawsuit over the company’s lucrative Macau gaming license continues to generate headlines. Something about a lawsuit claiming up to $12 billion in damages tends to make heads turn. Back at the start of the century, Sands and Taiwanese businessman Marshall Hao’s Asia American Entertainment Corporation looked like fast friends … [Read more...]
Looking back on IGRA and forward to the NIGA convention By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • June 13, 2021 The National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) is holding its annual convention in Las Vegas next month. It will be the Association’s 35th convention. The conventioneers will eagerly discuss two issues: sports betting in Indian Country and tribally owned casinos in conventional jurisdictions. Indian gaming has come a long way since the Seminole Tribe of Florida won the right to operate high-stakes … [Read more...]
A lesson from Down Under: The withering impact of an ongoing money-laundering probe By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • June 9, 2021 The Australian casino industry is ablaze amid a widening investigation into money laundering that is now spreading to casinos in the country’s five largest cities. The heat is on casino operators Crown Resorts, Star Entertainment, and SkyCity Entertainment Group, along with National Australia Bank. And it only appears to be getting worse now that Australia’s chief money-laundering investigators … [Read more...]
Igaming Focus: Sports betting and media platforms focus on reach and in-play By Jake Pollard, CDC Gaming Reports • June 8, 2021 The major U.S. sports betting brands have either become broadcasters in their own right or signed numerous media partnerships to increase reach and user engagement. The aim will be to increase in-play volumes and interaction. The convergence of sports betting, media and broadcasting continues in the U.S. with the latest and somewhat unusual agreement that Fan Duel will be the exclusive odds … [Read more...]
Igaming Focus: Connecticut provides another foothold for US online poker By Hannah Gannagé-Stewart, CDC Gaming Reports • June 8, 2021 Connecticut is set to become the sixth state to legalize online casino gaming, and the seventh to regulate online poker. The latter has a chequered past in the U.S. – hence the reticence of many states to include it in their post-PASPA regimes. Only last year, the U.S. justice system to brought Isai Scheinberg, the founder of internet-gambling giant PokerStars, before a federal court. It was … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: Another Day, Another Set of Eye-Catching Headlines By Hannah Gannagé-Stewart, CDC Gaming Reports • June 2, 2021 The House of Lords’ Peers for Gambling Reform group has landed a doozy with its latest contribution to the debate surrounding the UK’s Gambling Review. The cross-party group, chaired by Lord Foster of Bath, recently commissioned NERA Economic Consulting to conduct an economic assessment of select proposals to reform the UK Gambling Industry. In its subsequent report, NERA estimated that the … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: A Perfect Storm By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • June 2, 2021 If Michael Jackson were alive, the UK Gambling Commission (GC) would have no need to take lessons from him. Jackson perfected the Moonwalk, the appearance of moving in one direction, but in fact moving in the opposite one. You may remember that the GC put out a consultation on the requirement for affordability checks, in which customers would not be allowed to go beyond a certain spend limit … [Read more...]
Here’s hoping ‘Right to Return’ job legislation isn’t needed By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • June 1, 2021 You can’t blame the Culinary Union for crowing about the Nevada Legislature’s passage of Senate Bill 386, which gives a window of “Right to Return” job protection for more than 350,000 hospitality workers in Clark and Washoe counties. After focusing on work-site protection, defending against job losses was a paramount issue for the union throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. At one point, 98 … [Read more...]
Focus on Asia: East Asian Casinos – A Not So Fast Recovery By Andrew Klebanow, Principal, Klebanow Consulting • June 1, 2021 As the summer travel season begins, the US casino industry appears to be in full recovery. Constraints on casino and restaurant capacity are being lifted in jurisdictions across the country, and mask mandates have been eased in many Indian casino and commercial operations. Driven by a very successful vaccination campaign, Covid-19 infections are dropping dramatically, and an end to the pandemic in … [Read more...]
Focus on Asia: Junket Bans Spell Dark Days for Asia’s VIP Segment By Ben Blaschke, Managing Editor, Inside Asian Gaming • June 1, 2021 Asia’s VIP operators, also known as junkets, have faced plenty of headwinds in recent years. But if recent evidence is anything to go by, the challenges ahead are growing more significant with each passing day. One particularly notable development that has flown somewhat under the radar in recent months has been the banning of all junkets in at least five jurisdictions across four different … [Read more...]
Another sad, unfortunate chapter in the saga of Steve Wynn By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • May 31, 2021 Steve Wynn once seemed to be charmed as a casino operator and as a man; whatever he touched succeeded. That charm lasted from the 1970s until January 2018, when the Wall Street Journal published an article alleging sexual misconduct toward “numerous women and former employees” by Wynn. The timing for him was bad; it was the height of the Me Too movement. Big names in politics, business, … [Read more...]
History made with federal approval of Arizona tribal gaming compact amendment By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • May 26, 2021 A proud Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey last month called the legislation amending the state’s compact with tribal casino operators historic, and it certainly was that. It was, in fact, something that many believed would never happen. More cynical observers might have thought that it should never happen: Any plan to reopen the compact could lead to more trouble than profit. But all parties appear … [Read more...]
Igaming Focus: U.S. affiliates setting up for the long term By Jake Pollard, CDC Gaming Reports • May 25, 2021 Super affiliates Better Collective and Catena Media’s first quarter results published this month confirmed their leadership positions in the U.S. igaming market. Better Collective dominated the headlines with its $240m buy out of Action Network, while Catena Media re-entered the M&A field after a two-year hiatus with its acquisition of Lineups.com for $39.6m. Both deals are eye-catching, … [Read more...]
Virginia: A portal into cyberspace for gaming By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • May 23, 2021 Virginia is in the midst of a major expansion of gaming. The Commonwealth authorized a lottery in 1987; in 2020, the lottery generated $1.3 billion in wagers and $350 million in revenue for the state. The 2020 revenue was up 37 percent over 2019, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, due to online betting in 2020. In 1997, horse racing was authorized and Colonial Downs opened, offering both … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: European Gaming Wakes from Covid Nightmare By Scott Longley • May 19, 2021 There was something almost plaintive about Rank’s social-media messaging in the days before the UK’s harshest lockdown measures were lifted across most of the country. “There’s three days to go and we can’t wait. It’s been too long, but the good times are coming back,” the company predicted. "We’ll be swinging open Grosvenor's doors on Monday 17 May and we can’t wait to see you!" It’s an upbeat … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: A New Beginning By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • May 19, 2021 This is the week that many casinos and other gambling venues in Europe are emerging from lockdown and permitted to reopen their doors, albeit with restrictions on the number of people allowed on the premises at any one time. The pandemic has had a devastating impact on Europe’s land-based gambling industry. With venues ordered to close, then to reopen, then half-closed, closed, half-open, and … [Read more...]
Book reminds us of those who promoted Vegas in sunshine and shadow By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • May 19, 2021 As it emerges from the nation’s coronavirus crisis and each day shows signs of returning to full speed, it’s easy to forget there was a time that Las Vegas wasn’t so much a place as an idea. I was reminded of that while reading Larry D. Gragg’s new book, Becoming America’s Playground: Las Vegas in the 1950s. For Gragg, an academic by profession at Missouri University of Science and Technology, … [Read more...]
A shortage of jobs, employees, and service in the time of COVID By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • May 16, 2021 An economic report by the federal government said the economy is recovering at a record pace, with an annual growth rate is 6.4 percent. And the number of people seeking unemployment aid reached its lowest point since the pandemic struck. Thus far, the post-pandemic economy is as good as anyone dared hope. But at the same time, an unanticipated dilemma is surfacing, a severe labor … [Read more...]
Is Vegas back? Not yet, but the gaming capital has reached a tipping point By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • May 15, 2021 Las Vegas is healthy again, but more needs to happen before the patient receives the all-clear. As we look back at the last 14 months, this week’s slate of news from Las Vegas could be viewed as the tipping point for the epicenter of the gaming industry. Analysts, the investment community, and the industry in general are anticipating the time Las Vegas achieves business levels and numbers that … [Read more...]
Baffert takes a ‘gut punch’ as thoroughbred racing again shows its soft underbelly By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • May 12, 2021 With his shock of white hair and seemingly unflappable cool, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert might be the most recognizable face in horseracing. All eyes were on him at the Kentucky Derby on May 1 after Medina’s Spirit powered its way to a first-place finish. He was still the center of attention on Sunday when Churchill Downs officials announced his suspension after his winning horse failed a … [Read more...]
Sports betting investment with Wynn Interactive will test Bill Foley’s track record By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • May 11, 2021 Las Vegas is well acquainted with Bill Foley. He’s not afraid of swinging away at multimillion-dollar deals. He also doesn’t like to lose. In 2016, Foley paid $500 million to the National Hockey League for the expansion Vegas Golden Knights. At the time, Foley predicted the Golden Knights would win the Stanley Cup Championship within six years. In the team’s inaugural 2017 season, … [Read more...]
Of sharks and demons, ownership of the Palms high-priced artwork to be determined By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • May 8, 2021 A few details need to be worked out before Southern California’s San Manuel Band of Mission Indians takes ownership of the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Such as who gets the shark? The off-Strip Palms is loaded with high-priced artwork, some of which was acquired by Red Rock Resorts executives Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta. The company sold the Palms to the tribe last week for … [Read more...]
Global Gaming’s lawsuit against Razon riddled with intrigue By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • May 6, 2021 When Las Vegas-based Global Gaming Asset Management (GGAM) in late March took its pursuit of the Philippines’ second-richest man to the U.S District Court of the Southern District of New York, it was only a matter of time before its lawsuit began to reverberate through the casino industry. Beyond the breaking news and the ugly allegations contained in the litigation, it is a reminder of the big … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: Italy – Administrative Court Accepts Betfair Appeal By Valérie Peano • May 5, 2021 On April 14, 2021, the Administrative Court of Rome accepted the appeal of Betfair (Betfair Italia s.r.l.), thus voiding the part of the challenged Italian gambling Regulator’s notice that refers to betting exchange additional taxation, in order for the latter to issue a new notice that clarifies the grounds and preliminary information for the tax application and calculation criteria. The case … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: Lotteries Need to Be More Competitive By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • May 5, 2021 The Irish bookmakers have been lobbying their government to be allowed to continue to accept bets on the outcome of the Irish Lottery, this is in response to the Irish Lottery, understandably, having lobbied to make it illegal. Not many countries allow bets on the outcome of their lotteries, arguing that any bets made will draw money away from the lottery itself and therefore from the good … [Read more...]
No longer the outsider, DraftKings and Jason Robins fuel sports betting’s engine By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • May 4, 2021 For a time, Jason Robins seemed to be on the outside looking into the clubhouse. Today, he and DraftKings are seated at the head of the table. In the three years since legal sports betting began its rapid expansion across the U.S., DraftKings has gained mobile and/or retail sports betting access in some 65% of the available market. In the vast majority of the states where it operates, … [Read more...]
Focus on Asia: The Road to Sri Lanka By Andrew Klebanow, Principal, Klebanow Consulting • May 4, 2021 The prospect of integrated casino resorts in Sri Lanka is once again making headlines. The resorts would be part of a massive urban development project called Port City Colombo. Developed by China Harbour Engineering Company and China Communications Construction Company, Port City Colombo is an ambitious venture that will reclaim approximately 260 hectares of land and will include a theme park, … [Read more...]
Focus on Asia: Changing with the Times By Ben Blaschke, Managing Editor, Inside Asian Gaming • May 4, 2021 A comment made by Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng in mid-April detailing Macau’s plans to amend its financial laws to allow for the introduction of China’s Digital RMB as an official currency indicate an important change of policy direction by the Macau SAR Government. Beijing is planning to introduce its Digital RMB into the Chinese economy by 2024 and has been conducting pilot programs in … [Read more...]
To mask or not to mask, that is the question By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • May 2, 2021 Wearing a mask and getting vaccinated are major topics of conversation these days; nationally, locally and personally, we are debating the right and wrong things to do. And everyone has a different idea, it seems. In Mississippi, for example, the Gaming Commission lifted its COVID restrictions beginning May1. Casino customers and employees are no longer required to wear masks or maintain social … [Read more...]
Don’t overlook the ‘impressive’ recovery in the Las Vegas locals casino markets By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • May 1, 2021 Nevada’s stunning $1.066 billion gaming revenue total for March, especially the Las Vegas Strip’s $501.4 million contribution, had the investment community buzzing. The overall figure, the state’s largest single-month revenue total in more than eight years, happened despite COVID-19 operating restrictions and capacity limitations. The results reported from the Las Vegas locals markets were … [Read more...]
The month of May, her flowers, and her horses By Bernard Kroviak, CDC Gaming Reports • April 29, 2021 I’ve always thought that May is one of the most exciting months of the year. It tends to mean different things to different people, usually depending on where in the country one lives. For those in the South and Southwest, it probably means that the short spring there is ending and the heat of summer is soon to be upon them. For those in the Midwest, East, or Northeast, however, May signals much … [Read more...]
Oh, Oscar: Why is there no wagering on the Academy Awards in Nevada? By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • April 28, 2021 I realize the Academy Awards will never rival the Super Bowl when it comes to attracting sports bettors. Some traditionalists around the sportsbook would probably scoff at the very idea of setting serious odds on such a frivolous affair as the annual race for the Oscars. But that doesn’t mean the massive sportsbooks of Las Vegas should be left out of the delight of placing a few bucks on … [Read more...]
Las Vegas Sands and online gaming: Is the interest real or all about nothing? By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • April 27, 2021 The television sitcom “Seinfeld” billed itself as “a show about nothing.” That term best describes Las Vegas Sands’ exploration into the world of digital gaming, online sports betting, and online casinos. On a conference call last week, Sands Chairman and CEO Rob Goldstein fielded the same question concerning digital gaming from multiple analysts: “What is the company’s approach?” In … [Read more...]
The temptress Windy City seeks a casino suiter By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • April 25, 2021 For 30 years, the city of Chicago has coveted a casino of its own. Mayor Richard Daley, the Second, wanted the city to own the casino and lease its operations to a casino company. The other mayors in the hunt, Rahm Emanuel and Lori Lightfoot, were willing to host a casino, collect the taxes and enjoy the other benefits. Lightfoot may get that wish on her watch. In June 2019, the Illinois Senate … [Read more...]
Analysis: ‘Unique’ gaming opportunity in Chicago awaits casino developers By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • April 24, 2021 Casino resorts operating in major downtown cities are not unusual. Detroit has three gaming properties, including the 400-room MGM Grand Detroit, which opened in July 1999. Ohio’s two major cities, Cleveland and Cincinnati, have been home to casinos for nearly a decade. The 671-room Encore Boston Harbor opened in June 2019 in the town of Everett, roughly five miles across the Mystic River … [Read more...]
Igaming Focus: VIPs betting offshore set to continue for the foreseeable future By Jake Pollard, CDC Gaming Reports • April 22, 2021 Many high value players continue to bet on offshore books, but it doesn’t seem to trouble the regulated operators, as many refuse to take the action and those VIPs have their own workarounds. DraftKings chief executive Jason Robins made a startling comment during the company’s investor presentation in early March. When it came to customer acquisition, the biggest issue for DraftKings was … [Read more...]
Igaming Focus: Is Bally’s the blueprint for transatlantic consolidation? By Hannah Gannagé-Stewart, CDC Gaming Reports • April 22, 2021 Bally's Corporation is shaping up as the archetypal US omnichannel operator as it continues its acquisitive run; hoovering up casinos, betting platforms, and – next – UK-based igaming developer Gamesys. The deal was finalised on April 13, with Bally’s this week reporting it had raised $671.4m through a share offering, in order to fund its proposed $2.8bn acquisition of the London Stock … [Read more...]
As Schumer muses, the prohibition politics of pot in the casino industry continues By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • April 21, 2021 Another 4/20 came and went with nothing for the casino industry to celebrate. Despite recreational cannabis use being legal in Nevada, gaming operators remain prohibited from allowing marijuana use on resort properties. Meanwhile, legal marijuana dispensaries operate in the shadow of Las Vegas Strip resorts. Still classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a Schedule 1 substance up … [Read more...]
NFL’s ‘juxtaposition’ on sports betting spans secret meetings to wagering partnerships By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • April 20, 2021 In June 2015, the National Football League abruptly halted its participation in a convention focused on fantasy football that was to be headlined by then Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. The reason? The conference was scheduled for the Venetian Casino Resort on the Las Vegas Strip. The NFL did not want any association with gambling, the casino industry, Las Vegas, and especially sports … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: Is the UK Gambling Review at Risk of Overlooking Crypto? By Hannah Gannagé-Stewart, CDC Gaming Reports • April 19, 2021 The main reason for reviewing the Gambling Act 2005 is that the speed of technological change has rendered much of it unfit for purpose. So how is the UK government going to ensure the same doesn’t happen again? The rise of blockchain and cryptocurrencies in the last decade has been stellar. Bitcoin launched in 2009 and today, one unit of the crypto asset is valued at £40,579.52 ($56,376.50). … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: If It Looks Like a Duck … By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • April 19, 2021 If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck ... The fallout from the collapse of Football Index continues. Foot Stock, a similar concept to Football Index, pulled its funding from the crowdfunding platform, Seedr. And much indignation has been coming from politicians and showing up in the media about the amount of money people have lost, reports of up to £100 million. … [Read more...]
Massachusetts and Pennsylvania: A lesson from two blackjack payouts By Mark Gruetze, CDC Gaming Reports • April 19, 2021 Sometimes you learn from other peoples’ troubles; other times you learn from good examples. For gaming regulators and operators, the saga of blackjack rules in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania illustrates those different paths. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments this month over lawsuits accusing the state’s two casinos of shorting blackjack players by millions of dollars … [Read more...]
A seat at the table By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • April 18, 2021 Recently, Arizona and Connecticut came to agreements with the states’ Indian tribes. The agreements allow the tribes to expand their offerings and add sports betting. They also permit the states to authorize other entities to conduct sports betting. The tribes appear to believe they received a fair trade-off in the agreements. Until these new compacts were signed, the tribes had an exclusive on … [Read more...]
Stadiums augment newly enacted Maryland and Arizona sports betting markets By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • April 17, 2021 At some point, Baltimore will have three sportsbooks within less than two miles of one another. Only one will be located inside a traditional casino. Under Maryland’s new sports betting legislation, Oriole Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium, the homes for baseball’s Baltimore Orioles and the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, have the same rights to operate a sportsbook as the neighboring … [Read more...]
In this corner … major boxing events in front of a live Vegas crowd again? By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • April 14, 2021 Let’s start by agreeing that Tulsa is nice this time of year. And Kissimmee’s a fine place to be if you ever find yourself swatting mosquitos in central Florida. But, well, they’re not exactly Las Vegas. Given the chance, Top Rank founder and CEO Bob Arum will say plenty of nice things about Tulsa and Kissimmee. They are, after all, the sites of his company’s championship boxing promotions … [Read more...]
Longtime rivals Boyd and Red Rock still vying for the Las Vegas locals market By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • April 13, 2021 There has long been a rivalry between Boyd Gaming and Red Rock Resorts. Their founders, the late Sam Boyd and son Bill Boyd, and the late Frank Fertitta, Jr., are considered pioneers in the Las Vegas casino market catering to Southern Nevada residents. Today, the companies are the two dominant operators. But the competition once got heated. In 2009, Boyd made a $950 million offer to … [Read more...]
Mobile sports betting Andrew Cuomo style By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • April 11, 2021 New York has just passed its budget for the next fiscal year. It is a tidy sum, $212 billion, a 10 percent increase over the 2020-2021. Blame it on COVID-19. Like the rest of the country, New York is faced with an economic crisis in the wake of the pandemic. The crisis has created a mountain of social needs and concerns, which the budget seeks to address. Struggling communities, schools, small … [Read more...]
Increased fan engagement from legal sports betting fuels valuable sports media deals By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • April 10, 2021 It was nearly a decade ago when the NCAA and the four primary professional sports leagues sued the state of New Jersey to stop the enactment of a voter-approved sports betting referendum. The NCAA and the leagues would spend millions of dollars in legal fees over the next five years in what was ultimately a failed effort. It’s safe to say the National Football League, National Basketball … [Read more...]
‘Joe’s Dash’ a highlight reel from security man Dorsey’s remarkable career By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • April 7, 2021 Given its history, it’s no surprise the casino industry continues to provide an endless source of fascination for readers. But it’s not all shadowy gangsters and larger-than-life corporate titans. For my money, the best stories always seem to come from behind the scenes and straight from the casino floor. It’s something Joe Dorsey knows plenty about. Joe’s Dash: From Million Dollar Drug … [Read more...]
Fixing a problematic North Las Vegas casino fueled the gaming pursuits of Bally’s Soo Kim By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • April 6, 2021 A decade ago, when the Bally’s name was attached to one of the gaming industry’s leading slot machine developers, Soo Kim was gaining an understanding of the casino business. Standard General, a New York-based investment firm that Kim co-founded, led a group of creditors that took ownership of Aliante Station in North Las Vegas following the bankruptcy reorganization of Station Casinos in … [Read more...]
Focus on Asia: When Gaming Regulatory Authorities Stumble By Andrew Klebanow, Principal, Klebanow Consulting • April 6, 2021 The aftershocks caused by the issuance of the Bergin Report in February of 2021 continue to reverberate across Oceana and East Asia. The report evaluated Crown Resorts’ suitability to hold a gaming license for its soon to be completed AU$2.2 billion resort in New South Wales. The report uncovered a variety of issues at Crown’s casino properties in Victoria and Western Australia. Specifically, the … [Read more...]
Focus on Asia: The Sands of Time By Ben Blaschke, Managing Editor, Inside Asian Gaming • April 6, 2021 On 3 March 2021, Las Vegas Sands announced that it had reached an agreement to sell off its entire Las Vegas property portfolio, providing in return an extensive and powerful US$6.25 billion war chest. Coming less than two months after the passing of founder Sheldon Adelson, the decision to sell, albeit hinted at in earnings calls last year, suggests that arguably the most successful casino … [Read more...]
First Las Vegas location for Betfred Sports serves as a showroom, but not for long By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • April 3, 2021 Think of the Betfred sportsbook inside the newly opened Mohegan Sun Casino Las Vegas as a model home. Betfred Sports, the U.S. subsidiary of United Kingdom-based Betfred Group, is awaiting licensing from Nevada gaming regulators. Until then, the 1,250-square-foot space provides the company’s Head of USA Development Stephen Crystal a boutique showroom inside Mohegan’s 60,000-square-foot casino … [Read more...]
Marty Byrde, King Dice, and gaming’s enduring image problem By David Schwartz, CDC Gaming Reports • April 1, 2021 The casino gaming industry is in a funny place. For those of us inside the bubble, it’s a business brimming with regulations, compliance, and integrity. For those outside it, though, casinos are still, for lack of a better word, seedy. On one hand, we can point to the unprecedented spread of legal casino gaming in the United States as evidence of the industry’s robust legitimacy. On the other, as … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: The Football Index Debacle – Who Knew What and When? By Matt Zarb-Cousin • March 31, 2021 The collapse of Football Index, which billed itself as a stock market for footballers, is estimated to have cost tens of thousands of its users in the region of £90 million. Bet Index, the company that operated Football Index, is now in administration and has since had its license suspended by the Gambling Commission. More recently, Footstock, a similar product, surrendered its Gambling Commission … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: The More Things Change … By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • March 31, 2021 Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose (the more that changes, the more it's the same thing) Today, we are experiencing waves of regulation and re-regulation of gambling throughout the world. In the U.S., the Supreme Court decision overturning the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, finding that PASPA violates the states’ Tenth Amendment rights, cleared the way for states to determine whether to … [Read more...]
The best marketing for the casino industry comeback: Full Vaccination By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • March 31, 2021 If there’s one thing Las Vegas has always been good at, it’s marketing itself to the world. From low-roller bargains to high-rolling penthouses, sexy singles getaways to family-friendly atmospheres, you name it, and some Las Vegas marketing maven has probably thought of a way to grab their attention. But now the world has changed. Now in its second year, the coronavirus pandemic continues to … [Read more...]
VICI Properties expands its Las Vegas presence – and influence – through Sands deal By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • March 30, 2021 At the end of February, VICI Properties President John Payne suggested the real estate investment trust was keeping its eyes firmly planted on Las Vegas. On the Strip, the New York-based company owns the land and buildings associated with Caesars Palace, Harrah’s Las Vegas, and the Caesars Forum Convention Center. VICI also has the right of first refusal should Caesars Entertainment sell … [Read more...]
A casino of collaboration opens in Las Vegas By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • March 28, 2021 As of March 25, Las Vegas has a new resort-casino, Virgin Hotels. It joins Circa, which opened in October, and Resorts World Las Vegas, scheduled to open later in the summer, as the COVID casinos of 2020-21. During the pandemic, the three resort projects continued construction, opening later than planned, but still opening. Staying on course was a test of the will and commitment of the … [Read more...]
Ending the handle tax up for Congressional debate (again), but Nevada not alone in the fight By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • March 27, 2021 Nevada Rep. Dina Titus was the lone voice in Congress seven years ago when she sought to remove an antiquated federal excise tax on sports wagers. At the time, the Silver State was the nation’s only full-scale and legal sports betting market. Nevada is no longer alone in the sports betting realm. Earlier this month, North Carolina became the nation’s 22nd legal sports betting jurisdiction … [Read more...]
An important anniversary for Las Vegas gaming By David Schwartz, CDC Gaming Reports • March 25, 2021 Last week, Nevada marked the 90th anniversary of the relegalization of commercial gaming — an event that led directly to the development of today’s gaming industry. Today, we mark another milestone of Nevada gaming history, one that reminds us how far the state and the industry have come, and how far both still have to go. On March 26, 1960, Governor Grant Sawyer, Las Vegas NAACP President Dr. … [Read more...]
Wynn’s name set to re-emerge after $50M hospital donation By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • March 24, 2021 Scandalized former casino mogul Steve Wynn has found a place where they welcome his name on a building. It didn’t come cheap. Wynn has announced he’s donating $50 million toward the construction of a new hospital in downtown Utica, New York. The hospital, owned by the Mohawk Valley Health System, will bear his name. The donation announcement comes at a time Wynn is still battling the fallout … [Read more...]
Joe Hasson: Mohegan Sun Las Vegas opening ‘an important event’ for the tribe By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • March 23, 2021 The business model provided the reason as to why Joe Hasson went from consultant to candidate for the general manager’s position at the Mohegan Sun Casino inside Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. It was familiar to him. Mohegan Gaming, the business arm of Connecticut’s Mohegan Indian Tribe, unveils its 60,000-square-foot gaming space inside the renovated former Hard Rock Las Vegas on Thursday. The … [Read more...]
Igaming Focus: DFS on the rise – player education, brand awareness and M&A targets By Jake Pollard, CDC Gaming Reports • March 23, 2021 Daily fantasy sports is a key acquisition and educational tool in the ultra-competitive U.S. iGaming space. The pressure is on to find early-stage DFS specialists as operators look to grow both player-base and brand awareness. Not many industry observers could have predicted how fantasy leagues or the fantasy sports betting vertical would develop over the last 25 years when media brands like … [Read more...]
Where do they go when it’s over?; or “Ahhhh, retirement” By Bernard Kroviak, CDC Gaming Reports • March 22, 2021 Every year for the past three years, more than 19,000 thoroughbreds have been foaled in this country. Our old trainer once told me that usually about 60% of them ever get to race, and of that number, only about 60% of them ever win a race. That certainly makes breeding a pretty risky business, especially if you spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to breed a single mare to a single stallion. In … [Read more...]
Opinions are easy when you have no skin in the game By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • March 21, 2021 Communist China is once again proving to be an enigma to the casino-gaming world. Early in the year, China announced an extension to its blacklisted gambling destinations for Chinese. And beginning in March, it said it would enforce a law that makes it illegal to solicit Chinese gamblers to travel outside of the country and across borders. It is also a violation of the law for Chinese gamblers to … [Read more...]
A potential Trump casino project in Florida faces long odds and steep opposition By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • March 20, 2021 The troubles facing former President Donald Trump’s faltering business empire were well documented by Bloomberg News this week. Jumping back into the casino industry, however, probably isn’t the most viable solution that would be offered up by Trump’s creditors. They are owed some $590 million in loans that come due over the next few years. Based on Trump’s gaming industry track record, … [Read more...]
Nevada gaming turns 90 By David Schwartz, CDC Gaming Reports • March 18, 2021 Today marks the anniversary of what might be the most consequential event in American gambling history: the relegalization of commercial gaming in Nevada in 1931. Without Nevada rolling the dice in 1931, it’s likely that gambling in the United States — and the rest of the world — would look very different today. When Governor Fred Balzar signed Assembly Bill 98 into law on March 19, 1931, he … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: Caveat Emptor By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • March 17, 2021 Last week, Football Index, the fantasy sports share-trading business, called in the administrators, a process similar to the United States’ Chapter 11, and the UK Gambling Commission (GC) suspended its operating license, resulting in the closure of the business. The GC put out a statement: “The suspension follows an ongoing section 116 review into the operator, as we had concerns activities may … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: Who Wants To Be a Personal Management Licence Holder? By Paula Murphy, Founder and Managing Director of KnowNow Limited • March 17, 2021 Earlier this month, the UK Gambling Commission (GC) announced they had taken action against a number of Personal Management Licence (PML) holders at Caesars Entertainment UK. This investigation was launched off the back of regulatory action last year resulting in a £13m penalty for the operator, stemming from a series of social-responsibility, money-laundering and customer-interaction failures, … [Read more...]
Ring the bell for Marvelous Marvin Hagler, a great Las Vegas entertainer By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • March 17, 2021 The tributes continue for former middleweight champion Marvelous Marvin Hagler, who died last week at age 66. The accolades are well-deserved, of course. Hagler was one of the greatest middleweights in the history of the sport. He won 62 of his 67 professional fights with 52 knockouts and reigned supreme in his division throughout most of the 1980s, perhaps boxing’s last golden era. All … [Read more...]
Optimism prevails as Strip gaming operators hoping for a post-pandemic bounce back By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • March 16, 2021 Can you smell the optimism? A cautious confidence is emanating from Las Vegas casino operators that the early stages of an economic rebound is on the horizon. On Monday, gaming floors and restaurants boosted capacity levels to 50%, just ahead of the NCAA’s March Madness. The buoyant mood also comes from gaming leadership in the regional markets and Macau. Investment firm J.P. Morgan … [Read more...]
Tangos and Waltzes for the Big Apple and Windy City By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • March 14, 2021 New York and Chicago appear to be getting closer to a hometown resort. Chicago is currently taking a step down that road. The city is expected to release an RFP soon. Mayor Lori Lightfoot says the city would like premium casino companies to bid for a Windy City resort. The mayor went so far as to hope the companies applying would have a Las Vegas return address on their proposal. A casino in … [Read more...]
Loosening the restrictions, the Stardust and Casino Chicago By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • March 13, 2021 A year after the coronavirus forced the closing of all the casinos in the country, recovery and return to normal may be beginning. The governors of Maryland, Nevada and New Jersey have eased the restrictions in their states. For a year, Las Vegas has been without two of its major drivers, entertainment, and conventions. Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak is very aware of the impact and is doing his … [Read more...]
They Will Return By David G. Schwartz, CDC Gaming Reports • March 11, 2021 This month, we pass the one-year COVID-19 mark. The pandemic and its associated shutdowns, travel restrictions, and economic losses disrupted much of the national gaming industry, but had a particularly brutal impact on the Las Vegas Strip. Once the leading light of American gambling, the Strip has been hurt by the very things that, for decades, made it so prosperous: easy connections to much of … [Read more...]
With the Strip in transition, Las Vegas Sands cashes out By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • March 9, 2021 Some are calling it smart business. Others are reminiscing about the changing corporate landscape of Las Vegas. Still more must be wondering whether they’re getting out while the getting’s good. But whatever your opinion of the departure of Las Vegas Sands Corp. from the city that enabled its founder to become a household name in the gaming industry, it’s a remarkable turn of events that … [Read more...]
Potential Sportradar listing raises official data stakes By Jake Pollard, CDC Gaming Reports • March 8, 2021 Recent news that the betting-odds and data-supplier Sportradar was in talks to go potentially public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) wasn’t surprising. Rumours that the Switzerland-based company would list via either an initial public offering or a SPAC have been circulating for some time and when one notices the breadth of U.S. stakeholders actively looking at a market … [Read more...]
A week to remember on the Las Vegas Strip By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • March 6, 2021 It would be hard to imagine a bigger story than the sale of the Las Vegas Sands properties. Just two months after Sheldon Adelson died, the Sands announced it had reached a deal to sell its real estate and gaming operations in Las Vegas in two separate transactions. VICI Properties is buying the real estate and Apollo Global Management is acquiring the operations. Chairman and CEO Robert … [Read more...]
I want to play at casinos again; do they still want me? By Mark Gruetze, CDC Gaming Reports • March 4, 2021 It’s been 12 months since my last casino visit, by far the longest stretch since becoming obsessed with Las Vegas and blackjack 40-some years ago. I’m eager to return as soon as I feel safe in a crowd, whether for an evening at my home casino in Pennsylvania or on an excursion to a gambling hub. But a question nags at me: How much do casinos want me back? Will they still welcome low- to … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: Taming Risk By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • March 3, 2021 This week, we are back to the development of probability theory, which we approach through the graveyards of plague-infected 17th century London. In this series, I have written about how the initial impetus for the development of probability theory was gambling. First, Cardano explained how the probability of various outcomes of dice throws and card games could be calculated. Second, in … [Read more...]
Nevada should expand, not slash, state’s problem-gambling program By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • March 3, 2021 March is Problem Gambling Awareness Month. It’s a time set aside for a status-check on the ongoing effort to address the complex issue of compulsive gambling. As it has with all other aspects of daily life, the pandemic has complicated efforts to inform players about problem gambling and provide treatment options. In Nevada, so reliant on gaming and tourism for its tax revenues and economic … [Read more...]
All’s well that ends well with the Upick debacle By David G. Schwartz, CDC Gaming Reports • March 2, 2021 You probably have already heard the story. It raced across Twitter in a brilliant blaze last week before sputtering into dust over the weekend. The Vegas Golden Knights inked a sponsorship deal with UpickTrade.com, a “sports pick recommendation service.” Cue the unanimous uproar from the broader sports betting community, head scratches from industry experts, and the Golden Knights ending the … [Read more...]
Focus on Asia: The Reckoning By Andrew Klebanow, Principal, Klebanow Consulting • March 2, 2021 For over two decades, casinos in East Asia and Oceana have targeted gamblers residing in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). From the VIP rooms in Cagayan Province in the Philippines to the casinos in Australia, Chinese gamblers have long been an important market. Whether they were brought in by junket promoters, group tours, or as individual travelers, and more recently as online gamblers, … [Read more...]
Focus on Asia: Korean Calamity By Ben Blaschke, Managing Editor, Inside Asian Gaming • March 2, 2021 At a time when casino operators around Asia are either starting to see their fortunes rise or preparing for better days ahead as vaccines begin rolling out across the globe, there is reason for ongoing concern in South Korea. The East Asian nation is home to 17 casinos – eight in Jeju and nine on the mainland – and of those only one, Kangwon Land in remote Gangwon Province, permits locals … [Read more...]
Virginia: In the vanguard of gaming expansion By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • February 28, 2021 Virginia is a state on the move, reinventing itself for the 21st century. The changes are startling. Statues of Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee and confederate flags are vanishing. Urbanization, technology companies, Amazon, casinos and sports betting are popping up all over the Commonwealth. Two years ago, it seemed that the current round of casino gaming expansion had run its course. … [Read more...]
Texas Two-Step: Casinos and sports betting doing the Lone Star dance By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • February 27, 2021 Add Caesars Entertainment to the growing list of gaming companies that are more than curious about the possibility of Texas legalizing casinos during its upcoming legislative session. CEO Tom Reeg, however, isn’t holding out much hope. “That's another state where I'm highly confident there will be significant public interest,” Reeg said on the company’s quarterly conference call last week. … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: Careful What You Wish For By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • February 24, 2021 The terms of reference for, and the scope of, the review of the Gambling Act 2005 have been agreed on and we are off to the races. All parties have started lobbying for their positions, with articles appearing in the media and spokespeople for various factions popping up on broadcast news. To avoid the debacle of the FOBT debate, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) want to control the message … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: Future Landscape of Data Rights By Scott Longley • February 24, 2021 The empty stadia of top-class sports in lockdown has presented a dismal prospect. The echoing shouts and cries to the few players and staff in the arenas rebound around venues more suited to the singing of the multitude. Spare a thought, though, for the data scouts. While the rest of the spectators get to moan about a lack of atmosphere, the scouts still have a job to do, translating the action … [Read more...]
At Nevada Legislature, changing technology also means changing definitions in gaming statutes By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • February 24, 2021 As I watched the live feed of the Assembly Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday morning at the Nevada Legislature, I couldn’t help wondering where we would be without all our technology. That sense of reliance has only been enhanced during the coronavirus pandemic. The State Legislature is back in session but is only available to most of us by watching its Internet feed or via its Youtube … [Read more...]
Troubles at GameCo portend concerns for the skill-based slot market By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • February 23, 2021 Roughly 60 minutes into a Nevada Gaming Commission licensing hearing that quickly devolved into a four-hour interrogation, it was abundantly clear Blaine Graboyes’ future as CEO of skill-based slot machine developer GameCo was in peril. Less than 24 hours after Graboyes was denied a gaming license on a 4-1 vote, the sharks were circling. A handful of investment types were on the phone … [Read more...]
Igaming Focus: U.S. igaming market – the only place to be? By Jake Pollard, CDC Gaming Reports • February 23, 2021 The U.S. igaming market is the only game in town when it comes to growth prospects and potential currently. The headlines and figures are noteworthy in these early days, but the daily grind and detail of operators’ activities will define the market. The rate at which the U.S. online gaming and betting market is developing has made it the only game in town in terms of industry interest and, if … [Read more...]
Igaming Focus: Dodging one bullet, and maybe another By Martin Owens, Attorney At Law, Special to CDC Gaming Reports • February 23, 2021 New U.S. Corporate Requirements, Section 230 and Igaming “Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes an incredible stroke of luck.” -- The Dalai Lama About the last thing the U.S. Congress did in 2020 was to override President Donald Trump's veto of the National Defense Appropriations Act. It was the first thing the U.S. Senate did in 2021. Like all big and important budget … [Read more...]
Andrew Yang, the Big Apple and a casino By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • February 21, 2021 Andrew Yang is seeking to be elected mayor of New York City. Yang has no political experience, although he has campaigned for public office once before. In November 2017, he filed to run for president of the United States, leaving the race in February 2020. Yang is not rich, nor is he well-known nationally. He graduated from law school, but only practiced law for “the worst five months of my … [Read more...]
‘Rebound in Hawaii business’ will drive the post-COVID recovery for the ‘ninth island’ By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • February 20, 2021 Observers hoping Boyd Gaming’s fourth-quarter results would help extrapolate the financial influence Circa Casino Resort has had on downtown Las Vegas’ gaming market didn’t find any answers. Boyd’s total revenues from two of its three downtown Las Vegas properties – Main Street Station has been closed since March – declined 74% to $18.2 million for the last three months of the year. For all … [Read more...]
Red Rock looks at possible casino expansion even as four Las Vegas properties remain closed By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • February 16, 2021 Red Rock Resorts leadership didn’t have much to say last week about the Palms Casino Resort, the off-Strip property that cost the company more than $1 billion over the past five years in acquisition costs, renovation charges, and write-offs associated with a failed nightclub. The Palms closed 11 months ago when Nevada shut down its gaming industry for 78 days in an effort to slow the spreading … [Read more...]
And who shall wear the Crown? By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • February 15, 2021 Australian gaming company, Crown Resorts, has had a very difficult time of late. Its troubles probably began in 2016. In October of that year, 19 employees were arrested in China for illegally recruiting gamblers. The press coverage was unfavorable for Crown and James Packer, the company’s largest stockholder, and it probably had an impact on subsequent events. In March 2018, Packer resigned from … [Read more...]
Unfinished Fontainebleau-Drew project is not a solution to the Las Vegas Strip’s troubles By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • February 13, 2021 I have one question for Koch Real Estate Investments, the fourth owner of the unfinished Fontainebleau-Drew project, a hulking eyesore on the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip. Do they know a good demolition expert? The company, the Dallas-based real estate arm of the politically uber-powerful Koch Industries, said in a statement late Thursday it acquired the development, which sits on 24 … [Read more...]
I watched the Super Bowl in Spanish: It was better that way By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • February 10, 2021 A funny thing happened on the way to watching the Kansas City Chiefs repeat as champions of the National Football League. And it wasn’t the ugly outcome of the game. My wife and I went over to her mother’s house to celebrate the Big Game between the Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was a party of three, socially distanced and just about my speed. Then a strange and wonderful thing … [Read more...]
Sports betting, coupled with igaming, could fuel 1990s-like expansion in the U.S. By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • February 9, 2021 Barstool Sports, the sports wagering platform for regional casino operator Penn National Gaming, currently operates in two states. Penn’s 41 casinos are located in 19 states. In the recently completed fourth quarter, Penn reported total revenues of nearly $1.03 billion. The contribution from sports betting was mixed into the company’s “Other” revenue bucket, which totaled $53.4 … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: How Do We Decide? By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • February 8, 2021 The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), which used to be part of the UK’s Cabinet Office when David Cameron was the Prime Minister, has released a study investigating the relationship between online deposit limits and the amount customers actually do deposit. Despite the headlines, “Research suggests gambling spend reduced with deposit limit options removed”, the actual results were not so clear … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: Casino Concessions in Portugal in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic By André Miranda • February 8, 2021 In Portugal, to operate a land-based casino, operators must enter a public-tender procedure to be granted a concession. Considering the amounts of money involved and EU regulations, these tenders should be international. Usually, well before the termination of the concession contract, the Government should prepare and organize a new tender, which in complex concessions such as land-based casinos … [Read more...]
‘Peanuts, popcorn, the over/under?’ Arizona offering a new sports betting partnership By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • February 6, 2021 Many professional teams located in states where sports wagering is legal have taken on “official sports betting partners,” which primarily provide sportsbook operators signage inside stadiums or arenas and other marketing opportunities. Arizona lawmakers are considering allowing teams to take that designation one step further. Legislation introduced in Phoenix last week would permit the … [Read more...]
A bet on the Big Game and a prayer for better days ahead By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • February 3, 2021 Even under coronavirus pandemic restrictions and amid a reeling economy, Super Bowl LV figures to generate a lot of excitement and a gargantuan handle by sportsbooks across the country and around the world. As a sentimental aside, I can’t help but pause to reflect that it wasn’t long ago the National Football League and its team of lawyers would have thrown a flopping fit and sent out … [Read more...]
Building a New York City casino resort continues to attract the interest of Las Vegas Sands By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • February 2, 2021 Las Vegas Sands still has that New York state of mind. After all, CEO Rob Goldstein said the company has “been looking at New York for, I think, about 100 years, it seems like. I don't think it's any secret that we're big believers in New York.” Goldstein was exaggerating a bit during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings conference call last week, but the potential for an integrated … [Read more...]
Focus on Asia: All For One, Not One For All By Ben Blaschke, Managing Editor, Inside Asian Gaming • February 2, 2021 If there is one thing we have learnt from the licensing and suitability woes hovering over Australia’s Crown Resorts right now, it’s the importance of compliance and keeping scrupulously close watch over the flow of funds in and around the casino floor (and in pubs and clubs across the state). But it has also reinforced the fact that gambling-related companies are often held to a different, … [Read more...]
Focus on Asia: The Road to Thailand By Andrew Klebanow, Principal, Klebanow Consulting • February 2, 2021 In January, Thailand’s prime minister announced that he was willing to explore the possibility of legalizing casino gambling in the kingdom. Recent outbreaks of Covid-19 in illegal gambling halls prompted him to make the announcement. His statement also acknowledged that Thai citizens already gamble, in both illegal domestic operations and in other countries. Any number of possible gaming … [Read more...]
A changing of the guard at the Sands By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • February 1, 2021 Sheldon Adelson died and left the reins of Las Vegas Sands in the hands of his second-in-command, Rob Goldstein. Goldstein inherits the reins, but not the stock and ownership control of the company. Adelson’s wife, Miriam, gets the stock. In time, Miriam may be able to exercise some control over the company, but not until she is licensed in Nevada and receives approval from Macau and Singapore. … [Read more...]
Daily fantasy still not part of Nevada’s sports betting line-up despite recent investments By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • January 30, 2021 Nearly six years ago, Nevada put the kibosh on daily fantasy sports operators. The Gaming Control Board, based on a research memo authored by the state’s Attorney General, banned unlicensed fantasy sports websites from providing their product to Nevada customers. The reason? “Daily fantasy sports constitute sports pools and gambling games," Brin Gibson, then-chief deputy attorney … [Read more...]
Jeffrey Epstein’s ghost sends a chill through Apollo Global Management By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • January 27, 2021 Jet-setting sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein died in 2019, but he continues to haunt his old associates. One of those, Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black, certainly knows his way around Las Vegas and the casino industry. Apollo announced this week that Black would step down as CEO following the release of an investigation by its board of directors that focused on his relationship with … [Read more...]
Michigan draws the sports betting community’s attention with its online launch By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • January 26, 2021 Online sports betting went live last weekend in Michigan with 10 different platforms, each with a single partner – one of Detroit’s three commercial casinos and seven of the state’s tribal gaming properties. That’s a crowded field even for a populous, sports-crazy state like Michigan. Imagine the frenzy in California and Texas if those states ever decide to get around to legalizing sports … [Read more...]
Igaming Focus: U.S. sports betting marketing – on a different level By Jake Pollard, CDC Gaming Reports • January 26, 2021 The levels of marketing and coverage of sports betting in the U.S. are above anywhere else in the world, but scrutiny of the industry is just as likely to rise in parallel. The number of media partnerships and the level of broadcast and mass market exposure betting brands are getting in the U.S. is some levels above anything seen in other regulated markets. A quick run through of recent … [Read more...]
Upset and upsets By Bernard Kroviak, CDC Gaming Reports • January 25, 2021 "To disturb the balance or stability", "to overthrow from an upright position", "an unhappy or worried mental state”: these are just few examples of the definition of the word upset. It can be used as a noun or a verb. I find it a very curious word, especially in light of the events of 2020. Odds are, we’ve all used this silly little word, some of us probably more than others. For me, the … [Read more...]
Where have all the gamblers gone, long time passing? By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • January 24, 2021 For December 2020, the three Massachusetts casinos reported less than $50 million in gross gaming revenue. It was a decline of 40 percent from December 2019. The casinos in Massachusetts, like those everywhere in the country, are suffering the impacts of government operating restrictions and a customer base leery of being in public. The nation and the gaming industry are approaching the one-year … [Read more...]
Revisions aside, maybe it’s time to get rid of the ‘archaic’ Wire Act altogether By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • January 23, 2021 Nearly 60 years have passed since Congress created the Federal Wire Act. U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy pushed the legislation as a deterrent to organized crime by making the transmission of interstate gambling information illegal. But the Wire Act has outlived its usefulness. In today’s modern gaming universe, commercial and tribal casinos are found in 43 states, legal sports betting … [Read more...]
Will Trump return to Las Vegas or even the casino business? Don’t bet on it By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • January 20, 2021 After four tumultuous years, Donald Trump is no longer President of the United States. Impeached twice and the provoker of a failed insurrection, the man who set out to shake up Washington D.C. certainly accomplished the task. It’s not easy to have 400,000 Americans die of a containable coronavirus pandemic and walk away without a simple acknowledgment of the great loss, but Trump managed to do … [Read more...]
Inoculating a casino workforce against COVID-19 could boost a damaged gaming market By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • January 19, 2021 Steps were taken in the past week to help Nevada’s battered casino industry recover from the economic devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Steve Sisolak prioritized eligibility of frontline gaming and tourism workers in the state’s current coronavirus vaccine distribution schedule Wynn Resorts converted Encore’s convention space into a COVID-19 vaccine distribution center, … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: Italy – Taxation on betting collection is nothing more than a display-of-wealth tax on bettors By Valérie Peano • January 19, 2021 During the first COVID-19 emergency period in Italy early in 2020, the Italian government introduced an additional 0.5% tax on sports and horse betting collection, as well as virtual betting and betting exchange, in order for the state to finance a fund dedicated to sports (notably: sports actors, sports amateur clubs and sports-competition organisers) – the so-called "Save Sport Fund". This … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: Taking Life for Granted – the Development of Probability Theory, Part III By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • January 19, 2021 In my last two articles, I discussed the origins of probability theory and how humans took life for granted, believing that the future was not only unknowable, but somehow pre-ordained. In the sixteenth century, through the popularity of games and especially gambling, it appears that we started to ask if we could ordain the future. Could we look at discreet future events and understand the … [Read more...]
Sheldon Adelson changed the Sands, Las Vegas and Macau By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • January 18, 2021 Sheldon Adelson, the CEO of Las Vegas Sands, has died. Forbes listed him as the 28th wealthiest person in the world with $33.5 billion. Adelson had three claims to fame. First, besides being the Sands CEO, he owned more of the company’s stock than anyone else. It was his Sands stock that put him on the Forbes list. Second, he was the largest individual donor to the Republican Party and the … [Read more...]
After an active 2020, Bally’s is no longer ‘a small regional gaming company’ By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • January 16, 2021 Since 2019, Rhode Island-based Bally’s Corp. has struck deals to acquire or build 11 casino properties in nine states, tripling the regional gaming company’s previous portfolio. Bally’s – formerly known as Twin River Worldwide Holdings – is also creating an omnichannel interactive betting division through its $125 million acquisition of sports betting platform Bet.Works and its partnership with … [Read more...]
‘Sugartime’ revisited: Remembering a Las Vegas hall-of-famer By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • January 13, 2021 Singer Phyllis McGuire, who died just before New Year’s in Las Vegas at age 89, never ran a casino – but there was a time she turned the gaming industry upside down. As a member of the ‘50s sweethearts The McGuire Sisters and as a solo act, she stopped regularly performing years ago. But I can attest that she never lost her magic whether onstage or over a long-distance line. The McGuire … [Read more...]
Sheldon Adelson: A self-made billionaire whose place in gaming history is assured By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • January 12, 2021 The last time I interviewed Sheldon Adelson, he was more interested in talking about a meal he’d recently been served in Israel than the multimillion-dollar judgment he was contesting in front of the Nevada Supreme Court a few days later. The “wonderful lunch of chicken and falafel” was obviously more satisfying to the billionaire than the $96 million he and Las Vegas Sands ended up having to … [Read more...]
VIP gamblers in China: A bait and switch? By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • January 11, 2021 China is changing, being changed. President Xi Jinping is engineering a stronger central government and decreasing the importance of a free capitalist economy. Although a semi-capitalistic economy exists, it is coming more and more under the central control of the Communist Party. The changes will be important to any company wishing to do business in China, but none more so than casinos in Macau. … [Read more...]
Not just one bite: Barstool Fund has raised more than $20.9M for small businesses By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • January 9, 2021 Back in October, Dave Portnoy, founder and “El Presidente” of media platform Barstool Sports, decided to help save the historic Reading Terminal Market in downtown Philadelphia, which had been hit hard by COVID-19 lockdowns. With an assist from casino operator Penn National Gaming, which owns 36% of Barstool, more than $250,000 was raised for location. Penn donated $100 for every new Barstool … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: Affiliates – The secret weapon in the fight for responsible gambling? By Curtis Roach • January 6, 2021 The recent acquisition of safe-gambling-solutions company Mindway AI by Better Collective is not only a prime example of the progress made in the affiliate market, but also a strong indicator of what the future holds for this increasingly influential section of the gaming industry. An affiliate company should no longer be thought of as a ‘one-man-band’ operating out of someone’s bedroom. … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: Taking Life for Granted – the Development of Probability Theory, Part II By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • January 6, 2021 This post is the second of three looking into the development of probability theory, an important concept for the development of our industry. In the first part, I discussed how until the late 15th century, our forebears thought that the future was in the “lap of the gods” and could not be predicted, despite what might have been obvious clues. Late in the 15th century, people started to … [Read more...]
Gaming expansion a 2021 topic as states repair budget holes caused by COVID-19 By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • January 5, 2021 An integrated resort casino in New York City. Las Vegas-style gambling properties in several of Texas’ major metropolitan markets. Legal sports betting in California. These aren’t predictions for 2021. But they could happen. Expansion of legal gaming is on the docket in several state legislatures, as governors and lawmakers deal with billions of dollars in budget shortfalls brought on by … [Read more...]
The gaming industry should tip its hat to the late Nevada State Sen. Joe Neal By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • January 5, 2021 As a Nevada state senator for more than three decades, Joe Neal rarely agreed with the powerful gaming industry on anything. He was a thorn in the side, a fly in the ointment, a pain in the, well, you get the idea. Neal, who died on New Year’s Eve at age 85, was an unabashed liberal. He was Nevada’s first Black state senator. He supported greater workers’ rights and stood up for the Culinary … [Read more...]
Focus on Asia: Suncity’s Path From Junket Promoter to Integrated Resort Developer By Andrew Klebanow, Principal, Klebanow Consulting • January 5, 2021 As widespread production of Covid-19 vaccines ramps up in early 2021, and as governments implement protocols to assure that inbound travelers are vaccinated, international tourism should begin to recover in the latter half of 2021. Primary beneficiaries will be travel, leisure, and hospitality companies that rely on international visitation for the bulk of their revenue. Suncity Group is one … [Read more...]
Focus on Asia: A Year in Time By Ben Blaschke, Managing Editor, Inside Asian Gaming • January 5, 2021 A year is a long time in our usually fast-moving industry, but there is no doubt that 2020 felt much longer than most. I was pondering this notion over the Christmas and New Year’s break, and found myself looking back to this same time last year. What was it shaping our hopes and dreams as 2019 came to an end? Needless to say, it wasn’t COVID-19! It’s hard to believe that just 12 months ago … [Read more...]
For Las Vegas, 2020 is in the past, but 2021 doesn’t look any different By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • January 2, 2021 Somewhere out in the dark and empty desert around midnight on New Year’s Eve, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority officials oversaw the spectacular implosion of a 2020 sign. Maybe they were channeling the scene from the 1995 film, “Casino.” Gangster Nicky Santoro described Las Vegas as having “a lot of holes in the desert, and a lot of problems are buried in those holes.” Via a live … [Read more...]
COVID-19 or coronavirus: Whatever you call it, the pandemic overshadowed gaming in 2020 By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • December 31, 2020 A few weeks after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast in August 2005, wiping away Mississippi’s flourishing casino market, then-American Gaming Association CEO Frank Fahrenkopf Jr. told those gathering for the Global Gaming Expo that the storm was the worst disaster to ever strike the gaming industry. COVID-19 was Katrina on steroids. The pandemic of 2020 tore through every corner … [Read more...]
‘Mayor of Arizona Charlie’s’ one of the notable gaming leaders we lost in 2020 By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • December 29, 2020 It was easily the worst day in the history of Las Vegas locals casino Arizona Charlie’s Decatur. Luckily for the workforce, some who had been employed at the small hotel-casino west of downtown Las Vegas since its opening in 1988, Ron Lurie was there to offer support. Two of the casino’s security officers were senselessly gunned down when they were investigating an incident in one of the … [Read more...]
The Rodent’s Year: 2020 was the Year of the Rat By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • December 27, 2020 Per the Chinese calendar, 2020 was the Year of the Rat. It has been a rat’s year indeed, an infected, infectious, pustulant, disgusting rat. It crawled out of a hole somewhere in a live market, climbed onto ships much like the rats of bubonic plague infamy, and sailed around the world, visiting every port and infecting every person it touched. It is not the first time in the history of … [Read more...]
Derek Stevens pays homage to Las Vegas ‘founders’ at Circa’s Legacy Club By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • December 26, 2020 Hanging by the maître d’s podium before guests ride the two high-speed elevators to Circa Casino Resort’s 60th-floor rooftop Legacy Club is a black-and-white photo of a Las Vegas poker game. The three players are the late Stuey Ungar, a three-time World Series of Poker champion, the late casino owner Bob Stupak, and longtime poker consultant Eric Drache. Stupak, his face resting on his right … [Read more...]
Are the markets anticipating legal sports betting’s first ‘bad beat’? By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • December 22, 2020 In the last 31 months, we’ve learned that any sports betting news item has the power to send the markets scurrying. In some ways, sports betting is akin to picking a winning stock, although we have yet to see a “bad beat.” In poker, a bad beat occurs when a seemingly unbeatable high-ranking hand loses to a higher-ranking hand. The term is often broadened to include non-poker gambles in which … [Read more...]
Igaming Focus: Scale and brand identity signal success in the U.S. market By Jake Pollard, CDC Gaming Reports • December 21, 2020 Scale is vital in the U.S. igaming market, but having a strong brand identity that is easily recognizable could be just as valuable and, arguably, is even rarer. Scale is often mentioned as one of the key features that online betting and gaming operators must possess if they are to be successful. In the case of the U.S. market, this is even more appropriate. The sheer size and potential for … [Read more...]
The Trojan Horse: sports betting By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • December 20, 2020 The overall gaming industry is in a period of dramatic expansion. In May 2018, the United States Supreme Court overturned a federal ban on sports betting. The decision did not legalize sports betting per se; it instead said that the federal law was unconstitutional, leaving it, like all other forms of gaming, a matter for states to decide. It concurrently opened the door to the fastest expansion … [Read more...]
California tribes missing out on millions in revenue without mobile sports betting By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • December 19, 2020 California’s tribal gaming industry is about to commit one of gambling’s ultimate sins. The group is leaving money on the table. The tribes submitted a ballot referendum a week ago that would legalize sports betting at Indian casinos and licensed racetracks. After collecting more than 1.4 million signatures, the tribes hope to place the question in front of voters in November 2022. Mobile … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: Taking Life for Granted – the Development of Probability Theory By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • December 16, 2020 In a change of pace, I thought I would write something about events that allowed our industry to be. This is the first part of a series looking at the development of probability theory, the concept that enables our industry to generate revenue. Today, there are so many things we take for granted and I am not talking about the internet, tablets and smartphones. Rather, I’m talking about numbers … [Read more...]
Tottenham Report: Can the Gambling Commission weather forthcoming reforms? By Hannah Gannagé-Stewart, CDC Gaming Reports • December 16, 2020 If you read UK newspapers, it can feel as though the writing is on the wall for the Gambling Commission of Great Britain (GC). Rarely a day goes past without its efforts being condemned by one party or another. But has the GC really run out of steam just 13 years after it was installed as the industry’s regulator via 2005’s Gambling Act? Only last week, a prominent politician stood up in … [Read more...]
‘Get a shot, spin a slot:’ Nevada’s gaming industry grapples with pandemic mitigation issues By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • December 15, 2020 Less than 24 hours after Nevada’s governor said he wasn’t closing the state’s casino industry for the second time this year despite rising COIVD-19 numbers, the initial shipment of the much-anticipated Pfizer-produced vaccine arrived in Las Vegas. Front-line health-care workers and residents at long-term care facilities are first in line to receive the doses, which began being administered on … [Read more...]
Looking for a model while flying blind By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • December 13, 2020 Depending on where you mark the beginning, December is either the ninth, tenth, or eleventh month since the COVID-19 coronavirus hit both the world economy and the gaming industry. As the experts predicted, we are now enveloped in a second wave of infections. This wave is worse than the first, and there is no immediate end in sight, although given that a pair of vaccines have recently been … [Read more...]
Casino sale by Boyd could foreshadow other pandemic-inspired transactions By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • December 12, 2020 The sale of the Eldorado Casino in Henderson, Nevada, didn’t rattle the financial register for Boyd Gaming Corp. The Las Vegas-based regional gaming company still operates 28 casinos in 10 states. A small, slot-machine-only property – located in Nevada’s second-largest city 20 minutes south of the Strip – wasn’t a material piece of business for Boyd, which has a market capitalization hovering … [Read more...]
The Aftermath By Bernard Kroviak, CDC Gaming Reports • December 10, 2020 The de facto horse racing world championships, the Breeders Cup, were held on November 6th and 7th. The U.S. Presidential Election was held on November 3rd. Leading up to both of these events, the atmosphere was filled with anxiety, tension, and anticipation. Who would win, and what would happen in the aftermath? Ironically – or perhaps not so ironically - the answer to that last question is still … [Read more...]
Troubled Tony Hsieh should be remembered with respect on Fremont Street By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • December 9, 2020 Think of the history of downtown Las Vegas, and a few names spring to the forefront of any conversation. Cowboy Benny Binion is there, so is Jackie Gaughan. And there’s Sam Boyd and Steve Wynn. And don’t forget Mel Exber and Kell Houssels. I’ve left out plenty, but you get the type. Some of the influences were more lettered than others, but they all brought the ability to put their money down … [Read more...]
Increasing Nevada’s gaming tax during the pandemic is not a good idea By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • December 8, 2020 As legislatures throughout the U.S. return to business in 2021 – albeit under COVID-19 health and safety guidelines – gaming expansion is being considered in several states. Lawmakers and governors view casinos, sports betting, and igaming as providing a new form of tax revenue in an effort to repair massive budget deficits caused by the pandemic. Nevada, however, could be on the wrong … [Read more...]
Keeping Las Vegas Strip casinos open akin to ‘walking on the edge of knife’ By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • December 5, 2020 Nevada’s governor doesn’t want to close casinos or limit visitation to the Las Vegas Strip, even as the state’s current COVID-19 infections show a “wildfire of community spread (that) continues to grow out of control.” More than a week after implementing a “three-week pause” that tightened capacity restrictions on casinos, restaurants, and private gatherings to 25%, Gov. Steve Sisolak said the … [Read more...]
All change – Gambling-related harm and living in lockdown By Paula Murphy, Founder and Managing Director of KnowNow Limited • December 2, 2020 It’s been an interesting year, to say the least. I am sure we have all seen the posts on social media saying things like, “I’m not adding 2020 to my age, because I haven’t used it”. However, if you work in compliance or responsible gambling, so much has been happening. We’ve all been very busy dealing with the disruption caused by COVID and carrying on business as usual in the tireless pursuit … [Read more...]
Integrated Resorts in Europe: Part Two By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • December 2, 2020 In my last article, I discussed the economics of integrated resorts (IRs): what they are, why they work and the economic model. In this article, I examine whether Integrated Resorts will be successful in Europe. First a recap of my last article. Integrated resorts are dependent on the gaming element to get a return on investment; the casino cannot be an amenity for the guest, it must be the … [Read more...]
The casino industry once again has its eyes on gaming expansion into Texas By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • December 2, 2020 To the casino industry, Texas is Captain Ahab’s white whale, Sir Galahad’s Holy Grail, and James Hilton’s Shangri-La. It’s the state about which casino operators have long dreamed. “Texas remains the largest untapped market for gaming in the United States. COVID-19 has seemingly made the state reachable,” said Global Market Advisors Director of Government Affairs Brendan Bussmann. “The Lone … [Read more...]
Focus on Asia: NagaCorp’s Cambodia gambit By Andrew Klebanow, Principal, Klebanow Consulting • December 2, 2020 For nearly a decade, government policymakers in Cambodia have worked on developing a comprehensive law to govern the development, licensing, and operation of casinos in the kingdom. The results of those efforts culminated in the recent passage of the Law on the Management of Integrated Resorts and Commercial Gambling (LMCG). The long sought-after goal of using casino development as a tool … [Read more...]
Focus on Asia: Decision time in Yokohama By Ben Blaschke, Managing Editor, Inside Asian Gaming • December 2, 2020 Two years after Japan passed its long-awaited IR Implementation Bill, the future of the nation’s prospective casino industry is looking clouded as ever. Having finally overcome years of red tape to set the wheels in motion, the financial uncertainty proliferated by COVID-19 has planted seeds of doubt in the minds of once single-minded candidates and given rise to newly empowered opposition groups … [Read more...]
Masked up and open for business near Pittsburgh By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • November 29, 2020 In the midst of COVID-19 and its attendant restrictions and limitations, a new casino opened in Pennsylvania just before Thanksgiving. Live! Casino Pittsburgh welcomed its first customers on November 24th. To be specific, in Pennsylvania terminology, it is not really a casino; Live! is instead a mini-casino, properly and legally defined as a satellite casino. A category unique to Pennsylvania, but … [Read more...]
It’s all about the vaccine: Analyst says remedy would speed Strip’s long COVID recovery By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • November 28, 2020 Progress on the development of an efficient vaccine to thwart the spread of coronavirus sent the stock markets to record levels this week. The news also changed some thoughts toward the gaming industry, notably the length of recovery time facing the Las Vegas Strip as the market seeks to get back to pre-COVID-19 levels. Fitch Ratings Service gaming analyst Alex Bumazhny said the availability … [Read more...]
Could the Bally’s-Sinclair deal bring sports betting to California, Texas and Florida? By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • November 24, 2020 Casino operator and budding sports betting provider Bally’s Corp. views its new partnership with media giant Sinclair Broadcast Group as a customer-acquisition vehicle. The Bally’s name will replace Fox on Sinclair’s 21 regional sports networks while wagering information and content will be provided on the group’s 190 television stations in 88 markets – 70% of all U.S. households. The agreement … [Read more...]
Lem Banker was a sports bettor for all seasons By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • November 23, 2020 Long before he became famous for picking winners in the Super Bowl, Lem Banker was a tall, talented young basketball player growing up in New York and New Jersey. He was good enough to receive more than one college scholarship offer. He had a gift for numbers, you might say, but he wasn’t interested in an accounting degree. He was interested in betting on sports at a time when the activity was … [Read more...]
Igaming Focus: Numbers make the case for online betting and gaming By Jake Pollard, CDC Gaming Reports • November 23, 2020 Mobile has helped generate most of the headlines for online sports betting in the U.S. But as momentum for regulation continues to build, online casino is also growing strongly. Numbers don’t lie and 2020 has proved the old saying correct in numerous and different ways — from the huge impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the online betting and gaming vertical in the U.S. (and around the … [Read more...]
Igaming Focus: How promising is Illinois’ handle in light of the state’s sportsbook revenues? By Hannah Gannagé-Stewart, CDC Gaming Reports • November 23, 2020 After legalising sports betting in March, Illinois has been reporting impressive figures, despite the setbacks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic that coincided with the market’s launch. The latest figures released by the Illinois Gaming Board for September report a sports betting handle of $305.1m. Rush Street Interactive’s Kambi-powered sportsbook at Illinois’ Rivers Casino Des Plaines … [Read more...]
Goodbye, girls, and don’t you cry. We’ll be home soon. By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • November 23, 2020 This year is a moment of punctuated equilibrium, an era-defining event, like the world wars and Great Depression of the last century. Starting in March, the gaming industry, like most other industries in the country, was on lockdown. The economy literally came to a sudden, shocking halt. Business managers, politicians, Wall Street analysts, and ordinary citizens tried to predict when the economy … [Read more...]
Barstool and Penn National the most scrutinized of all media-sports betting partnerships By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • November 21, 2020 Viewers on Barstool Sports’ various platforms were treated to images of company founder Dave Portnoy and his crew watching in stunned amazement last Sunday as the Arizona Cardinals defeated the Buffalo Bills on a last-second touchdown pass. The game-changing play and outcome cost Barstool’s “El Presidente” $50,000. But the reaction resulted in millions of subsequent views on Barstool’s … [Read more...]
Remembering when Hazel Park Raceway had LV bookmakers ‘steamed’ By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • November 18, 2020 America was busy celebrating its bicentennial in the summer of 1976, but the racebook bosses of Las Vegas weren’t in a mood for fireworks. For some strange reason, they were getting killed with oddly confident bets on races at a track located in a Detroit suburb called Hazel Park Raceway. It was no secret Hazel Park was operated under the influence of Detroit mob boss Anthony Zerilli, whose … [Read more...]
Rollbacks, closures, curfews: Gaming industry faces down the newest COVID surge By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • November 18, 2020 During the recently concluded third-quarter earnings season, gaming operators speculated on a renewed shutdown of casinos across the U.S. Health experts predicted an increase in COVID-19 infections throughout the country. “You can’t ignore that risk. Certainly, any huge resurgence could be a risk to the business,” Boyd Gaming CEO Keith Smith said when asked about the possibility on Oct. … [Read more...]
Integrated Resorts in Europe: Part One By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • November 18, 2020 I recently participated in an online discussion about integrated resorts (IR) in Europe. The theme of the discussion was whether IRs would be successful in Europe, given that there aren’t any. Because this is a topic that requires a more detailed review, this article will be in two parts. This first part discusses what an integrated resort is and its economics. An integrated resort is a resort … [Read more...]
The need to know of customer onboarding By Scott Longley • November 18, 2020 The current consultation on high-value customers throws into stark relief the regulatory pressure is being applied to the gambling operators to provide compliant customer onboarding processes. More than just with VIPs, the need to know about your customer is evolving into a requirement to understand your customer and that is destined to change the nature of customer relationship management within … [Read more...]
Being seen at Bally’s Atlantic City By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • November 15, 2020 Bally’s in Atlantic City is changing hands. Again. Twin River Worldwide Holdings purchased it last month from the newly minted Caesars, which was forced to offload some of its assets in Atlantic City to received regulatory approval for its merger with Eldorado Resorts. Bally’s should have always been a success; after all, it sits on the second most prestigious address in Monopoly. If you could … [Read more...]
Las Vegas casinos already limiting operations ahead of any shutdown talks By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • November 14, 2020 Nevada’s governor implored the state’s residents on Wednesday to stay home “as much as we possibly can” over the next two weeks in order to control the latest spread of COVID-19, which spiked to record-high levels with more than 1,000 daily cases in nine out of the last 10 days. But what about visitors to the state’s sputtering casino industry? “They certainly should come, because those … [Read more...]
Casino Lit: In times like these, we can all use a vacation at the Sands By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • November 11, 2020 In a world roiling with a runaway coronavirus pandemic and seemingly endless political controversy, no one can blame you for wanting to take a vacation. I recently decided to spend a few relaxing days at the Sands. Thanks to David G. Schwartz’s remarkable new book, At the Sands: The Casino That Shaped Classic Las Vegas, Brought the Rat Pack Together, and Went Out With a Bang, I didn’t have to … [Read more...]
Caesars-William Hill merger provides a windfall payment for another casino company By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • November 10, 2020 Caesars Entertainment is spending $3.7 billion to acquire sports betting giant William Hill, but another casino operator stands to make up to $75 million on the deal. Las Vegas-based Golden Entertainment is entitled to compensation from William Hill, according to a securities filing in the United Kingdom associated with the merger. The potential payment was confirmed by Golden during the … [Read more...]
Gaming’s ballot box success could help its cause on Capitol Hill By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • November 7, 2020 Gaming’s exceptional night on Tuesday – voters in six states overwhelmingly approved sports betting, new casinos, and expanded gambling options – sent a pretty clear message to the federal government. The states are doing a good job regulating and overseeing gaming within their borders. In other words, back away from any prospective federal oversight. “Through ballot initiatives, voters … [Read more...]
On the precipice of change in America, transition continues in gaming industry By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • November 4, 2020 The first question spread like a grassland fire through the gaming industry. Was Las Vegas Sands in serious talks to sell its Strip properties? The second question packed even more heat: Was casino industry titan and GOP mega-donor Sheldon Adelson really going to retire? Hard to fathom. Almost impossible, in fact. It doesn’t take much of a factual spark to create a firestorm of … [Read more...]
Italy: The COVID-19 sports tax on betting By Valérie Peano, partner at European Gambling Lawyers & Advisors • November 4, 2020 Last May, a Law Decree was introduced by the Italian government for COVID-19 emergency measures to sustain economic and financial activities. The “Relaunch” by Parliament in July confirmed its entry into force in May. Against all odds, this Law Decree introduced an additional tax to help sustain sports after the two-month closure for the health-emergency lockdown and the subsequent lack of … [Read more...]
Solutions need to solve problems By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • November 4, 2020 Three years ago, I wrote an article, “Gambling on the Blockchain,” about blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. Three years later, most of what I wrote has stood the tests of time. Today, there is still a lot of hype around blockchain and cryptocurrency technology. PayPal recently announced that it will accept cryptocurrencies. But I stand by what I wrote, that blockchain technology has a … [Read more...]
Rollbacks and other disruptions aside, casino industry avoiding mass gaming shutdowns By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • November 3, 2020 Penn National Gaming CEO Jay Snowden was asked last week if he was concerned that the current nationwide spike in COVID-19 cases might subject regional casinos to a rollback in operations or another gaming shutdown. “I would just tell you that it’s very fluid,” Snowden said Thursday on Penn’s third quarter earnings conference call. Penn operates 41 gaming properties in 19 states and only one … [Read more...]
Focus on Asia: Which countries will make it onto China’s travel blacklist? By Andrew Klebanow, Principal, Klebanow Consulting • November 3, 2020 In August of 2020, the Ministry of Tourism of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) announced that it had established a blacklist of gaming-centric tourist destinations that targeted its citizens. The announcement was the culmination of a series of statements issued by Chinese authorities over the last eighteen months that expressed rising concern over the proliferation of online gaming … [Read more...]
Focus on Asia: Testing the limits of motherly love By Ben Blaschke, Managing Editor, Inside Asian Gaming • November 3, 2020 A series of recent pronouncements by the Chinese government appear to suggest that China’s willingness to accept Macau as a “special case” in the global gambling landscape has reached its limit. The prevailing wisdom within the industry, and specifically for those operating in the tiny Chinese enclave, is that while China strongly opposes gambling (among other forms), it would rather its … [Read more...]
The post-pandemic response from gaming legislation By Scott Longley, CDC Gaming Reports • November 2, 2020 The shutdown of land-based gaming in the U.S. has pushed the argument about online — particularly mobile betting — even more to the forefront. But the reluctance to roll the dice on online might change, given the industry is now staring down the barrel of not having a Plan B. In his contribution to the debate surrounding the sports-betting referendum in Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan endorsed the … [Read more...]
Adelson’s October Surprise By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • November 2, 2020 Sheldon Adelson has always been an outlier in gaming. His background and experience were from other industries, and his decisions and actions during his time in gaming have reflected that background. Consequently, most of the things that he has done have been surprising to traditional gaming people. His latest surprise came on October 26th. After the markets closed that day, a story broke that … [Read more...]
Leaving Las Vegas: Is Sands ready to become a true Asian company? By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • October 31, 2020 Sands China is the Macau-based, Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed subsidiary of the Las Vegas-based, New York Stock Exchange-listed Las Vegas Sands Corp. The roles might soon be reversed or dramatically altered. Confirmation by Las Vegas Sands that its leadership is having preliminary discussions with an advisor that could lead to a sale of the company’s Las Vegas Strip gaming and convention … [Read more...]
Igaming Focus: Genius Sports latest to go public in what could become a $30bn market by 2030 By Jake Pollard, CDC Gaming Reports • October 29, 2020 The juggernaut of public listings for online betting groups in the United States gathered yet more pace this month as Genius Sports became the latest igaming specialist to announce that it was going public via a merger with the special acquisition company (SPAC) dMY II Technology Group. dMY is the fund set up by Harry You and Nicolo de Masi that merged with Rush Street Interactive through its … [Read more...]
Igaming Focus: Hidden dangers in igaming in proposed revisions of Section 230? By Martin Owens, Attorney At Law, Special to CDC Gaming Reports • October 29, 2020 "When the elephants fight, it's the grass that gets hurt.” African Proverb No doubt about it, the pixels are really hitting the fan now. Social-media titans Twitter and Facebook are being called to account for allegedly arbitrary and partisan abuse of their size and market structure, so much so as to amount to a de facto regime of propaganda and favoritism, even affirmative censorship … [Read more...]
Mask up: Sisolak gives hope for the struggling Las Vegas convention industry By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • October 28, 2020 For some, and let’s hope their numbers are dwindling, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak has moved too slowly to reopen the state’s economy amid a deadly coronavirus pandemic. Let the chips fall where they may, his critics say as they defy mask mandates and grumble about lost freedom. Fortunately, most Nevadans get it. They know Sisolak has a difficult job balancing the safety of residents and visitors … [Read more...]
The odds favor success for Circa and Derek Stevens By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • October 28, 2020 Derek Stevens will never be confused with his corporate gaming competitors. If he could be, there would have been zero chance for his Circa Resort & Casino – downtown Las Vegas’s first all-new gaming property in four decades – to open for customers shortly after midnight this morning. In the face of a global pandemic, with a nationwide casino industry operating under numerous state and … [Read more...]
