CasinoSites.us brings you the latest news round-up from the casino and iGaming industry in the United States from Monday 17 through February 21.
Six weeks after the release of online gambling in New Hampshire, the state has seen 1 million bets placed, not least of all thanks to DraftKings, the official sportsbook in the Granite State.
The launch of the mobile skin came on December 30, 2019 and 36,923 people found time to register since, amassing some $28.6 million wagered on sports in the first six weeks of the legal operation of the activity.
The 1mth bet was placed on February 8, with Governor Chris Sununu commending the state’s success and ability to capture on important revenue. Charlie McIntyre, lottery executive, also spoke favorably of the most recent development, emphasizing on the importance of achieving the milestone in a short time.
New Hampshire is also leading the way thanks to the fact participants can wager online, making it easy for the state to capture revenue that normally would have ended offshore.
Eldorado is edging closer to completing the acquisition of Caesars, as the Mississippi Gaming Commission (MGA) has become the latest regulatory body to clear the landmark deal between the two gaming giants.
Caesars and Eldorado shareholders nodded their approval of the merger back in June 2019 and later confirmed in November, with the total amount of the partnership amounting to $17.3 billion. Now, the companies are looking for legal clearance from several regulators to ensure that fair competition practices are upheld.
The Mississippi approval is an important step forwards towards the completion of the project as it fulfils one of the core conditions of the deal, i.e. obtaining greenlight from the state. Meanwhile, both shareholders have closed ranks in support of the deal with 99% voting in favor of the acquisition/merger back in 2019.
The new entity will create a gaming behemoth with properties in 16 states in the United States, including California, Florida, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada among others.
MGM Resorts are making a serious move on their Osaka Integrated Resort project, with the local government announcing that the gaming giant was the sole bidder for the project along with Orix Corporation, a Japanese financial firm that has joined MGM resorts.
All bids had to be submitted by February 14, making MGM Resorts the only qualifying entity. The estimated value of the project is at least $12 billion with the coronavirus putting a spanner in the works and dissuading many would-have-been investors to proceed, including other US casino giants, such as Melco Resorts, Wynn Resorts, and Las Vegas Sands.
Moving forward, MGM Resorts will have to prepare the documentation necessary to receive further approval from the Osaka Government, and not least from Japan’s national government which will ultimately oversee any bid that is coming under serious consideration from local authorities.
US casinos are back in Macau after they opened last week, allowing only masked punters on the premises. The re-launch of the gambling hub comes after a two-week blanket ban on all public and specifically gambling activities.
Even the re-opening is not ideal as it threatens public well-being, officials fear, but not opening casinos would risk completely recking the local economy, which is heavily reliant on casinos gross gaming revenue (GGR).
In the meantime, analysts already estimate that Macau will see its worst year to date, as they lose between $1.5 million and $2.6 billion every single day. The losses over the 14-day period are estimated at $40 million.
Not all casinos have re-opened completely as well. US casino’s Chinese subsidiaries, including Wynn Macau, Sands China, and MGM China will have 30 days to launch operations back to normal. However, even with normal working hours, Chinese players are not very likely to travel down to the special administration region.
iGaming and casino innovation has been going at full speed in the United States with Scientific Games called one of the top innovators in the state of Georgia, which is reshaping itself as a tech hub.
Lottery Group Chief Executive for SG, Pat McHugh, has thanked for the honors arguing that Scientific Games has been fully focused on enhancing the entertainment experience for lottery players and beyond.
Scientific Games has been awarded from a list of 1,300 tech-savvy companies that have been innovating various industries in Georgia.
Barstool Sports, a news outlet focused on reporting from the world of sports in a blog-style-narrative, has sealed a whopping $163 million deal with Penn National Gaming (PNG), the stake amounting to 36% of the total Barstool Sports shares. Penn National Gaming, an online gaming operator in itself, will focus on sharing intellectual property and raising awareness for both itself and Barstool.
The deal also envisages the addition of another 14-15% shares and rounding up the total number to 50%. Eventually, Penn National will seek to acquire the controlling stake in the website and unfold another strategy together with the marketing team at Barstool Sports in the years to come.
The Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) has been given the greenlight to launch in Pennsylvania, making it the latest affiliate service to establish a footprint into the newly-fledged iGaming market. Pennsylvania is one of the four states in the US that has some of the most developed gaming industry that includes traditional casino gambling, iGaming, poker, and sports – both land-based and online.
Last but not least, one of America’s top motorsports organizations, NASCAR, has vowed to help Las Vegas drive additional revenue. Nascar Pennzoil 400 generated the whopping $166 million in non-gambling related revenue for the Silver State, Las Vegas Conventions and Visitors Authority reported, revealing the latest numbers.
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