Industry News of the Day for February 21, 2023

By iDEA | February 21, 2023

iDEA Growth Member News

  • CDC Gaming Reports: For Sightline Payments’ Sattar, Engagement, Curiosity, And Hard Work Equal Success
    • Omer Sattar has kept every business card handed to him since 2000. At Sightline Payments’ new headquarters in Las Vegas, the company’s CEO and co-founder plans a display of those cards – a few thousand, he estimates – that he’s received from representatives of gaming, finance, furniture, and other diverse companies.

Industry News

  • SBC Americas: PENN Completes Barstool Sports Acquisition In $524m Deal
    • PENN Entertainment has completed its acquisition of 100% of Barstool Sports in a deal that totals $524m.  The second part of its transaction has seen PENN pay $388m for the remaining 64% of the sports media brand, which also lends its brand to PENN’s online sportsbook, Barstool Sportsbook.
  • Sports Handle: Bills in Maryland, West Virginia Would Lead To Audits Of Betting Handicappers
    • Legislators in West Virginia and Maryland are hoping to crack down on bad actors in the sports betting content industry. In West Virginia, Del. Clay Riley introduced HB 3232 at the beginning of the month. The bill’s goal — like one introduced in the Senate as SB 571 — is to audit sports betting content creators directly and indirectly involved with sports wagering licensees in the state.
  • iGB North America: MGM Resorts Sets Industry First With UN Water Mandate Commitment
    • MGM Resorts International has become the first gambling business to endorse the United Nations’ CEO Water Mandate, a global coalition of hundreds of companies committed to addressing water crises and challenges. The CEO Water Mandate aims to mobilize business leaders to commit to meaningful action across key elements and report annually on their progress, as well as identify and reduce critical water risks to their businesses, seize water-related opportunities, and contribute to water security and UN Sustainable Development Goals
  • CDC Gaming Reports: Casino Exemption From Smoking Ban “Doesn’t Make Sense,” Players Say
    • Casino employees, health experts, and players in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and elsewhere are asking the same question as they press lawmakers to end measures exempting casinos from smoking bans that apply to almost all other workplaces and facilities open to the public.

California

  • PlayUSA: California Tribes Think Sportsbook Operators Could Forego Online Sports Betting Push In 2024
    • Coming off a bitter battle for California sports betting on the 2022 election ballot, some representatives of California tribes think sportsbook operators might sit out the 2024 campaign. Speaking at the Western Indian Gaming Conference at Sycuan Casino Resort on Tuesday, some key California tribal strategists wondered if sportsbook operators will make another attempt to legalize California online sports betting in 2024 following their resounding defeat.

Florida

  • PlayFL: Legal Minds Provide Optimism For Return Of Florida Sports Betting
    • The D.C. Court of Appeals holds the immediate fate of Florida sports betting in its hands. In November 2021, a U.S. District Court Judge ruled the new Florida gaming compact violated the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. As a result, the compact was invalidated and legal sports betting in Florida was shuttered after about three weeks.

Mississippi

  • Legal Sports Report: Gutted Online Mississippi Sports Betting Bill Heads To Senate
    • The Mississippi Senate is slated to consider a path for online Mississippi sports betting, after a study bill overwhelmingly cleared the House last week. H.B. 606 passed the Mississippi House 140-4, just a few days after a House Committee reshaped it to study online MS sports betting. Previously, it would have fully authorized legal sports betting apps statewide.

New York

  • PlayNY: Breakdown Of Latest Bill To Legalize Online Casinos In New York
    • Another year brought another proposed bill to legalize online casinos in New York. Despite slim odds of passage, Sen. Joe Addabbo has not been deterred from regulating iGaming in the Empire State. If nothing else, this latest legislative iteration could become the new template for future efforts. This bill, S4856, not only would offer an array of games but also install extensive responsible gambling guardrails rarely seen in other jurisdictions.
  • Gaming Today: New York Gov. Hochul, Sen. Addabbo On Opposite Sides Of iGaming, Gambling Revenue Issues
    • New York Senator Joe Addabbo wants legal online casinos in New York. And he would like state revenue from casino apps to fund public education. Annual tax revenue would top an estimated $475 million through up to 20 casino apps, according to his latest bill. Seven of those apps would be tied to commercial brick-and-mortar casinos – including three to be licensed downstate under budget approval granted last year by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Rhode Island

  • PlayUSA: Thanks To Bally’s, Rhode Island Online Casinos Could Become Reality
    • Bally’s Corporation has announced it will ask lawmakers to legalize Rhode Island online casinos. The well-known casino and gaming company announced the news during a recent legislative luncheon in Providence. The move would help Rhode Island generate more tax revenue for the state. And give it long-term competitiveness in the New England online casino market.

South Dakota

  • South Dakota Public Broadcasting: Bill To Get Online Sports Betting On South Dakota Ballot Fails
    • A bill designed to add a state constitutional amendment legalizing electronic gambling failed to pass the House. The bill would have created a ballot measure allowing South Dakota voters to decide in the next general election. Supporters said the current law is creating space for black market gamblers.

Texas

  • PlayTexas: Three Potential Outlooks On Texas’s Gambling Future
    • What will legal gambling bring to Texas? That’s the big question state lawmakers are asking their crystal balls. Will it be reliable revenue, job growth and pride? Or crime, community decay and shame? With multiple pieces of gaming legislation on file in both houses, legislators can now begin parsing the details. They’ve still got over two months until the May first filing deadline.

 

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