Industry News of the Day for June 23, 2020
iDEA Growth Member News:
- EIN News, 6.22.20 – Latest Issue Of My Legal Bookie Chronicles Changing Landscape Of Sports Betting (Ifrah Law)
- Hackney Publications, the nation’s leading publisher of sports law periodicals, announced today the availability of the summer issue of My Legal Bookie (MLB).
- Legal Sports Report, 6.23.20 – LSR Q+A: Cashless Gaming Accelerating As Casinos Reopen, Says Global Payments President (Global Payments)
- The coronavirus pandemic interrupted business for casinos and sportsbooks, but it also accelerating digital transformation in the industry.
Overall Industry News:
- PlayUSA, 6.22.20 – What Happens To An Online Gambling License If Its Retail Casino Partner Goes Bust?
- In most states, online gaming licenses for sports betting, online casino and online poker are linked to licenses held by bricks and mortar casinos. So what happens if a casino goes bust?
- CNBC, 6.22.20 – Barstool’s Dave Portnoy Says He’ll Focus On Sports Betting When Sports Return
- “I want sports back, and when it comes back that’s going to be where my focus is,” Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy said about his foray into day trading.
Georgia:
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 6.22.20 – Georgia Panel Makes Another Attempt To Get Gambling On November Ballot
- A House panel on Monday again approved legislation that would ask Georgia voters whether the state should expand legal gambling to include casinos, horse racing and sports betting.
- iGB North America, 6.22.20 – Georgia Senate Committee Revives Sports Betting Proposal
- Georgia’s Senate Judiciary Committee has resurrected the prospect of legal sports betting in the state by amending a bill to include a framework for legal wagering.
- SBC Americas, 6.22.20 – Georgia Lawmakers Try Again To Legalize Sports Betting As Bill Heads To Senate
- Mobile sports betting could soon become a reality in Georgia after the Senate Special Judiciary Committee passed legislation on a 5-2 vote.
California:
- Bloomberg, 6.22.20 – California Pulls Sports Betting Bill After Tribal Opposition
- California Senator Bill Dodd, a sponsor of the legislation that would legalize sports betting in the nation’s most-populous state, said he was pulling the bill because of opposition from tribal-casino operators.
- Legal Sports Report, 6.22.20 – California Sports Betting Bill Dead As Tribal Opposition Too Strong
- Sen. Bill Dodd confirmed to Legal Sports Report that he is pulling his CA sports betting bill because of opposition from Indian gaming tribes.
- Gambling Compliance, 6.23.20 – California Sports-Betting Bill Sunk By Tribal Opposition (subscription paywall)
- Senator Bill Dodd, a sponsor of a bill that would legalize online sports betting in California, said Monday he was pulling the legislation because of opposition from tribal casino operators.
- PlayCA, 6.22.20 – CA Judge Sides With Flynt That CA Cardroom Licensing Laws Are Problematic
- Hustler founder Larry Flynt has long taken aim at a California law barring cardroom operators from investing in out-of-state casinos.
New Jersey:
- PlayNJ, 6.22.20 – Breaking News: Atlantic City Casinos Reopening July 2
- People still wondering if Atlantic City casinos will reopen by Fourth of July weekend, we finally have the answer.
Pennsylvania:
- PlayPennsylvania, 6.22.20 – And They’re Off! Horse Fans Welcome PA Live Racing Back At Penn National And Beyond
- To cheers and clapping from about a hundred frustrated railbird bettors and anxious equine owners, thoroughbred racing in Pennsylvania galloped back to life Friday evening June 19 at Penn National Race Course.
- Penn Bets, 6.22.20 – Half Of Pennsylvania’s Casinos Now Open, The Other Half Coming Soon
- Tom Wolf has given Pennsylvania’s six closed casinos the green light to reopen as soon as Friday under the state’s color-coded COVID-19 business activity plan, and one is prepared to open its doors that quickly.
Connecticut:
- The Day, 6.22.20 – Casinos Started Fast, Gaming Revenues Show
- In the first two weeks after its June 1 reopening, Mohegan Sun did more business at its slot machines and table games than it did in the same 14-day period the previous year.
Michigan:
- PlayMichigan, 6.22.20 – FireKeepers Casino Opens First Tribal Sportsbook In Michigan
- FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek became the first Michigan tribal casino to open a sportsbook on Monday.
- PlayMichigan, 6.22.20 – BetRivers Comes To Michigan In Partnership With Little River Casino
- On the same day that the first tribal sportsbook launched in Michigan, another regional gambling brand moved into the state.
- US Bets, 6.22.20 – Michigan Bill Proposed To Fast-Track Online Casinos
- There’s increasing momentum to see online casino gambling launch in Michigan this year, as opposed to the first quarter of 2021, but right now it’s probably an underdog to come to fruition.
- Gaming Intelligence, 6.23.20 – Rush Street Interactive Agrees Michigan Sportsbook Deal
- Rush Street Interactive (RSI) has entered into an agreement to launch a new retail sportsbook for the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians in Michigan.
Illinois:
- Sports Handle, 6.22.20 – Arlington Park, ITHA Finally Have Deal For Horse Racing Agreement In Illinois
- After nearly six months of occasionally bruising negotiations, Arlington Park and the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association finally signed a two-year contract Monday that covers the 2020 and 2021 seasons and will allow live racing to take place at the racetrack starting in July.
- PlayIllinois, 6.22.20 – Illinois VGT Parlors Aim To Reopen With Safety Measures Starting June 26
- The Illinois Gaming Board released a memo Wednesday outlining its vision for the return of video gaming.
Louisiana:
- Gambling Compliance, 6.23.20 – Louisiana House Committee Green Lights Promotion Play Tax Deduction (subscription paywall)
- Louisiana legislators are considering a plan that would allow casino operators to deduct up to $5m of promotional play from taxes.
Mississippi:
- SBC Americas, 6.22.20 – Mississippi Casinos Take $236,503 In May As Business Slowly Resumes
- Mississippi casinos generated $87,697 in sports betting revenues in the final nine days of May after the state’s casinos began to reopen from 21 May due to the COVID-19 lockdown.