iDEA: Summary of Meetings at NCLGS Summer Meeting in Boston

OHIO
iDEA met with Rick Anthony (Deputy Director) and William Cox (Licensing Director) with the Ohio Casino Control Commission.

• They reiterated a desire to have regular contact with the industry throughout the regulatory and licensing process, appreciate iDEA’s continued outreach, and welcome direct member outreach.
• The agency intends to launch a compliance website at the beginning of August to include a compliance check list so companies can effectively set up their internal controls.
• They anticipate that rules will be final by mid-October.
• On the topic of market access, they maintain that the OCCC does not want to be the position of limiting the market and they could not point directly to how they would make a decision, but they “will know it when they see it” and it would have to be extraordinary/compelling evidence for them to deny a 2^nd MMSP to an eligible Type A licensee.
• They also believe there will be “several” groups that will be seeking to obtain one of the 4 “untethered” market access points (not a casino/racino/sports team).
• The launch date will be on Jan 1, 2023 and they anticipate that operators will be able to begin accepting bets as soon as the clock strikes midnight. That is not yet confirmed.

MARYLAND
John Pappas met with James Butler, Assistant Deputy Director/Chief of Staff for Maryland Lottery and Gaming

• James Butler shared that the SWARC has moved the timeline up to approve draft licensing rules and applications; expects a vote during a July 13 meeting of the SWARC.
• He believes the disparity study will be completed by mid-August. If that is the case, he laid out this possible timeline:
  • applications could be available (mobile and Class B retail) – Sept. 1
  • App deadline – by Oct. 1
  • 30-45 day review process
  • A set go-live date for those who are ready – before end of 2022.
• Based on our view of the process, and conversations with others in the industry, this timeline would be a “best case” scenario. To date, the “best case” is not the way things have gone in Maryland.
• Butler does not believe there will be more than 20-25 licensees for mobile sports wagering in the state, even though the law allows for up to 60.
• He thought that many potential mobile licensees will seek out partnerships with small, woman and minority owned businesses to offer retail Class B sports wagering.

MASSACHUSETTS
John Pappas and individual iDEA members met with a delegation of MA lawmakers including two of the sports betting conference committee members – Reps. Parisella and Muradian.

• All of these lawmakers are from the state House, which has a far more favorable bill compared to the Senate. Therefore, they were amenable to many of our suggestions with respect to tax rates, market access, and collegiate betting.
• Publicly during the conference, they expressed optimism that a deal could be reached before the end of July. However, in more private conversations they expressed frustration over the Senate’s desire to work towards a solution.
• If a bill does not get agreed on by July 31, the issue will die for the year. While the legislature is still in session until December, the lawmakers all agree that it has to get done this month because of a procedural issue after July that allows any single lawmaker to kill a bill.

MISSOURI
John Pappas met with Senator Denny Hoskins.

• Senator Hoskins is the leader in the Senate on sports wagering issues. He has also been a champion for slot machine (VLT) expansion, which is opposed by the casino industry and has effectively killed sports betting legislation for the last three years in the state.
• We pushed him to agree to include iGaming in future gaming expansion legislation in the state. While the casinos will continue to oppose VLTs, they could possibly be mollified with iGaming as a compromise for limited VLT expansion.
• Senator Hoskins is open to this idea and agreed to continue discussions. We encouraged him to discuss this with the casinos and the head of the state casino association.
• We are following up with Senator later this summer to discuss next steps.

INDIANA
iDEA met with Senator Jon Ford and Senator Mike Bohacek.

• Senator Ford has been a longtime leader for gaming issues and has carried the iGaming bill in the past year. Sen. Bohacek brings a “rank and file” perspective to the issue and was a good sounding board for what lawmaker concerns may be.
• Ford is drafting his bill for 2023, which will look much like last year. He also intends to have a bill (or included in iGaming bill) that authorizes the state lottery to offer online games (iLottery).
• Senator Ford would like the House to lead on this legislation and send it to the Senate. We have identified House champion (Rep. Manning) to sponsor the bill in the House However, we are still waiting on committee assignments to verify who will lead on the issue.
• The Senate President continues to be a problem:
  • he is not a fan a gambling
  • he remains concerned that members of the House/Senate could be indicted in a fraud case that has already impacted the land-based gaming industry.

• Additional hurdles to address will be local government’s concern that iGaming will cannibalize B&M gaming and cut into their “local share” taxes. We have studies to show this will not happen, but it will likely still be a sticking point.
• The state gaming regulator will release its own study soon, conducted by Spectrum. We are hopeful this study will reinforce the data iDEA’s study shows with respect to revenue and B&M impact.

John Pappas (and iDEA’s state lobbyists in IN) met separately with the head of the Indiana Casino Association and VP of Govt Affairs for Boyd, which has a strong presence in the state.

• We discussed several ways to maneuver legislation through the House, and ultimately, the Senate. The key is to get a bill out of the House so it can possibly be included in the budget, rather than having the bill stand alone in the Senate. This would neuter the Senate President from slowing it down.
• There are still very legitimate paths to get an iGaming bill done in 2023. Over the next several months, key lawmakers will be assigned to committees and more work will be done to earn support from House and Senate leaders.
• iDEA considering another fly-in to meet with Indiana lawmakers.