Bulgaria’s parliament has approved legislation banning private lotteries while the country’s gambling regulator has issued a warning regarding its licensees’ tax obligations.

On Friday, Bulgaria’s parliament approved the second reading of legislation that amends the country’s Gambling Act to ban private lottery operators. The bill is expected to be published in the State Gazette next week, after which it will officially take effect.

Once enacted, all lottery games not operated by the state-run Bulgarian Sports Totalizator must cease their operations within 90 days. The new rules don’t apply to state-licensed private operators offering sports betting (land-based or online), slot machines, raffles, bingo or keno. A proposal to ban all gambling advertising failed to garner enough support and was not adopted.

The bill was crafted after the government concluded that private lottery operators had underpaid their taxes to the tune of US$118m over the past six years. This led to last month’s indictment of Vasil Bozhkov, the nation’s largest private gambling operator, who was arrested in the United Arab Emirates this week and is currently awaiting extradition.

The week is coming to a close, and boy was it quite an eventful one. Below is a quick circumnavigation of planet Earth as it relates to gaming markets, the week’s events that affected them, and maybe what to watch out for next week.

United States

The Super Bowl betting indicator is flashing green, though increasingly less brightly, with betting volumes in Las Vegas up 5.5% over last year. $154 million in total were staked in Nevada compared to $146 million last year, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board. The NGCB, like the Iowa Democratic Party, released the full figures late this year due to technical difficulties with one sportsbook. Either the machines are rising up, or the novel coronavirus has gotten really novel indeed and started infecting computer systems everywhere.

The 5.5% growth figure could, on the one hand, be seen bearishly since it is down from last year’s more solid rate of 10%, which was down from 2018’s rate of 14%. Growth in Super Bowl betting volumes does appear to be slowing, which potentially means credit flows could be slowing. We will have to examine MGM visitor volumes when earnings are released next week to gather more evidence. Alternatively, it could just be that betting volumes are simply being spread out over the country with Nevada losing market share. I favor this latter interpretation at this point, though it is not entirely clear.

It would be hard to say that anybody expected the Iowa Caucuses to settle the 2020 U.S. Democratic Primary, but at least we expected it to resolve itself fairly quickly. Now after several days of waiting, we know that it’s essentially a tie between Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg. With another debate this weekend, and the New Hampshire primary early next week, it’s the perfect time to look once again at the top candidates’ odds.

First, to take a very high level view, the Iowa Caucuses, maybe because they took forever to resolve, didn’t change very much for Bernie Sanders. He was favored to win, and by some metrics, he did. If anything, the results helped remove some candidates from the field, putting Joe Biden especially in a tough position.

Looking at a map of the country from PredictIt, we can tell quickly that Sanders has the edge. His favored states are in red, with darker shades indicating he’s heavily favored to win.

Image care of PredicIt.org

Doctor holding stethoscope for medical check up

The coronavirus continues to strike fear in the hearts of the public and government officials. Just days after the Philippines confirmed its third official case of the virus, some Manila mayors are calling on health checks for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).

Makati, Pasay, Las Piñas, Parañaque and Muntinlupa, five cities that make up the southern half of the Metro Manila area, have requested health checks to be conducted by their respective city health offices. Private establishments, POGOs specifically, have been ordered to submit a list of their employees who have recently visited either China, Hong Kong or Macau as well, with failure to do so resulting in revocation of their business license.

Mayors emphasized the initiative was for the public good, and cooperation was required. “These times demand a unified and coordinated action from all sectors,” said Makati Mayor Abby Binay. “The city government appeals to all our stakeholders to cooperate and support policies and measures being undertaken to avert a health crisis in our city,” Makati Mayor Abby

They say that when one door closes, another one opens. The NFL door just closed for the season, but another football door has opened, thanks to the XFL. The alternative football league is back, hoping to turn things around after its predecessor only survived a single season in 2001, and will see its first games tomorrow. Just in time for the start of the gridiron action, the Vegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN) has announced a new sports gambling content deal with the league and iHeartRadio.

As opposed to the NFL, which is only just now beginning to consider sports gambling as it looks to hire a VP of sports betting, the XFL is ready to fully embrace the activity, and VSiN is more than happy to help lead the charge. The Vegas-based company is launching BetCasts along with The Sports Betting Network to football fans, providing real-time access to odds, as well as in-depth coverage and analysis of the lines and their movements to iHeartRadio’s audio channels.

According to VSiN’s Michelle Musburger, “In this first-of-its-kind rights deal, the XFL, iHeartRadio and VSiN entered into a three-way partnership to create audio BetCasts for two games each week during the 2020 XFL 10-week regular season and two-week post-season. The BetCasts will feature VSiN sports betting experts covering XFL games live from VSiN’s studios in Las Vegas through a wagering lens. These unique digital audio broadcasts, available on the iHeartRadio app, will deliver real-time odds, as well as in-depth analysis of the events behind those changing lines to inform fans during the live action of the games.”

Being able to team up with iHeartRadio is also a big coup, given the reach the audio broadcaster has across the US. It reportedly has around 250 million listeners in the country and reaches 90% of Americans every month. It currently provides over 850 live stations in more than 150 markets and has digital services available on over 250 platforms.

They say that when one door closes, another one opens. The NFL door just closed for the season, but another football door has opened, thanks to the XFL. The alternative football league is back, hoping to turn things around after its predecessor only survived a single season in 2001, and will see its first games tomorrow. Just in time for the start of the gridiron action, the Vegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN) has announced a new sports gambling content deal with the league and iHeartRadio.

As opposed to the NFL, which is only just now beginning to consider sports gambling as it looks to hire a VP of sports betting, the XFL is ready to fully embrace the activity, and VSiN is more than happy to help lead the charge. The Vegas-based company is launching BetCasts along with The Sports Betting Network to football fans, providing real-time access to odds, as well as in-depth coverage and analysis of the lines and their movements to iHeartRadio’s audio channels.

According to VSiN’s Michelle Musburger, “In this first-of-its-kind rights deal, the XFL, iHeartRadio and VSiN entered into a three-way partnership to create audio BetCasts for two games each week during the 2020 XFL 10-week regular season and two-week post-season. The BetCasts will feature VSiN sports betting experts covering XFL games live from VSiN’s studios in Las Vegas through a wagering lens. These unique digital audio broadcasts, available on the iHeartRadio app, will deliver real-time odds, as well as in-depth analysis of the events behind those changing lines to inform fans during the live action of the games.”

Being able to team up with iHeartRadio is also a big coup, given the reach the audio broadcaster has across the US. It reportedly has around 250 million listeners in the country and reaches 90% of Americans every month. It currently provides over 850 live stations in more than 150 markets and has digital services available on over 250 platforms.

Contributions from casino operators covering the Asian region, and especially Macau, continue to pour in.  The latest, after Galaxy Entertainment and SJM announced their initiatives this week, come from Sands China and MGM China, both of which are ready to do what they can to help the area rebound as quickly as possible.  With now over 600 reported deaths and possibly more than 30,000 infected worldwide, containing any further spread is vital for Macau’s recovery.

Sands China is ready to give MOP$25 million ($3.125 million), working with the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Macau.  This will be broken down into two contributions, with MOP$20 million ($2.5 million) going for efforts on the mainland to contain the virus, and MOP$5 million ($625,000) to the local community in Macau.  Company chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson adds in a press statement, “Las Vegas Sands has always considered it an honor to do business in Macau, while at the same time recognizing and embracing our important role as a community partner, especially in challenging times such as these.  We strongly support Macau and mainland China in their efforts to contain the Coronavirus and protect their citizens. It’s been our experience that people in Macau and mainland China are strong and resilient and those traits will undoubtedly be needed in the days to come. We will certainly do everything we can to help return things to normal as quickly as possible.”

MGM China is ready to assist, as well, providing MOP$20 million for the efforts.  The financial contribution will be used to purchase medical supplies and other equipment to help stop the virus from spreading, and co-chair and executive director Pansy Ho adds, “Now is the most critical time for our nation in fighting against this Coronavirus epidemic battle, we shall always be true to our aspiration, and lend a helping hand to the people in conquering the epidemic together.  We would like to express our gratitude for the tireless and selfless effort of the medical professionals, who have been protecting the lives of our people, especially the ones at the frontline of Hubei province. We would also like to express our sincere condolence to the families affected by the epidemic.”

With these new donations, the local gaming industry has contributed almost $11.25 million to assist China and Macau as they work diligently to control the coronavirus.  While some feel that the response has been blown out of proportion, the ease with which the virus has been able to spread would indicate that, if the measures hadn’t been taken, the results could have been much worse.

Maine’s top lawmaker, Governor Janet Mills, decided that sports gambling didn’t need to be allowed in the state, vetoing an effort by lawmakers to push through legislation that would have allowed sportsbooks to start popping up across the land.  Her argument for denying the measure was puzzling, at best, and showed an odd concern for how the activity might impact an unlikely target – spelling bees.  Since legislators had the forethought to not give too much control to one individual, the veto can be overridden by lawmakers, and that is now what Maine is seeing.  While not yet ready to be written in stone, sports gambling is close, once again, to being legalized after the state Senate approved a vote to kill the governor’s veto.

The Senate voted yesterday to essentially ignore the veto and allow LD 553 to move forward, winning by 20-10.  A sponsor of the bill, Senator Louis Luchini, explains, “I think a lot of people realize that the illegal market is so huge, and we’ve seen a lot of states quickly come on board to legalize sports betting, that if we don’t do it, other states will get our players to go to their state.”

Mills had asserted that she didn’t believe there was enough support from the people of Maine to warrant legalized sports gambling.  However, it’s doubtful that, with her hectic schedule, she would have had enough time to canvas the state to determine what they wanted.  As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what Senators and Representatives are in place for – to represent their respective districts and introduce laws those individuals would like to see.  Apparently, at least 20 districts covered by the House want to be able to place wagers legally.

The House will now have to vote on LD 553, as well, for it to become a law.  As long as there are no attempts to derail or postpone the efforts, the chamber should put the matter to a vote next Tuesday.  Just like was the case with the Senate, two-thirds of the House has to approve overriding the veto for the legislation to stand.