Greek casinos reported another downer year in 2014 as a struggling economy and illegal gambling options combined to do a number on gaming revenue. The country’s nine licensed casinos reported gambling revenue of €270m, 10% less than 2013’s figure and just over one-third the €776.7m generated in 2007. The numbers have been on a steady decline ever since, making Greece the closest thing Europe has to Atlantic City, where revenue peaked in 2006.

All nine casinos have suffered revenue declines since 2007, with the casino on Corfu holding up the best with a 28.9% decline. At the other end of the scale, the casino in Halkidiki in the north of Greece saw revenue tumble by 92.5% over the past seven years.

Greek media outlet Ekathimerini reported that two casinos – the two smallest – saw revenue gains over the first 11 months of 2014. The casino in Thrace saw revenue rise 53.3% to €5.5m while the aforementioned Halkidiki casino was up 49.3% to €5.5m. The other seven reported declines ranging from 1.5% to 48.6%. Overall betting turnover fell 5.5% to €1.4b during this span.

Casinos issued 2.3m admission tickets in 2014, 100k fewer than in 2013. By law, casinos are required to collect €12 from every punter who comes through the turnstiles. The casinos are lobbying to have this fee abolished in the hopes of attracting more customers and to help them deal with new competition in the form of thousands of new video lottery terminals (VLT) that are being rolled out in OPAP betting shops this spring.

OPAP PRIVATIZATION “NOT A DONE EVENT”

Speaking of OPAP, the country’s main opposition party – which is expected to win upcoming elections – has warned that the government’s sale of its one-third stake in the country’s betting monopoly “is not a done event.” Alexis Tsipras (pictured), who heads the left-wing SYRIZA coalition, called the privatization of OPAP a “national crime” due to the “scandalous terms this was done with.”

In 2013, the Greek government sold its stake to the Emma Delta consortium for €652m. The cash-strapped country has been forced to privatize many state assets as a condition of the €240b bailout Greece accepted in 2010 from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

Americans betting on the 2015 Super Bowl will wager over $3.8b with unauthorized sportsbooks, 38x the $100m that will be wagered with Nevada casino sportsbooks.

So sayeth the American Gaming Association (AGA), whose CEO Geoff Freeman believes the numbers indicate that the current prohibition on sports betting outside Nevada is “clearly failing.” Freeman said the AGA are “closely examining the current state of sports betting, the laws that govern it and the best way forward for the gaming industry.”

The AGA based its math on a 1999 National Gambling Impact Study Commission report, which estimated between $80b and $380b was spent annually on illegal gambling. The AGA compared the $80b figure with the sum wagered with Nevada sportsbooks in 1999, then compared that with Nevada 2013 sportsbook handle. Nevada sportsbooks handled a record $119.4m on the 2014 Super Bowl, keeping $19.7m of that cash for themselves thank to the Seahawks’ pummeling of the Broncos.

In a speech on Thursday to the US Conference of Mayors, Freeman said the AGA wants to “partner with policymakers to revisit outdated policies in order to create an environment where gaming can thrive.” That may prove more difficult than Freeman envisions, as demonstrated by the Sisyphus-like struggle of two New Jersey Congressmen attempting to pass sports betting legislation.

The bipartisan pair of Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. and Rep. Frank LoBiondo are trying to end the tyrannical rule imposed on their home state’s residents by the 1992 federal PASPA sports betting prohibition that limits single-game wagering to Nevada. This week saw the two New Jersey pols resubmit the sports betting legislation they’ve been trying to pass for the past three years.

Pallone’s HR 457 would exempt New Jersey from PASPA’s control while LoBiondo’s HR 416 would allow all states a four-year window in which to enact their own sports betting legislation. The two Franks immediately co-sponsored each other’s legislation then put the bills back on the shelf with the others and got working on 2016′s edition.

New Jersey is currently awaiting its date with destiny and/or the US Third Circuit Court of Appeals as the state seeks to overturn the injunction imposed on its latest sports betting legislation. On Wednesday, the court set a Tuesday, March 17 date in Philadelphia, at which time the three-judge panel will determine whether oral arguments will be required.