Monthly Archives: May 2017

Hard Rock Int’l to spend $500m ridding Taj Mahal of Trump taint

The chairman of casino operator Hard Rock International (HRI) can’t wait to rid the Trump Taj Mahal of everything that reminds people of the current occupant of the White House.

In March, HRI struck a deal with Donald Trump’s buddy Carl Icahn to acquire the shuttered Atlantic City casino and promptly announced plans to spend $375m remodeling the joint as the new music-themed Hard Rock Atlantic City, which is set to re-open in summer 2018.

Speaking at this week’s East Coast Gaming Congress, HRI chairman Jim Allen announced that the company’s remodeling plans were likely to cost closer to $500m. HRI is serious about making a splash in AC, and Allen said that it “does us no good to put some guitars on the wall and new carpets, and say ‘I can take 5 or 10% of the business from Resorts or Harrah’s.”

But the increased price tag also reflects HRI’s desire to purge the property of the current US president’s tacky design aesthetic. “It’s everywhere,” the Associated Press quoted Allen – who used to work for Trump back before the spray-tanned mogul’s casino empire crumbled – expressing revulsion at “all those minarets and all that purple. Jesus! What were we thinking?”

Global Daily Fantasy Sports acquires B2B operator Mondogoal

Vancouver-based B2B daily fantasy sports platform provider Global Daily Fantasy Sports Inc. (GDFSI) has struck a deal to acquire European DFS operator Mondogoal.

On Friday, GDFSI announced its acquisition of Mondogoal’s operating assets, including intellectual property and trademarks as well as Mondogoal’s DFS B2B client contracts in Italy.

Mondogoal’s Italian client list includes Lottomatica and Sisal, and GDFSI says it has secured new agreements with each operator for additional two-year terms. GDFSI is a subsidiary of International Game Technology (IGT), which counts Lottomatica among its many subsidiaries, which likely helped smooth the transition no end.

Precise terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, with GDFSI saying only that the consideration consisted of “a small cash payment” plus common shares of GDFSI “having a value equal to net gaming revenues from the purchased assets over the next three years.“

Paddy Power Betfair closing Gibraltar office, not a Brexit play

UK-listed online gambling operator Paddy Power Betfair is closing its Gibraltar office and surrendering its local online gaming license.

Late Thursday, local media outlet GBC reported that Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) was preparing to board up its Gibraltar office, which employs around 20 individuals. A PPB spokesperson said all Gibraltar staffers would be offered relocation opportunities in London and Dublin.

PPB said the decision to close the office and relocate its functions was the result of an operational review that followed last year’s merger of Paddy Power and Betfair and reflected the company’s desire to simplify and centralize its operations. The company similarly ditched its Isle of Man presence last year.

Gibraltar’s government saw fit to address PPB’s exit, issuing a statement saying it had “a great working relationship” with the company but understood that the office had become “surplus to requirements” following the merger.