MGM Resorts International, along with MGM Growth Properties LLC (MGP), the casino operator’s real estate investment trust (REIT), have signed an agreement for the latter to pay $637.5 million for investments in repositioning the Park MGM and NoMad Las Vegas, formerly known as Monte Carlo Resort and Casino.

MGM Resorts CEO Jim Murren, in explaining the move, said, “As we continue to execute our multifaceted strategic plan, and as part of our ongoing efforts to optimize our portfolio, we believe that these prudent investments in our assets will bring substantial value to MGM Resorts, MGP and our respective shareholders.”

The agreement is scheduled to be completed by the first quarter of 2019, according to a joint press release.

MGP CEO James Stewart said, “We intend to fund the consideration through a combination of cash and availability under our credit facility. This transaction will be immediately accretive to our AFFO [adjusted funds from operations] and further demonstrates the power of our business model and partnership with MGM Resorts.”

Curacao’s online gambling licensees are bracing for impact following reports that the local regulator plans greater oversight of the sector.

On Tuesday, Dutch-language media outlet Antilliaans Dagblad reported that Curacao’s Gaming Control Board (GCB) would be adding online gambling to its scope of oversight, adding to its current role overseeing the local land-based gaming sector.

The report claims the new duties are a result of the Curacao government transferring responsibility for overseeing gambling from the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Finance. The GCB will henceforth serve as a “uniform regulator of games of chance” on Curacao and will oversee “all games of chance offered on or from Curacao.”

Curacao, along with Aruba and Sint Maarten, is a ‘constituent country’ of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, where legislators have long complained about Curacao-licensed online casinos serving Dutch punters without approval of Dutch gambling regulators.

The former heads of defunct slots developer Sheriff Gaming are going to jail after being convicted of illegal gambling, money laundering and tax evasion.

On Wednesday, Dutch media reported that Stijn Flapper, Maurice Gregoire and Michel Gregoire had been sentenced to hefty prison terms for their involvement in an illegal online gambling operation that laundered up to €123m derived from a variety of other illicit activities, including – as alleged by prosecutors – drug trafficking.

Flapper (pictured), the former CEO of Sheriff Gaming’s parent company Bubble Group NV, was sentenced to two years in prison. Michel Gregoire also received a two-year stint in stripes, while his brother Maurice got off comparatively lightly with a mere 16-month sentence.

All three actually got off relatively easy, as court proceedings in October saw prosecutors request a four-year sentence for Flapper, while the Gregoire brothers were looking at up to three years behind bars.

Italy’s gambling operators are protesting the government’s decision to hike gambling taxes and reduce land-based slots payouts to customers.

On Wednesday, Italy’s coalition government delivered its latest assault on its gambling industry in the form of gambling tax hikes and reduced customer payouts. The changes were revealed in the so-called ‘maxi amendment’ to the budget maneuver, which still awaits a final vote by Italy’s full parliament.

Among the major changes proposed is a hike in online casino tax from its current 20% to 25%, effective January 1. The government claims the hike will generate an additional €50m in annual revenue for the state.

Online sports betting revenue will now be taxed at a rate of 24%, up from the current 22%, while land-based betting operators (excluding horse betting, natch) will also face a two-point hike to 20%. Ditto for virtual betting, the tax on which is rising two points to 22%. The betting hikes are expected to cost operators an additional €30m per year.

Portugal’s regulated online gambling market reported significant Q3 revenue growth thanks to the tail end of the 2018 FIFA World Cup tournament and a surging online casino vertical.

Official figures released this week by the Serviço Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal (SRIJ) regulatory body show the country’s eight online licensees generated combined revenue of €38.5m in the three months ending September 30, €9.2m higher than the same period last year and a new market high.

Lest anyone get too excited, the government’s share of this bounty came to €17m, thanks in part to its refusal to amend the onerous tax regime that claims up to 16% of sports betting revenue as its own.

The SRIJ’s six online sports betting operators generated revenue of €19.4m in Q3, a €3.1m year-on-year improvement but below the €20.5m the market reported in Q2. The previous quarter enjoyed the bulk of the World Cup action as well as the fact that Portugal’s national team had yet to be eliminated in the round of 16.

It’s pretty easy to assume there would be a link between betting on sports and watching sports. It’s much better to be able to prove it with numbers.

Deloitte Insights, a research and analysis firm that provides insights for business and governments, has published its Technology, Media, and Telecommunications Predictions 2019. In it, Deloitte researchers dive deep into the relationship between sports betting and TV sports viewership, with valuable insights into what this could mean for both industries.

Although live TV viewership as a whole continues to decline, Deloitte notes that sports viewership is declining at a much slower pace. Furthermore, if a person watches more sports, they are more likely to be affluent, and thus attractive to TV advertisers.

Sports betting, a $169 billion a year industry in the U.S., is seen as the cure to declining TV sports viewership. The study notes that of the 1,063 people surveyed, those who bet on sports were much more likely to watch sporting events, with those betting at least once a week watching more than twice as much sports than those who don’t bet at all.