As the temporary shutdown of casinos across the U.S. lingers on, at least through the end of the month, casino operators are being forced to take drastic measures in order to stem their financial losses. Some companies have been able to squirrel away more funds over the years and are better equipped to weather the coronavirus, while others, for various reasons, are strapped for cash. As the situation becomes more difficult with each day that passes with no gambling action, nothing is safe from being discarded in order to cut expenses. Boyd Gaming, like the majority of the casino operators in the U.S., is having to make the tough decision to let go some of its staff in order to save money.

Boyd said in a press release yesterday that, as of this Saturday, an unspecified number of employees will be on extended obligatory vacation. Any of the employees who are currently enrolled in the company’s health care plans will continue to have their insurance premiums covered by the company, but everyone else is apparently on their own. The company adds that a “limited number” of employees will still be on the payroll while the shutdown continues.

Keith Smith, the company’s president and CEO, asserts, “This is by far the most difficult decision we have ever made. We care deeply about the well-being of our team members, which is why we maintained full pay and benefits through April 10. Implementing furloughs was a last resort for us, but a necessary step to protect our Company, especially given the current lack of visibility regarding property re-openings.”

But, it’s not all bad news for the company. On the bright side, the upper echelons will be able to enjoy a solid long weekend to celebrate Easter. The press release also indicates that the executive leadership team will take “significant salary reductions” and that the members of the Board of Directors will suspend their compensation. Boyd adds, “Additionally, all non-furloughed members of the Company’s corporate and property management teams will take a salary cut.” It didn’t mention how much of a cut any of the individuals would be taking.

Under current federal policies, small businesses that make a living off of legal gaming operations aren’t entitled to receive financial support through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). As the coronavirus pandemic continues to keep these companies, as well as everything else, at a standstill, they stand to suffer huge economic losses that might make recovery an impossibility. Now, the operators of the businesses, along with support from various lawmakers, are hoping they can convince President Trump to change the program and allow them to have access to PPP loans. As any politician would, Trump responded to the request with a neutral “we’ll see.”

Roll Call reports that the subject was brought up during a meeting between POTUS and several political delegates in the White House Briefing room yesterday. Congressional members from Nevada and Colorado, on behalf of the gaming industry, submitted a letter to Trump in an effort to convince him to relax the rules regarding the PPP, which is administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and can provide emergency loans to a myriad of companies as a result of the COVID-19 shutdown. Under the current structure of the program, gaming businesses with fewer than 500 employees are reportedly unable to apply for the loans.

A letter submitted by the delegation to House and Senate leadership yesterday reads, “Many of our casinos — including hotels — are small businesses, and they employ many tens of thousands of employees across our state, making up the backbone of Nevada’s economy. These small businesses are located in both our large urban areas and rural communities. Furthermore, many Nevada small businesses such as restaurants, bars, grocery stores, and convenience stores operate gaming equipment and derive revenue from it.”

The push follows a similar effort by two Senators out of Nevada, Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, and Colorado Senator Michael Bennet – the same Colorado representative who was part of yesterday’s delegation – that saw them lobby Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza last week for more access to emergency funds for small gaming businesses. They asserted in their letter, “While there is no statutory mandate from Congress to exclude size-eligible gaming operations from receiving SBA assistance such as disaster loans, SBA regulations and standard operating procedures have previously precluded entities that receive more than one-third of their gross annual revenue from legal gambling activities from receiving these SBA loans.”

Business is still getting done in the gambling industry, as platform providers and state lotteries look ahead to the days when customers will be able to go back to retail locations with confidence. The Iowa Lottery Authority Board has voted unanimously to award a 10 year contract to Scientific Games, assuming negotiations go well.

The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that, assuming the deal fully fleshes out, Scientific Games will provide the statewide gaming system for Iowa’s lottery and its 2,400 retail locations. The plan is to let the provider start the contract in 2021, and serve up an advanced gaming system, central communications network, retailer terminals and player self-service kiosks.

Scientific Games, which has already served up Iowa’s lottery games for the past 18 years, noted it won the contract based on its ability to maximize funding for the lottery’s beneficiaries, and a generally high score. The charity programs the lottery has helped serve have been programs for veterans, university research and agriculture. Over the last eight years, Iowa’s lottery has seen an $878 million growth in total retail sales.

Pat McHugh, Lottery Group CEO for Scientific Games, boasted about the vote of confidence his company had received. “Scientific Games appreciates the trust the Iowa Lottery has placed in our Company and our technology to continue supporting programs that help make Iowa a great place to live,” he said. “We are also very proud that the hard work of our teams and ability to successfully align with lotteries’ business plans continues to position Scientific Games as the fastest growing lottery systems provider in North America.”

This is a guest contribution by Thomas Byrne of Digitain. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you.

There’s a popular expression in Armenia – The sun won’t stay behind the cloud. As in most parts of the world now, Armenia is experiencing a national shutdown, with all but essential businesses closed. From my position on the ground, I think Armenians are approaching this crisis with calmness and co-operation, while maintaining their optimism for the country’s future.

Our approach, like many other companies in the industry, reflects these priorities – putting the health of employees first by instituting a remote working policy within 24 hours of the outbreak. Since the change, we have been delighted with the focus and dedication from our staff in pulling together. We’ve also seen a surge in collaborative dialogue, which has ensured our ability to seamlessly adapt our services to our 70+ partners worldwide.

This event will surely be the biggest challenge of our time. Never before has our industry seen the perfect storm of a global pandemic, financial crash, social distancing and the shutting down of numerous retail networks – all while fearing for the safety of our loved ones. It also goes without saying that our industry has been affected the postponement of popular sports – professional, amateur and recreational. Add to the mix an increasing scrutiny from regulators and media commentators, and we’re also likely to see tighter controls on deposits and marketing activities.

This is a guest contribution by Joonas Karhu, Chief Business Officer at Bojoko.com. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you.

Joonas Karhu, Chief Business Officer at Bojoko.com, says that white label platform providers must do more due diligence on their operator partners.

Recent events have raised questions and concerns over the future of white label casinos, particularly when it comes to platform providers ensuring their operators are responsible and compliant.

White label platform providers can work with hundreds of online casino partners and they are ultimately responsible for ensuring that each brand plays by the rules in each market it targets.

China’s sports lottery is trying to raise awareness of its post-pandemic rebirth by seeking public help in creating a new mascot.

On March 11, China began restarting its sports and welfare lottery sales after a record 49-day shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Around one week later, the National Sports Lottery Center reported that lottery services were operating at two-thirds capacity and the month closed with the resumption of sales in Hubei province, the epicenter of the original outbreak.

Lottery retailers in Hubei’s capital Wuhan weren’t scheduled to rejoin the party until Wednesday, the date on which Chinese authorities officially lifted the 76-day lockdown they imposed on the city. State-run media warned Wuhan’s residents that “it is right to be excited … but we must not relax.”

China’s official lottery administrators issued a similar ‘warm reminder’ to customers, some of whom – like those in Wuhan – have been prevented from scratching their lottery itch for a while. The authorities urged customers to show “restraint” in purchasing lottery tickets and to “please bet rationally.”

Every year, it looks like the Superbowl winners will be between one or two pre-season favourites. The titans of the game who go into the action with the best roster always seem to look like top picks on paper. But ball games aren’t won on paper. Titles are only handed to the team who put in the work through blood, sweat and tears on any given Sunday.

Which pre-season favourites have fallen at the first fence, and which others have gone on to make a falling pitch into the end zone look like a piece of Superbowl pizza pie? Here are all the pre-season picks, with the eventual winners odds from pre-season too.

2010 – Indianapolis Colts (8/1) – Lost in Wild Card Play-Offs

While the Colts won the AFC South division title for the seventh time in eight seasons, they were pipped 17-16 by the New York Jets in the Wild Card round of the postseason playoffs, which transpired to be legendary player Peyton Manning’s final game in a Colts jersey.

Sports betting technology provider SBTech’s recent cyberattack could end up costing the company millions but won’t derail the company’s impending acquisition by DraftKings.

On Wednesday, by Nasdaq-listed Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp (DEAC) filed papers with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) detailing an amendment to the company’s previously announced ‘business combination agreement’ with sports betting operator DraftKings and the Malta-based SBTech.

The deal is effectively a reverse merger that will allow DraftKings to go public by being joined with DEAC, a ‘special-purpose acquisition company’ founded by former Hollywood exec Jeff Sagansky. The deal will see SBTech replace Kambi as the enlarged DraftKings’ betting technology supplier.

Wednesday’s filing indicates that DEAC expects some legal blowback from last month’s cyberattack on SBTech’s data centers, which knocked the company’s 50-odd global sports betting clients offline for several days before operations could be safely resumed.