Gameweek #30 in the English Premier League was like no other in English football history. With no crowds due to the Coronavirus outbreak, games were played to empty stadiums up and down the country. Despite this, there was no lack of controversy as some teams took major steps to achieving their pre-season goals while others were left looking at the last eight games with worry lines appearing on their foreheads.

Arsenal Crumble in Three Days

While many Arsenal fans could forgive the North London club’s capitulation against Pep Guardiola’s swaggering Manchester City side, not many observers have been so kind after The Seagulls handed Mikel Arteta’s side their second league defeat in three days.

It had been three months since the Premier League when Arsenal travelled to Manchester City on Thursday and conceded three goals in a comfortable 3-0 victory for The Citizens. After the calamity of David Luiz’s red card performance, however, things did not improve much on the South Coast.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting to explore existing consumer patterns and activities in order to understand them better, but the U.K. seems to be in anti-gambling overdrive. If not from lawmakers, then from anti-gambling pundits and if not from them, then from the U.K. Gambling Commission (UKGC), but someone is always looking at ways to tighten the screws on one of the few industries that can contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to the country. Coming on the heels of a major initiative on the part of a handful of lawmakers looking to make sweeping changes to the UKGC and gambling advertising, the UKGC is now going to put a very important segment of the gambling market under the microscope. Gaming VIPs are the new target of gambling regulators, which could lead to the destruction of a very important source of revenue for the industry, as well as government coffers.

The UKGC is conducting a two-month “consultation” on the gaming high-roller market, according to SBC News. The consultation is based on input provided by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) and gaming operator GVC, who have presented seven proposals they believe will make gambling safer. The initiatives address a number of issues, including responsible product development, online advertising and VIP incentives.

VIPs are those who typically have extra money to burn and are not the type that are used to being controlled – they’re used to controlling. If the UKGC’s study were to produce any new guidance that is seen as restrictive to the high-rollers, they have the money and the resources to take their business elsewhere. With more gaming facilities cropping up across Europe, especially high-end resorts coming to Greece and Cyprus, a weekend trip out of the U.K. to a Mediterranean island becomes much more appealing.

Perhaps the UKGC is only going through the motions and doesn’t intend on actually making any sweeping changes. The CEO of the commission, Neil McArthur, explains, “For collaboration to be successful it requires a full diversity of opinions. Before setting the challenges, we took advice from our Digital Advisory Panel and the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling on online harms. Their advice was grounded in evidence and experience and understanding of where the risk of harm lies.

Jerry Jones was probably completely convinced he would be building a casino in Arkansas. After all, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL is used to getting what he wants, and he saw the recent approval of casino legislation in the state as the perfect opportunity to get involved. Jones still might be able to build a casino in the Natural State, but it won’t be now, and it won’t be in Pope County as he had hoped. A casino plan that involved Jones-led Legends Hospitality and the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma was beaten by a competitor last week in what has been described as a heavily “biased” vote.

The Arkansas Racing Commission (ARC) got together last Thursday to consider two casino projects – one presented by Legends and the other by Gulfside Casino Partnership out of Mississippi. By the end of the vote, Gulfside was the undisputable winner, having beaten its rival in points, 637-572. The seven commissioners on the ARC awarded Gulfside the victory in a split, 4-3 decision.

The points system looked at several criteria, using a scale of up to 100 possible points. Things like experience in the gaming industry, how quickly the property could be ready, financial stability and casino details, among others, were awarded a score by each commissioner separately, and the total then calculated based on those scores. One score stood out from the rest and became the basis of the claims that the commissioner was biased going into the vote.

Commissioner Butch Rice gave Gulfside a perfect 100 points, but only gave 29 points to the Cherokee. That difference was what allowed Gulfside to win the competition, but appears to be completely out of step with the merits of the Cherokee project.

Thank the coronavirus for forcing all types of businesses around the world to alter their plans in one way or another. Whether as a direct result of a reduction in funds or an inability to continue with construction because of lockdown orders, forward progress on a number of different fronts stalled and is just now starting to get its motor running again. The casino industry was one of the hardest hit, in terms of global impact, and a number of projects are either going to face delays in their development or be scrapped completely. Two casino properties expected to be added to the Philippines are still moving forward, and one has already admitted it will face delays over COVID-19. The other could find difficulty staying on track.

Bloomberry Resorts Corp. is having difficulty with its Solaire North gaming venue. The property is located in Quezon City and Bloomberry CEO Enrique Razon has already acknowledged that the project was being delayed due to regulatory hurdles. Facing the wrath of the coronavirus, more delays may be coming, and Razon now expects the project to not be ready until the end of 2022 or even into 2023. Construction has “partially restarted,” but is still facing government-ordered restrictions that make ramping up activity more problematic.

Bloomberry has already taken a hit this year, watching its net income decline by 37.7% in the first quarter compared to a year earlier. Further reductions are more likely coming as a result of the continued lockdown, in some areas of the country, ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte. It will be the end of the month, at the earliest, before restrictions are lifted.

Emerald Bay casino resort has been in the works for PH Resorts Group Holdings since 2017. It is being built on Mactan island in Cebu and already had to seek one bailout to continue with the construction. The project is expected to be completed in 2020 and, according to Dennis Uy, the CEO of PH Resorts, that plan won’t be changed. However, a huge loss in the first quarter of the year, coming on the heels of last year’s financial support, could cause some changes.