The Americas

Two teams are left to fight out Super Bowl LV in 2021, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers set to take on the Kansas City Chiefs; Former U.S. Presidential candidate Andrew Yang remains the favourite to win the New York City Mayoral elections. Yang has taken an early lead in the race thanks to name recognition and door-to-door campaigning; Former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal has signed a deal to become an ambassador for Australian sportsbook PointsBet in the U.S. O’Neal will be the face of the company as it continues to expand its presence in the U.S.; Massachusetts is set to remove curfews in a move welcomed by the casino industry; Winamax Pro Ivan Deyra has been dismissed as an ambassador and forced to pay back winnings after being exposed as a multi-accounting cheat. The French player was busted using multiple accounts during a World Series of Poker event; Casino operator Bally’s Corporation has further diversified its offering by acquiring daily fantasy sports operator Monkey Knife Fight (MKF), while rival Caesars Entertainment has made its own DFS play; Great Canadian Gaming Corp CEO Rodney Baker has been forced to resign in the wake of growing scandal. The CGC CEO and his wife were caught out breaking health protocols in a bid to receive the COVID-19 vaccine; Google is set to permit real -money gaming on a host of apps on its Google Play marketplace. The internet giant will relax its stance from March 1 and expand their policies to include real-money gambling apps in several new territories; BetMGM have continued their campaign of exclusive media partnerships. The company announced a new deal that will see it partner with The Athletic on a new betting content collaboration.

Europe

Spanish gaming company Codere continues to work with creditors to avoid bankruptcy. The casino operator has struggled under the weight of COVID restrictions and huge changes in currency conversion rates; Swedish authorities have come down hard on online casino licensee Videoslots. The slots operators received a fine for their conduct over customer deposit limits; The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) have found their new CEO. The MGA announced that Dr Carl Brincat has been appointed to take on the top role; U.K. sportsbook William Hill has made the decision to embrace renewable energy. The company has made a commitment to reduce its carbon footprint in the U.K. over the next 24 months; U.K. gambling regulators have reached a £1.3m settlement with licensee White Hat Gaming. The U.K. operator was found to have inadequate policies towards anti-money laundering and social responsibility

Super Bowl LV is right around the corner. On February 7, the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will battle to determine for the NFL championship in what is expected to be a highly competitive game. It will also be the biggest Super Bowl in terms of sports gambling, and everyone is looking to make things as exciting as possible. VSiN, the network dedicated to sports gambling, is ready to kick things up a notch, promises to offer the “deepest Big Game coverage ever available.”

VSiN has been covering the Super Bowl for five years and continually introduces new ways to enjoy the event. This year, it will offer extensive coverage of the Big Game, including dozens of sports gambling pros, analysts and personalities, as well as NFL insiders and bookmakers. VSiN founder and CEO Brian Musburger explains, “Sports betting in the U.S. has exploded since we hosted our first Super Bowl special in 2017. Four years later, VSiN has assembled our strongest lineup and a team with unmatched sports betting expertise to cover sports betting markets across the country and around the world.”

To keep football – and gambling – fans entertained, VSiN has put together the Super Dashboard, which will provide access to stats tied to Super Bowl markets. This includes line movements, where sports gambling money is being spent and more. In addition, Brent Musburger will host Betting The Big Game with Brent Musburger, a one-hour show that will include exclusive insights and analysis. It will air all next week and will be available on demand as of next Tuesday.

Sports gamblers will want to check out VSiN’s live BetCast during the Super Bowl. This will be hosted by the network’s gambling experts, who will analyze the game from a gambling perspective as it happens. In addition, VSiN plans on having its in-house crew running live events for the network’s halftime show, which will give an update on how the gambling markets are running. These shows are expected to be held at the South Point Hotel & Casino, Circa Resort, and Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, MGM Grand in Detroit, BetRivers in suburban Chicago and the Borgata in Atlantic City.

Germany is putting together its plans for online gaming and a recent effort by finance ministers in the country resulted in new tax proposals that are already causing problems. They suggested a tax of 5.3% for online poker stakes and 8% for online slots, just for a gambler to pull the handle. The Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE) studied the data and came to the conclusion that the tax rates would have an adverse effect on Germany’s gaming efforts, leading to more gamblers taking their business underground. 

The Deutscher Sportwettenverband and the Deutscher Online Casinoverband, two gaming operator associations, asked DICE to conduct the study to determine if the tax rates were feasible. The economics group returned its diagnosis, asserting that higher taxes would be detrimental to Germany’s regulated gambling market and, as a result, could possibly create a larger illegal gambling market. Eliminating underground gambling is one of the key reasons governments move to legalize gambling in the first place.

DICE explained that the 8% slot tax would make payout ratios potentially smaller and suppress competition. These two problems, combined with forcing players underground, would create a trifecta of issues that would keep Germany’s legal gambling market from flourishing. Not only would this harm the revenue possibilities, according to DICE, but it would also make it more difficult for the country to offer gambling protection and addiction programs. That is the second key reason many governments have been willing to legalize gambling.

DICE believes that the finance ministers settled on their proposed tax rates without looking at the bigger picture. They assumed that the volume of illegal gambling wouldn’t grow; however, the economic group points out that this is contrary to what has already proven to have occurred in other countries and that the assumption is “unrealistic and incorrect.” It also asserted that there isn’t much of a need to include a higher tax rate in order to offer greater player protection since the existing framework is being crafted in such a way to offer security against addiction. 

The build up to a potential Nagasaki Integrated Resort (IR) bid is getting interesting. Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment have announced a partnership with Oshidori International Development, a local firm, to pursue a coveted casino bid. The casino operator announced the partnership in a January 27 press release.

The two companies emphasized their intention to create a “dynamic community for Nagasaki to become a premium travel destination and premier residential choice.”

Oshidori CEO and Chariman Alex Yemenidjian, formerly CEO of MGM Resorts, celebrated the partnership. “Through our joint bid, we aim to highlight the rich culture and diversity of the Nagasaki area, and look forward to the positive impact this project will have on the entire Kyushu region.”

This is the second attempt at a Japanese bid by Mohegan. Previously, they were interested in a Hokkaido resort before the governor of that prefecture withdrew from the race in 2019. Although its hard to know when the national Japanese IR process will be decided, Mohegan’s upcoming Inspire Korea, launching in Incheon in 2023, will likely help their bid. Mohegan CEO Mario Kontomerkos commented:

BetMGM have continued their campaign of media partnerships, announcing an exclusive sports betting partnership with The Athletic, a premium, subscription-based sports website. The companies announced their collaboration in a January 28 press release.

As part of the deal, The Athletic will have a new content vertical dedicated to the collaboration called the Betting Hub, as well as offer in-depth content and product integrations.

“BetMGM has pioneered the online gaming industry and as we sought to establish The Athletic as a home for great betting content, we knew there would be no better partner,” said Evan Parker, The Athletic’s General Manager of Content Operations. “As we collaborate on this new venture, we share a joint vision for how to seamlessly blend media, analysis and betting into unique, premium experiences for The Athletic subscribers.”

Matt Prevost, BetMGM’s Chief Revenue Officer, explained why The Athletic appealed to them as a partner, “The Athletic has an incredibly engaged and loyal readership and we look forward to introducing their fans to the BetMGM sports betting brand. They also have an outstanding product and, through integrations and collaboration, this partnership complements The Athletic’s premium offering.”

The line in the sand that has kept Imperial Pacific International (IPI) in control of the Imperial Palace casino resort project in Saipan has moved several times, but not anymore. Amid investigations that have spanned more than five years and acknowledgments by the company that it is both clueless and powerless, it appears that someone is finally taking the bull by the horns to force IPI into carrying itself like a reputable and ethical company. As the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) spends much more time than it should dealing with IPI’s issues, CNMI Chief Judge Ramona Manglona is laying down the law. The embattled company needs to either make good on its outstanding obligations to employees or it will face receivership. She gave IPI until March 1 to comply, according to Asian Gaming Brief. 

IPI, after finally being painted into a corner, began paying its employees all of the money they’re owed, which covers several months’ worth of work. It didn’t explain where the money came from or why it wasn’t able to get it sooner, but IPI still owes. In addition, the company has to find $800,000 that it can put into an escrow account in order to be able to pay employees when IPI repeats itself. If the company can’t make good on its financial obligations by the beginning of March, Judge Manglona is ready to send the company into receivership and liquidate its assets, something others have wanted for several months. 

Not only does IPI have to scramble now to cover its debt, but Judge Manglona denied a request by the operator to lift her stop-work order. Construction equipment at Imperial Palace will stay immobilized for now, although administrative employees and other workers can get back on the clock. This decision to keep the construction stop-work order in place is almost a guarantee that IPI won’t be able to meet its February 28 launch deadline, which would mean the company would be in trouble once more. Any delays could lead to a breach of contract, although, given IPI’s track record, it will try to deny responsibility. 

As an example of the company’s failure to own up to its mismanagement, IPI’s acting CEO, former senator Ray Yumul, completely deflected any responsibility the company may have for the issues related to its inability to pay its obligations to the CNMI government. He blames that government and regulators for the problems, ineffectively arguing that the government has made too many demands of the company and that IPI’s required contributions to the local Community Benefit Fund are “ridiculous.” In remarks to the House Gaming Committee, Yumul asserted, “It should have just been a simple bid—highest bidder takes the license, builds the building,” adding that the local government’s demands are “how IPI went from a promising industry to a struggling one today.” He neglected to mention the part where IPI could have refused to accept the terms of the licensing agreement and sought new business ventures elsewhere, and the fact that IPI has yet to “build the building” it promised to have ready three years ago.

It’s not like anyone enjoys continuing to dredge up the issues caused by COVID-19, but the statistics still have to be revealed in order to bring the larger picture into focus. Macau’s casino and hospitality segments took a massive hit last year because of the global pandemic, with the city coming to a virtual standstill for most of the year. Things started to tick upward in December, albeit slightly, and there was a little more activity than what had been seen in months. While it certainly wasn’t enough to turn things around and predictions for this year indicate continued distress, Macau’s hotels saw an average occupancy rate of 53.1% last month, 9.2% more than what it was just a month earlier. However, that figure carries a huge red asterisk that skews the results drastically.

December gave Macau’s hotels their best month since last January, when the average occupancy was 79.4%. That was just as the true nature of the threat caused by COVID-19 was starting to be understood. It didn’t take long for health officials around the world to slam on the breaks and bring entire industries to a grinding halt. What was initially expected to be just a momentary break that would potentially last a couple of months has turned into a major nightmare for businesses everywhere.

Macau’s casinos reported gaming revenue of $978 million in December, which was almost 66% lower than it was a year earlier. However, like the hotel activity, it was the best month since last January. It was also a 16% improvement over what was recorded in November. However, the improvements in the two are not completely related. In December, according to Macau’s figures, there were 35,100 hotel rooms available – 3,900 fewer than there had been in January. This alters the results in favor of improved performance, but it still looks good on paper. 

The average occupancy for five-star hotels in Macau settled at 51.9% in December, 41.4% less than it was a year earlier. Four- and three-star hotels averaged 56.8% and 63.4%, respectively, with both losing over 30% of the business they had enjoyed in December 2019. In total, 578,000 check-ins were recorded last month; however, many of these were Macau residents.