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Governor Chris Christie signed a bill legalizing daily fantasy sports in the state. The industry will be regulated by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement. A tax rate of 10.5 percent will be imposed on the profits of DFS companies that operate in the state from players in the state. DFS officials estimated it would provide $6.6 million in tax revenues.

DFS companies praised the bill, calling it one of the best of the 16 states that have currently approved DFS wagering.

“The law establishes multiple layers of oversight, placing New Jersey at the forefront of consumer protection nationally, and creating a new source of tax revenue with major potential for growth in the state,” said Marc LaVorgna, a spokesman for DraftKings and FanDuel, in a statement.

The law allows DFS companies to partner with New Jersey casinos but does not require it.

The New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Development Authority has approved $3.7 million in upgrades to Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall and convention center in newly approved projects in the resort.

The $3.7 million will go to improving the property’s HVAC systems, plumbing, painting, concrete and structural engineering services at the two properties. Both properties are operated by Spectra by Comcast Spectacor.

The improvements follow $2 million approved in February to upgrade four sets of out-of-service bathrooms at Boardwalk Hall.

“We are making an effort to bring Boardwalk Hall and the Convention Center up to date,” said Robert E. Mulcahy, chairman of the authority’s board of directors according to the Press of Atlantic City.

In another move, the resort’s city council approved a plan by the Tropicana casino to build a sky walk between its property and its newly acquired Chelsea Hotel. The casino has acquired the neighboring about 300-room, non-casino hotel and seeks to include it in its resort footprint.

“The bridge will provide convenience for our guests to easily access the south tower check-in and experience all of Tropicana’s amenities that are only just steps away,” said Tony Rodio, president and CEO of Tropicana Entertainment Inc.

The council approved air rights for the skywalk, which is still in the planning stages. Rodio said the casino hopes to begin construction by the end of the year.

Tropicana also announced it will close the popular Providence Nightclub in its entertainment/retail themed The Quarter.

Bob Pereira, founder of Metronome Hospitality Group, the operator of the club, confirmed to the Press of Atlantic City that the club will close after Labor Day weekend.

“Tropicana has some plans for the location,” Pereira told the paper, saying that the company is looking for another location in the city.

Tropicana did not say what specific plans it has for the space, but said it is hoping to open a new nightclub.

“We welcome guests to enjoy our 17 other nightlife venues and will look to open a new nightclub in that space in the near future,” Steve Callender, Tropicana Atlantic City general manager told the paper.

Finally, the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority announced it will hold public hearings in September on future development of Atlantic City’s Boardwalk, Marina District, Gardner’s Basin and other portions of the resort’s Tourism District.

The Press reports that the authority—which controls the city’s tourism district—is hoping to streamline its regulatory processes and cut red tape in attracting projects to the resort.

The Connecticut Senate last week joined the House of Representatives in approving, by a vote of 27-8 amendments to the state tribal gaming compacts with the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes, which will allow them to go forward with their proposed $300 million satellite casino on non-tribal land in East Windsor—providing that the federal government gives the need to the changes.

Now the compacts will be forwarded to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which has 45 days to determine if they are within federal law.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy had already signed the amended compacts. In his signing statement the governor said, “Over the years, our state has maintained a longstanding partnership and compact with the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribal nations.”

The two tribal chairmen expressed their appreciation.

“Once again, state legislators have stood up to defend Connecticut jobs and revenue,” said Rodney Butler, the Mashantucket Pequot chairman. “We want to thank the House and Senate and the governor for approving these changes and doing the right thing for the state.”

Kevin Brown, the Mohegan chairman added, “We’re confident that the BIA will follow in the steps of the General Assembly, and that work will get underway very soon.”

The compacts allow for the casino to be located in East Windsor, near Interstate 91, in an abandoned cinema complex. The tribes will pay 25 percent of their revenues, the same rate that they pay for the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods casinos. Each will also pay $1 million as a down payment.

During the just completed battle leading up to the adoption of the third casino legislation, the concentration of lobbyists in the state capitol representing MGM Resorts International and its rivals the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan nations, made it look, like one lobbyist describe it, as a scene from a crime movie.

The two sides spent a total of $3.2 million on lobbyists, with MGM spending $2.1 million.

MGM hired lobbyists and a former U.S. attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., and paid $900,000 for TV and digital media, all with the goal of preventing the legislature from authorizing the third casino, or possibly delay it as long as possible to reduce its threat to the MGM Springfield, which is scheduled to open in the autumn of 2018.

Tom Swan of the Connecticut Citizens Action Group, compared MGM’s big play to a game of blackjack. He told the Connecticut Post: “MGM gambled that hiring more and more lobbyists would work to their advantage — but they went over 21.” They were unable to convince many that their call for an “open, competitive” process was anything more than an attempt to keep money in Springfield.

MGM spent a lot of money because it stands to lose a lot of money. One estimate is that the third, satellite casino, could drain as much as $20 million from the $950 million MGM Springfield. One the other hand, the tribes pushed for the casino because their own estimates showed them losing possibly hundreds of millions of dollars to MGM if they didn’t take the defensive measure.

The common enemy pushed the Pequots and Mohegan tribes, once implacable gaming rivals, together by necessity. The good will generated by the tribes among lawmakers, and the last-minute decision by Governor Dannel P. Malloy to support the tribal casino in East Windsor, pushed it over the top.

Up until Malloy’s announcement, MGM felt that it was winning the public relations battle.

For example, it had its own Indian tribe, the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation of Kent, which argues that it should be allowed to operate its own casino close to the state’s boundary with New York state.

The lobbying effort for MGM was handled by Global Strategy Group, which was paid $1,477,688 according to state filing records. The two tribes spent $875,4000, of which the firm of Stu Loeser & Co., LLC was paid $137,924 and hired Andrew Doba, former spokesman for the governor.

Another lobbyist they hired, a former state representative, Peter Smith, told the Post, “The tribes have a long-standing partnership with the state, and they understood the Springfield casino would have a significant impact on Connecticut.”

Over 25 years the tribes have paid $8 billion to the state in revenue sharing. The estimate that 9,000 jobs might also be lost was also a factor for many lawmakers.

As Smith described it, “To mitigate that impact, we brought some ideas forward to protect the Connecticut jobs and revenue. Nothing precluded MGM from doing the same thing, picking a site in Bridgeport or Fairfield County and making a proposal. The more money they spent hiring lobbyists, bringing in high-profile names from Washington, TV ads and other things, it reinforced the fact that they were just protecting their investment in Springfield.”

Another lobbyist the tribe hired added, “Saving jobs is not a partisan issue. It’s a Connecticut issue and a human issue. Secondly, we wanted to keep revenue in Connecticut. That was our focus, and it took time to educate and to explain how MGM Springfield was going to impact our state and our jobs.”

Now that the tribes have won in the legislature, MGM will shift its efforts to killing the law in federal court. It will argue that the state legalized commercial gaming without voter approval and authorized a commercial casino with a competitive bidding process.

It has already lost one effort in federal court, and has appealed that. It is likely to challenge the new law with a new lawsuit, bringing up constitutional questions that didn’t necessarily apply when the law merely authorized the tribes to identify a site for a casino, as opposed to the new law, which authorizes the casino.

MGM may also attempt to lobby the Bureau of Indian Affairs to try to influence its decision on whether the amended compacts jibe with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA.)

The state has no law on its books that allows commercial gaming, which was why amendment the compacts was necessary.

Uri Clinton, who is both MGM’s vice president and general counsel, told the Connecticut Post: “We’ve had a very strong position that legally there are constitutional issues we’re going to be pursuing. Litigation is part of the strategy. We really made a significant investment in trying to get a seat at the table, and we really value access to the New York market if that opportunity presents itself. Some people thought we were just trying to block, but last year we made a significant commitment to the state and we’re planning to engage next (legislative) session.”

Watche “Bob” Manoukian, the Armenian billionaire who is the financial backer of Greenwood Gaming and principal owner of Greenwood’s Parx Casino at Philadelphia Park in Bensalem, last week appeared for the first time before the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

The appearance at last Monday’s board hearing was to answer questions concerning his ownership stake in Stadium Casino, the consortium of Greenwood and Baltimore-based Cordish Companies that won the license to build and operate Philadelphia’s second casino.

The license application was sent back to the board by the state Supreme Court after the appeal of the award to the Stadium partnership based on the so-called 33.3 percent rule, which holds that no licensee owning 85 percent or more of an existing casino may own more than one-third of a second property. Manoukian owns 85.84 percent of the Parx casino.

This is the second time the board is re-examining the issue with respect to Manoukian. In the first examination of the appeal, the board found Manoukian to be within the legal ownership limits.

Manoukian testified before the board last week that the terms of his ownership in the Stadium partnership fall well within the limits of the law. He demonstrated that he is transferring #34 million into a trust for his three sons, who each will own a portion of Stadium Casino’s planned Philadelphia Live! Casino Hotel in South Philadelphia. “I have recently signed a binding agreement to fund the trust by outright and irrevocable gifts, and I will do so—I promise,” Manoukian testified.

Manoukian told the board that the trust will effectively be the partner to Cordish in the casino, and that he will have no financial interest in the Philadelphia Live! project.

The parties in the case will now file briefs, before the board makes its decision.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania state Rep. Scott Petri, chairman of the House Gaming Oversight Committee, has filed a bill to eliminate the 33.3 percent rule, with the goal of expediting disposition of the Stadium appeal and opening the second Philadelphia casino.

The Florida Greyhound Association has asked state gambling regulators to reconsider their decision to allow Miami’s Magic City Casino to discontinue live dog racing. The association’s “motion to intervene” stated ending racing at Magic City “will put its members out of business. The purpose is to forever end greyhound racing at the track. Many members are family owned businesses that have raced greyhounds at the race track for generations.”

Last month, in a first-of-its-kind ruling, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which regulates gambling through its Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, approved a request from the Havenick family to drop dog racing at its Miami facility. Under Florida law, parimutuels that want to offer lucrative slots and card games also must offer money-losing live dog or horse races. The racetracks want lawmakers to decouple live races from other forms of gambling, but proposed bill have failed in the legislature.

Former Lieutenant Governor Jeff Kottkamp, the association’s general counsel, drafted the motion. It claims the state incorrectly allowed the track and casino to convert its gambling license to a summer jai alai permit, so it can end racing but continue to offer slot machine play. “There appears to be no showing that Magic City meets the statutory qualifications to convert their permit to summer jai alai since it is now the only greyhound race track operating in Miami,” the motion said. It adds, “it cannot be said that the legislature intended to allow for the conversion of a parimutuel permit to a summer jai alai permit at a facility that operates slot machines.”

In 2004, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment legalizing slots at existing jai alai frontons and horse and dog racetracks in Miami-Dade and Broward counties if the issue passed in referendums, in return for continuing to offer live races.

In neighboring Alabama, live dog races will end at the Mobile Greyhound Park at the end of August. The Poarch Band of Creek Indians, which purchased a 65 percent controlling interest in the track for $10 million in 2009, said the reasons were declining interest, prohibitive state gaming laws and decreasing revenue. The PCI Gaming Authority stated, “In 1991 there were 62 active greyhound tracks unsupported by other forms of gaming. Today, Mobile Greyhound Park is only one of two.”

Mobile Greyhound Park offered both live dog races and simulcast dog and horse races since 1973. The track will continue to offer simulcasts, PCI officials said. It has not been able to supplement the lost revenue because most other forms of gaming are illegal in Alabama. The state racing commission collects 7 percent of the proceeds from live races and 2 percent of proceeds from simulcast races. In the past that generated annual tax revenues of up to $8 million, but that figure has dropped dramatically over the past 25 years.

PCI officials also said 30 employees will be impacted, but the company was “fully prepared to assist each team member with locating and applying for opportunities at other Wind Creek Hospitality facilities including Pensacola Greyhound Park and Wind Creek Casino and Hotel in Atmore.” At the state racing commission, eight full-time employees currently work as coordinators, race inspectors and race judges.

PCI officials said they will help kennel owners with the relocation, adoption and ongoing care for approximately 400 greyhounds associated with the racetrack. Some may be moved to other tracks around the U.S. “We routinely place over 600 greyhounds each year through Mobile Greyhound Pet Adoption Kennel, and we have relationships with approximately a dozen other adoption agencies across the country that will help with placement. We have implemented a program which will support kennels with care, feeding, housing and veterinary services while each greyhound is matched to a suitable new environment,” the officials said.

Those interested in adopting a greyhound may contact the Mobile Greyhound Pet Adoption Kennel, (251) 653- 5000, Extension 102, for more details.

The Pennsylvania state Senate has passed a budget bill that counts on $200 million in revenue from expanded gambling, including online gaming and up to 10 satellite casinos that would be licensed to current land-based casino licensees.

While the Senate has not released details of the gaming expansion contemplated, a proposal brokered by Senate Republicans includes a provision for current casino licensees to bid for satellite casino licenses allowing up to 700 slot machines and 100 table games at a separate facility in an area of the state without current casinos, according to an Associated Press report, which added that the provision would authorize online gaming and set license and tax fees.

Beyond that, there was uncertainty how the gaming provisions of the budget bill will fare in the state House, which now takes up the measure. House and Senate differences have remained unresolved on the tax rate for online casinos—55 percent in the Senate; 14 percent-16 percent in the House—and on the biggest sticking point, video gaming terminals (VGTs) in bars and liquor-licensed establishments across the state.

House leaders have insisted on including VGTs in gaming expansion; senators have resisted. But debate on the issue is generally believed to be on hold until the fall session. Gaming revenues are a minor portion of a giant bill that seeks to close a $2.2 billion budget gap through a broad mix of tax increases and loans.

Meanwhile, among the gaming issues still to be resolved is the local host fee—the portion of slot revenues earmarked for local host communities of the 12 Pennsylvania casinos. The law’s original provision—2 percent of slot revenues or $10 million, whichever is higher—was struck down by the state Supreme Court on the basis that it comprised a higher percentage tax on smaller casinos.

Expansion measures in both chambers of the legislature would change that to a straight $10 million annual fee (also likely to be challenged by smaller casinos), but municipal officials in Pennsylvania last week wondered aloud whether they would receive their next scheduled host payment, due this month.

The city of Bethlehem receives $1.2 million a quarter from the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem. Unlike operators like Rush Street Gaming, which owns casinos in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Las Vegas Sands has not promised to keep payments going absent a valid law. Bethlehem Business Administrator Dave Brong told the Allentown Morning Call the city will be able to ride out the storm until a new bill is passed. “What I will tell you, from a cash standpoint, is that we’re good,” Brong said. “We will be able to find cash in the bank at the end of the year if the worst-case scenario happens and things go unresolved,” Brong said.