Author: Casino Connection Staff

Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court removed the federal ban on sports betting by invalidating the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in May, several states around the U.S. have been scrambling to have sports-betting programs in place by the start of the NFL football season on September 8. New Jersey’s casinos already have sports books up and running, and Mississippi is not far behind.

Pennsylvania, not so much.

Even though a few of Pennsylvania’s 12 operating casinos have expressed interest in launching sports betting—Sands Bethlehem and Valley Forge Casino are the latest—two months after sports-betting licenses became available, not a single casino has ponied up the $10 million fee to become a licensed sports-betting operator.

The reason, it is widely believed, is not only that fee—several times what any other state is charging—but the whopping 36 percent tax on sports-betting revenue created by last year’s gaming expansion law. That tax has been widely criticized as unworkable for legal sports books that carry an average profit margin under 5 percent.

The lawmakers who created that tax still maintain that in the end, casinos will be unable to resist the prospect of operating sports books, and will pay up. State Rep. Robert Matzie said as much last week in an interview with the New Castle News.

So far, there are no indications Matzie’s prediction will come true. In an interview last week with the web news source SportsHandle.com, Doug Harbach, director of communications for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, reported that the board has not yet received a single sports-betting license application.

The Pennsylvania taxes and fees have been assailed by both casino licensees and sports betting vendors. “The $10 million license fee and 36 percent tax rate established in the Gaming Expansion Legislation are the highest in the world, and may make it impossible for a casino operator to make any return on its investment capita,” wrote Penn National Gaming in a June public comment on the sports-betting law. “Based on the tax rate and the fact that, on average, 95 percent of sports wagers are returned to winning bettors, PNG estimates it could lose approximately 40 cents on every $100 wagered on sporting events.”

Dan Shapiro, vice president of business development of William Hill US—already operating sports books in New Jersey—made a similar comment to Sportshandle.com last week. “With a 36 percent tax and a $10 million license fee, there are other states that are more interesting to us,” he said. :”It’s just not something we’re looking at seriously right now.”

MGM Resorts International shifted into damage control mode last week in the form of an open letter to employees from Chairman and CEO James Murren explaining why the gaming giant is suing victims of last October’s mass shooting.

Murren apologized for not informing employees before word of the lawsuits made the news and at the same time decried media coverage of the company’s action as “misleading and truly awful”.

“I know the way things have been portrayed has left many feeling confused, hurt and disappointed. I am very sorry for that and I am grateful to have this opportunity to clarify.”

He then echoed the company’s initial response from two weeks ago, saying, “To be perfectly clear, MGM Resorts is not suing victims for damages or attempting to extract monetary payment from the victims in any way.”

What it is doing is seeking the most economical means to deflect liability for the massacre, which occurred the night of October 1 when a gunman who’d stockpiled an arsenal of automatic and semi-automatic weapons in a suite atop MGM’s Mandalay Bay hotel opened fire on an outdoor music festival, killing 58 and wounding more than 500 before taking his own life.

With more than 2,500 victims, family members or loved ones suing the company or threatening to in a multitude of state jurisdictions, MGM’s aim is to consolidate the cases in federal court where it plans to claim immunity from liability under a law known as the SAFETY Act, which Congress passed in the aftermath of 9/11 to protect private businesses victimized by acts of terrorism. MGM’s argument is that because the company hired to provide security for the festival is off the hook by virtue of a SAFETY Act designation from the Department of Homeland Security, MGM, as the contractor, should be, too. The company is suing in eight states on these grounds, naming more than 1,000 shooting victims or their loved ones as defendants.

The public outcry has included tearful responses from several victims at a press conference in California and a “#BoycottMGM” backlash on social media.

MGM maintains that is acting in the best interests of the victims.

“Unfortunately, resolving these cases currently requires a prolonged litigation process across multiple courts in multiple states lasting many, many years,” Murren’s letter states. “If these cases proceed in this manner, victims, which include MGM Resorts employees and families, first responders and witnesses would face the need to testify over and over again, traveling throughout various courtrooms across the U.S. in trial after trial. That scenario would place an unnecessary and painful burden on all of those affected.”

“They want to get it all over at once,” said David Levine, a law professor at the University of California Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. “They don’t want to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars litigating over and over again on many battlefields.”

Which, he added, may make sense for MGM economically. But it’s also without precedent.

“In a personal injury situation, you let the plaintiffs go first. They get to pick the time and place of the lawsuits initially. White goes first in a chess game, red goes first in a checkers game— that’s the idea.”

Levine said that while he expects the victims will be hard-pressed to prove MGM and Mandalay Bay should have anticipated and prevented the shooting, he also expects MGM will fail to win the federal jurisdiction it seeks.

“The issues on the merits need to be assessed in the lawsuits filed by the plaintiffs, not at a time and place of the choosing of the hotel defendant.“

The head of the National Hockey League last week became the latest professional sports official to fish for an “integrity fee” or royalty from a percentage of wagers on games in legal sports-betting programs in the wake of the May U.S. Supreme Court decision removing the federal ban on sports wagering.

As the National Basketball League and MGM Resorts International announced an agreement granting a fee to that league for use of official NBA and WNBA information and statistics in setting betting lines at MGM sports books, including authorization for MGM to use NBA logos and branding, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said his league wants a cut of gambling profits if its intellectual property, data or video from games are used in sports-betting operations.

Bettman told guest host Larry Lage in the latest episode of the Associated Press “PodcastOne Sports Now” show that operators seeking to use NHL assets should negotiate a deal with the league.

“We’ve historically been opposed to extending sports betting on our game, and, emotionally, I don’t think that’s changed,” Bettman said. “However, it is a fact of life in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling, and it will be up to states to decide whether or not they’re going to enact sports betting.

“From our standpoint, we believe that that whether it’s our intellectual property or data, whether it’s video of our game, we have important assets. And if somebody is going to avail themselves or want to avail themselves of those assets in order to conduct their business, then we’re going to need to have a negotiation.”

Bettman was among the first major professional sports officials to endorse the idea of legal sports betting as New Jersey’s challenge to the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act wound its way through the courts.

The newly formed FanDuel Group will use its network of horseracing cable and digital channels to air informative shows on sports betting.

The group—a merger of FanDuel and paddy power Betfair’s U.S. operations—will invest heavily in the programming to air on its TVG and TVG2 cable networks, as well as TVG’s digital channels. The channels are now currently dedicated to covering horse racing.

FanDuel CEO Matt King told Bloomberg news that the content wouldn’t be dominated by references to the FanDuel brand to ensure that “it’s not viewed as an infomercial for FanDuel.”

“We are going to be investing heavily in content,” King said. “There’s a lot of different formats we can distribute through and a lot of different channels.

FanDuel recently opened its first retail sportsbook this month at New Jersey’s Meadowlands racetrack. King told the news service he’s “very happy” overall with the results at the Meadowlands, which grossed $3.5 million in total wagers in its first nine days.

FanDuel has also signed agreements to operate sports betting facilities at Tioga Downs in Nichols, New York, and the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. He’s also pursuing partnerships in other states, he said.

The legalization of sports betting in the U.S. was a wake-up call for the gaming industry all over the world. Companies have been scrambling to take advantage of this new development, but none as dramatically as MGM Resorts.

The National Basketball Association is the first U.S. sports league to officially partner with a sportsbook operator under a deal announced by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver with MGM Resorts.

The deal makes MGM Resorts the official gaming partner of the NBA and WNBA. MGM receives the rights to use league highlights, logos and a direct data feed from the NBA. The deal is estimated by league sources to be for three years and at least $25 million, according to a report at ESPN.

Silver said the partnership will give MGM an advantage over its competitors and produce a superior experience for customers.

“Those operators who create the best experience for consumers that have official data, that have the official imprimatur of our league and other leagues as well, are going to be those that win in the hearts and minds of consumers,” Silver said during a news conference to announce the partnership.

Jim Murren, CEO of MGM, also at the news conference, said the deal was “historic.”

“The foremost mission is to maintain and preserve the integrity of the game, the fan experience for the NBA fans, and in fact help catapult further the global presence of the NBA,” Murren said. “As a global entertainment company, I feel MGM has an opportunity to partner with the NBA to do that.”

MGM casinos will be able use league and team logos on odds boards at sports books and NBA logos and league highlights also will appear on an MGM sports betting app.

MGM operates sports betting in Nevada—where online sports betting has long been permitted—and has just opened a sports book at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City, and last week at its two Mississippi casinos. Murren has said he expects online sports betting at the Borgata to begin in New Jersey in the coming days.

More notable, however, is the drastic change in a sports league’s view of sports betting. The NBA joined the other U.S. professional sports leagues in opposing New Jersey’s challenge to a federal ban on sports betting. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the state and overturned the federal ban in May. Since then Delaware, New Jersey and now Mississippi have legalized sports betting and as many as 20 more states are expected to follow.

The league joined the court challenge despite Silver repeatedly saying that legalized sports betting was inevitable and calling for national regulation. The league has also joined with Major League Baseball and the PGA Tour to lobby for an “integrity fee,” based on the amount wagered on their respective games and events to help pay for monitoring the integrity of the sport. So far, no states have adopted such a fee.

The NBA maintains that it also has a right to be compensated for use of its intellectual in the wake of increased sports betting across the country. Many analysts said this new deal could be a beginning precedent for setting such a standard. The deal also allows the NBA to better monitor betting trends at MGM sports books.

Silver did not give specifics on the deal, but did say that unlike the proposed integrity fees, the league’s proceeds were not based on the total amount wagered on NBA games.

“It was very important that we were able to establish through a commercial relationship that indeed we should be compensated for our intellectual property and our official data,” Silver said.

“I think we’re still having our discussions with our states about so-called integrity fees based on betting handles,” Silver continued. “To me, there’s many different ways to skin the cat, so to speak, and we decided here—rather than sort of re-litigating the integrity fee which is still being hotly discussed state by state—let’s find an approach which is unique to us and where we both feel that we’re being fairly treated.”

The move comes after MGM and GVC Holdings announced a $100 million joint venture to create an online gaming experience and also formed a partnership with Boyd Gaming.

The American Gaming Association strongly endorsed the deal.

“Sports betting deals should be done through contracts—not statutory obligations,” Sara Slane, senior vice president of the AGA said in a statement. “Today’s announcement highlights the symbiotic partnership between casino gaming companies and sports entities. We anticipate this is the first of many to come.”

Silver, however, did say that as the first of its kind, both sides will have to watch how the relationship develops.

“It’s a leap of faith on both sides,” Silver said. “It’s a deal moderate in length where I think we can both step back and assess as we go and see, ‘Is it working? Is this deal fair? Are we providing the consumers with the right type of experience?’

The key point of the deal is the data feed. Having fast, reliable information is vital for expanding the U.S., sports betting market to include in-game betting—bets made while games are in progress. Betting in-game is extremely popular in European betting markets, often with more money bet in-game than before the game.

“I know the value of data,” Murren said. “To be able to have the official NBA data for sports bettors around the world is very valuable. I was willing to, and I’ve paid for that.

“Now, we have tremendous data analytics information from the NBA and that will determine who wins and loses in this arena, the sports betting arena, in the United States,” he said. “And I think MGM’s going to win.”

Silver echoed the importance of the data.

“We understood the value of our marks, of official designations,” Silver said. “But I think then in terms of the data we’re providing, we have a sense of the magnitude of the current business and a sense of where things may go over the next few years. And I’d say we generally tried to approximate in a sense to come up with what we thought was fair compensation.”

According to the Associated Press, MGM will be an official casino partner for the league but will not have exclusive rights to the data. The NBA can still make deals with other casinos offering sports betting. The deal also allows for cross-promotion as MGM will be advertised on NBA assets and social media platforms and the NBA will be promoted on MGM’s betting platforms and mobile apps.

About 1.5 billion was bet on basketball at Nevada sportsbooks in 2017 though the Nevada Gaming Control does not separate the NBA and college basketball on its revenue reports. Sportsbook managers say the NBA accounts for 40-50 percent of the amount bet on basketball, ESPN reported.

In another story, Murren also recently appeared on “The Dan Patrick Show” and said he expects an NBA team to relocate to Las Vegas, but said such discussions were not part of the deal.

“I would think it would be highly plausible that an NBA team would like to relocate to what’s becoming one of the sports capitals of the U.S.,” Murren said. “But this was not a precondition of doing the agreement. I have no illusions that it is.”

Meanwhile, MGM Resorts International made two other major partnership announcements last week regarding the legal sports-betting market. After announcing an unprecedented partnership with locals and regional casino giant Boyd Gaming to share market access and customer databases in offering online and mobile gaming platforms, MGM announced a 50-50 joint venture with U.K.-based GVC Holdings to develop and provide an online and sports-betting platform to the U.S. casino industry.

Under the first agreement, MGM Resorts and Boyd Gaming will both have the opportunity to offer online and mobile gaming platforms—including sports betting, casino gaming and poker—in jurisdictions where either Boyd Gaming or MGM Resorts operates physical casino resorts and online licenses are available. Under this market access agreement, each company will have a path to expand their online and mobile gaming presence across 15 states.

“We are excited to team yet again with Boyd Gaming on this unprecedented partnership, which allows us to fully engage with the almost 30 million M life Rewards members throughout the country,” said MGM Resorts Chairman and CEO Jim Murren. “We look forward to expanding our entertainment options for guests beyond their visits to our land-based resorts.”

“Our industry is evolving, providing opportunities for growth through new forms of gaming like online and mobile gaming,” said Boyd Gaming President and CEO Keith Smith. “Thanks to our partnership with MGM Resorts, Boyd Gaming will have the opportunity to potentially add an online presence in five additional states, positioning us for significant future growth as our respective companies take a leadership role in our industry’s evolution.”

MGM Resorts and GVC will bring together market-leading assets, distinguished brands, proven and scalable proprietary technology, and extensive industry expertise to capitalize on sports betting and online gaming in the U.S. According to the joint announcement, the formation of the joint venture significantly increases speed to market for both parties in an efficient and prudent manner, lowers execution risk, and creates meaningful early mover advantages. The two companies already operate together in the New Jersey iGaming market.

“We are proud to join forces with GVC, the largest and most dynamic global online betting operator, with existing reputable and trusted operations in the U.S., with MGM Resorts’ expertise and leading position in key markets across the U.S.,” Murren said. “This historic partnership will be positioned to become the instant leader in technology, market access, sports relationships and brands.

“We are excited to benefit from GVC’s proprietary, best-in-class technology, digital customer acquisition expertise, and experience with adapting to new operating environments. GVC is unusually qualified due to their existing operations in the U.S. Together, we are creating a one-of-a-kind platform that we expect will dominate the U.S. sports betting market.”

Kenneth Alexander, chief executive of GVC, said “MGM Resorts is a world-leading entertainment business and the most trusted name in gaming, with the highest quality brands and management, and strong sports connectivity. This combined with GVC’s technology and experience in successfully building online gaming businesses across multiple markets presents a truly exciting opportunity for U.S. players and our respective shareholders. To be able to team up with a partner with such pedigree and knowledge, particularly in the U.S., is a real opportunity for GVC.”

The new venture will have exclusive access to all U.S. land-based and online sports betting, online real-money and free-to-play casino gaming, major tournament and online poker, and other similar future interactive businesses—facilitating entry into multiple digital gaming verticals under the playMGM and PartyPoker headline brands. The venture will also allow for full integration between the MGM Resorts and GVC loyalty programs, enhancing the user experience and value proposition for existing and future customers.

Under the agreement, MGM Resorts and GVC have agreed to capitalize the venture with initial commitments of $100 million per partner. The venture will establish a separate headquarters to be located in a major U.S. technology hub, select a leadership team comprised of best-in-class talent from each company and additional new hires, and form a four-person board of directors with equal representation from MGM Resorts and GVC to oversee the venture’s ongoing operations and growth.

The commencement of the joint venture operations are subject to gaming regulatory approvals. Both parties expect the partnership to be ready for the upcoming NFL football season.

Boyd Gaming is already planning to put the partnership to use in Mississippi and Pennsylvania. Smith, as part of an earnings call with investors last wee, said it will have sports betting available at its IP Casino Resort Spa and Sam’s Town Tunica as soon as Mississippi grants regulatory approval, and will look to bring sports betting to the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania once it completes its $281 million acquisition in September.

 “We are in an envious position when it comes to this growth opportunity,” Smith said on the call. “Few companies can match our 40-plus years of experience in sports wagering, our significant sports betting infrastructure here in Nevada and our growing geographical footprint across the country.”

The longtime indefatigable promoter of gaming in the Granite State, Senator Lou D’Allesandro, wants New Hampshire to tap into the billion-dollar sports betting market. The amount of money at stake is, he says, “incomprehensible.” He’s not alone.

The senator, who has for two decades introduced measures to legalize casinos in the state, this year has pivoted his focus since the U.S. Supreme Court uncorked the wellspring of sports betting when it removed the ban in May.

Noting that the neighboring states New Jersey and Delaware have wasted no time in legalizing the practice (Garden State residents bet $16.4 million the first two weeks, paying the state $300,000 in taxes,) that Massachusetts is also debating a bill and Rhode Island’s budget includes an estimate for how much it will collect in taxes, the senator promises that, if reelected in November, to pursue legalizing sports betting.

Assuming he is reelected, his first chance to file a bill would be in January.

Campaigning in his district, D’Allesandro declared “Football, baseball and basketball, these are little players when compared to college basketball. There are games on every night. The amount of money is incomprehensible.” he said. He added, “Everybody plays; March Madness office pools, friendly wagers on foot-ball games. This could be a great source of revenue. It’s going to happen around the country, so let’s do this responsibly.”

He would consider putting the New Hampshire Lottery in charge, and, not surprisingly, would probably include a casino as part of the mix. After all, he’s done that every year for twenty years! He likes the idea of setting up a system like Keno where convenience stores and restaurants could become vendors.

He said, “The lottery has got to be involved, you could do it electronically.” He asked rhetorically: “Do you have a casino in New Hampshire to provide the base? The policy aspect is very important and it’s going to take a long time to think about it.”

The lottery is closely watching states that have so far legalized sports betting but is waiting for the legislature to define its role.

Charles McIntyre, executive director of the lottery, told fosters.com: “There are a lot of variables to see how the state revenue from sports betting could be realized. Do you have a sports book? Multiple books? Will you be able to place bets on your cellphone?”

He added, “There’s a lot of widespread gaming activity people engage in that we could legitimize if the Legislature votes for it and the governor approves it. If the folks under the dome approve it; however, comfortable they are in rolling it out, we’re comfortable regulating it.”

Rhode Island has tried to shelter college athletics from gambling by prohibiting any betting on college games in the state, or on games out of state where a Rhode Island team is playing. D’Allesandro favors a similar approach.

A senator who will give a D’Allesandro bill a sympathetic hearing is Dan Innis. He voted for the senator’s casino unsuccessful bill last year that missed in a close vote.

He too wants to insulate college athletics. He told fosters.com: “Do we want people to be able to bet on UNH football and hockey? My gut says no, but I’ll need to look into it,” Innis said. “When I supported casino legislation I asked for the license to be reviewed after two years and there needed to be more than one bid-der for any one location, so I’d like to see some kind of similar considerations.” He considers sports betting to be a freedom issue, for both those placing the bets and the businesses taking them.

But there are opponents. One of them is Rep. Patricia Lovejoy, a veteran member of Casino Free New Hampshire, and therefore a frequent critic of D’Allesandro. Hardly a fringe group, the nonprofit includes a bipartisan core of legislators, along with the New Hampshire Association of Police Chiefs and New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association.

Lovejoy opposes gaming expansion for social reasons. “We don’t have a good track record as a state for putting money aside to help people who develop problems with gambling,” she said. “If we pass it, in the next budget gambling addiction funds would be one of the first things to get cut.” She believes allowing people the option of betting large sums on their Smartphones will open the door to problems for those betting—and their families.

Innis supports setting up a fund to treat gambling addiction and require the industry to foot some of the bill. “We’ll need assurances gambling addiction will be addressed because it’s a real problem,” he said. “Whether it’s a revenue sharing component or the companies coming in are setting aside funds to help stop addiction.”

Lovejoy won’t support such a bill even if it includes a provision for funding addiction treatment. “The general population is not in favor of casinos and hopefully all candidates seeking election to the Statehouse are asked if they support sports betting,” she said.

Mississippi’s new sports betting regulations took effect on July 21, and the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi and Gold Strike Casino Resort in Tunica took their first legal sports wagers on August 1 at 12 p.m. Central Time.

MGM Resorts International issued a release stating, “The two Mississippi gaming resorts, both part of the MGM Resorts International portfolio, will celebrate the occasion with invited guests placing simultaneous first bets in the two locations at opposite ends of the Magnolia State. These first sports wagers will be placed on the 26th anniversary of the first casino bet made in Mississippi’s modern casino age, when the first pair of dice was rolled at the Isle of Capri in Biloxi on August 1, 1992.”

Among the dignitaries and sports figures invited to place the first wagers were Willis McGahee, former NFL Pro Bowl running back (2003-2013); New Orleans native Robert Royal, former NFL tight end (2002-2010); and handicapper and sports analyst for USA TODAY, Danny Sheridan. MGM has partnered with GVC to operate the sports books.

For now, wagers must be made on-premises only. Mississippi’s enabling legislation, written in 2017, only allows sports betting in person and via mobile on-site at casinos.

Mississippi is the third state, following Delaware and New Jersey, to allow sports betting since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal ban in May. Mississippi also is the only Southern state to offer sports betting this season.

More than a dozen Mississippi casinos applied for licenses, said Mississippi Gaming Commission Executive Director Allen Godfrey.

“It’s been exciting, it’s been busy and we’re starting to get applications in. Operators are diligently preparing. It appears that the enthusiasm is high.” Godfrey added, “We’ve had staff in Nevada, we’ve had them in New Jersey. We talk constantly with these other agencies and the model we are after is the Nevada model.”

Analysts aren’t sure about the economic impact of sports betting in Mississippi. In Delaware, the first full month of sports betting in June generated $7 million wagered. In 2017, Mississippi collected a total of $250 million in gaming tax revenues. Some estimates suggest sports betting tax revenue in Mississippi will generate less than $10 million per year, however, that doesn’t include an increase in traditional casino play from more on-site visitors.

Boyd Gaming’s IP Casino in Biloxi and Sam’s Town in Tunica also are planning to offer sports books in early August, pending gaming commission approval, said Boyd Director of Corporate Communications David Strow. He said, “Most of our construction is now complete,” at both facilities. George Cole, previously the director of race and sports for the Aliante Casino Hotel in North Las Vegas, was hired as the sports director to oversee both operations.

Caesars Entertainment officials said sports books at Harrah’s Gulf Coast Casino in Biloxi and Horseshoe Tunica will open in mid-August, through a collaboration with Scientific Games Digital, which will power the Caesars properties with its OpenBet sports book technology.

In a statement, Caesars said, “Over the course of the next nine months, Caesars Entertainment will be building out the facilities to create the same world-class sports betting experiences currently available at its properties in Nevada. Caesars Entertainment plans to quickly introduce mobile sports betting throughout New Jersey and on property in Mississippi on the Caesars Casino & Sports mobile app HERE.” Most if not all of the other Coast casinos are expected to open their sports books by the start of the regular football season in early September.

At the Beau Rivage, Will Hall was hired as race and sports book manager. Construction is complete on the 7-window sports betting counter outside the poker room at the resort. In addition, the former Coast nightclub and piano bar area are transforming into a sports book and bar, which will be open to the casino, where fans can place bets, order food and beverages and watch the games.

Golden Nugget partnered with SBTech to operate in both Mississippi and New Jersey. Betting on horse racing is expected to come a few weeks or months after the sports books open at Mississippi casinos.

Gaming industry experts in Ohio are urging the legislature to act quickly to legalize sports betting so that the Buckeye state doesn’t lag behind other regional states in taking advantage of the Supreme Court’s lifting of the ban on the activity.

Pennsylvania, West Virginia are moving quickly to catch up with Delaware and New Jersey, which have already put an infrastructure in place and are accepting bets.

“If Ohio lags behind, and Pennsylvania and West Virginia have already legalized … it will be really hard to get people back to Ohio,” said Jay Masurekar, of KeyBanc Capital Markets in Cleveland.

However, said Masurekar, the state is weighty with the number of sports teams based there, and so has a large core of sports fans willing to place bets. “So I think there is definitely strong pent-up demand,” he told the Columbus Dispatch.

Experts project that the state could collect up to 7 percent of betting revenue once the regulatory structure is in place. That could mean tens of millions of dollars for the state government. It would also drive new business to the state’s four existing casinos and seven racinos, which are expected to be hubs for sports betting.

The companies that operate those casinos have been relatively quiet on the issue. The legislature has “placeholder” bills in play that has started the conversation going among lawmakers without nailing down any details. It lacks details on such things as tax rates and where betting would be allowed.

Penn National Gaming, owner of the Hollywood Casino, when asked for a comment, issued a statement to the Dispatch: “We’re glad to see the legislature beginning the process of developing sports-wagering legislation, and we look forward to sharing our views as the legislative process continues.”

Eldorado Scioto Downs declined to comment.

David G. Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, said two competing forces are at work within the state government: “It’s inefficiency and slowness versus the desire for money.”

Once a state law is passed, it will still take time to add regulations on top and then launch operations. This has already been demonstrated in several states. In Mississippi, although sports betting became legal the first part of July, casinos were not yet ready to take bets.

Predicting gaming revenues is tricky, and is of bad odor in Ohio, where predictions of how much revenue the four casinos would bring in after the law passed authorizing them were way off the mark. Revenues were about half of what was predicted.

Masurekar says sports betting revenues won’t be as big as most people suppose. “Sports betting is not a money generator, even in Vegas. It’s more of a traffic genera-tor,” he said.

On the other hand, it is likely to spark interest among the younger, more well off customers that casino owners are trying desperately to flag down on their way to other entertainment venues.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are moving forward on the “placeholder” bills. State Senator John Eklund, one of the bills’ sponsors, told News 5 Cleveland, “What we’re doing over in the Senate is we’re assembling a list of parties who might be interested in this particular type of legislation, anticipating that we will take a series of meetings with them to sort of get the lay of the land and to sort of see where people’s temperature is.”

The senator added, “Starting with that process do the necessary investigation we have to do to come up with a concrete proposal that we would then present to the general assembly in some sort of an amended bill or a substitute bill.”

Rep. David Greenspan says they want to get the bill right the first time. “We’re looking at this with a holistic approach,” he said. “We have no pre-conceived timeline as to when we want to introduce some-thing as the bill comes together. We’re going to work together with the Senate and the house to come up with a comprehensive bill.”

He predicted the two chambers would work collaboratively to benefit the state and help the economy. That means striking a balance between a tax structure that generates revenue but doesn’t stifle the industry.

Eklund concluded, “We’re at the very early stages but heaven knows there’s plenty of interest been ex-pressed about this and we intend to be very deliberative and thoughtful in how we go about investigating this.”

Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment’s Parx Casino in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, has contracted with GAN, a major British-based supplier of enterprise-level B2B internet gaming software, services and online gaming content, to operate sports betting in both the retail and online markets in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. GAN will receive a portion of the sports betting revenue generated both within the casino and online.

Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment Chief Technology Officer John Dixon said, “GAN has ably demonstrated it abilities with both its overall platform and its integration capability for existing major clients. By leveraging GAN’s platform, Parx Casino will have the opportunity to launch retail and online regulated sports betting together with online gaming in Pennsylvania later this year, subject to the regulatory approval of the PGCB.”

GAN has 14 U.S. and international casino operators as clients using simulated gaming platforms, including two clients of real money regulated gaming in New Jersey. GAN announced the FanDuel Group, current operators of the sports book at the Meadowlands in New Jersey, will use GAN’s mobile sport wagering platform for New Jersey sports betting.

Other prospective Pennsylvania sports book operators are concerned over the state’s the $10 million licensing fee and 36 percent tax rate. Analysts said sports betting statewide could generate $100 million in gross win in the first 12 months. Online sports betting could add an additional $189 million in the same period.

Parx Casino is the largest of Pennsylvania’s 12 casinos in terms of revenue. Parx already was partnering with GAN to provide its online casino platform in the state.

To date, nine casinos have applied for an online gaming license: Parx, Mount Airy, Sands Bethlehem, Hollywood Casino, Valley Forge, Harrah’s Philadelphia, Rivers Casino, Sugarhouse Casino and Stadium Casino. Of these nine, four partnerships have been confirmed, including Parx and GAN; Rivers and Rush Street Interactive; SugarHouse and Rush Street Interactive; and Valley Forge and GVC (pending finalization of sale to Boyd Gaming).

GAN Chief Commercial Officer Jeff Berman said, “Following the execution of this extension and amendment, GAN now offers clients a platform equipped with multiple options for integrated sports betting to be launched seamlessly alongside GAN’s market-leading internet casino product. We welcome the opportunity to deliver sports betting in the retail channel, as well as online, through GAN’s unique platform containing patented technology.”

Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment Chief Technical Officer John Dixon stated, “GAN has ably demonstrated its abilities with both its overall platform and its integration capability for existing major clients. By leveraging GAN’s platform, Parx Casino will have the opportunity to launch retail and online regulated sports betting together with online gaming in Pennsylvania later this year, subject to the regulatory approval of the PGCB.”

With GAN serving as the sole provider for both online casino and sports betting, players will be able to use a single Parx account for wagering. As a result, they’ll be able to play online casino games and place sports bets, both online and in-person, from funds housed in a unified online wallet.