NEWS Still loving those VLTs
Rollouts continue as the Italian VLT market enters its second year. And the next hotspot? Greece
If 2010 was the year of the Italian video lottery terminal (VLT) revolution, perhaps 2011 will be the year
of....the Italian VLT revolution, continued. True, many operators and their suppliers are now looking to Greece as the next big market for VLTs (see box). But the pace of activity in Italy continues to be frenetic.
Among the latest developments: Adria Gaming, the Italian arm of Austria's Novomatic, now has long-term contracts to supply eight out of the ten Italian operators, or 22,000 units altogether. It will be hoping that this positions it not only to make a healthy profit out of Italy, but to be the obvious first-call supplier for the Greek operators when they come on stream. Azzurro Gaming, a joint venture of Casinos Austria
International (with 75 percent ownership) and Cogetech, has opened the first of its Vincendo-branded "mini casinos" in Milan. With just 1000 square metres of gaming floor, it was finished in less than 90 days at a cost of around €1m, and offers 100 VLT slots. Azzurro's plans, though, are much more ambitious: it intends, over the next two years, to roll out 1800 VLTs in a series of venues between Rome and Italy's northern borders, each with 50 to 150 units. With low staffing
levels (the Milan site has 15), bars and lounges, it's likely they'll offer a casino-lite experience while, of course, not requiring a casino licence. And there's more. Lottomatica has signed a deal to
provide more VLTs to the BetterSlot circuit, and Inspired Gaming Group, while not quite having Novomatic's market penetration, now has contracts with four of the ten VLT operators under its local joint venture with Merkur. Latest to sign up is HBG.
Greece tries again
Greece's government is making a second attempt to legislate the introduction of VLTs, doubtless spurred by the daily fine of €33,000 that the EU is imposing on it until the market is regulated. The draft proposals call for a minimum stake of €0.10 and a maximum of €5, with a payout to players of 80 percent.
Between four and ten licences will be granted for a total of 25,000 machines, while it is understood that a further 5000 machines may be authorised for lower- stake machines. Licences will be valid for ten years. However, the new rules must be approved by the EU
before they can go into force, and Athens also has to deal with the befuddlement it has created by tabling VLT legislation at the same time as proposed laws covering Internet sports betting. Many in Greece are, it's said, confusing the two.
New Jersey’s salvation?
E-gaming advocates argue that Net gaming won’t just hike tax revenue: it could revive the local economy
Could New Jersey become the Malta or Gibraltar of the US? That’s the intriguing possibility proposed by an e- gaming industry body which argues that the state’s move to legalise online gaming, for its residents only, could be the catalyst for the creation of a new, much-needed high- tech economy.
New Jersey has long ailed from the decay of its traditional industries, and its government faces a deficit estimated at $8-11bn.
But while much attention has been paid to the impact gaming tax revenues will have on cutting that deficit, a report prepared for the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (Imega) by public policy and economics consulting group Econsult sees an even deeper positive impact on the state. For a start, it says, the legalisation of e-gaming will in the long term create 57,000 jobs, earning local people a total of $2bn annually, although only about 2,000 will
6 MARCH 2011
come about immediately. Other knock-on benefits from becoming the first US state to legalise Internet gambling for its residents will include increased demand for commercial real estate.
“The economic benefit has the potential to extend far beyond the available gaming tax yield,” said Joe Brennan, Imega’s Chairman. “What has made this compelling for New Jersey is the opportunity for job creation in a high-tech sector, as well as the ability to attract significant investment dollars to the state. New Jersey wants to be the capital of i-gaming, and with all of the infrastructure, workforce, regulatory and location advantages, it very well could be.”
The EConsult report suggests: “Successful enactment of the proposed legislation could generate economic and fiscal benefits that far exceed those associated with an intra-state system. “In particular, passage of this legislation could allow New Jersey to become the business hub of a burgeoning new industry, exporting services to and generating income from gamers throughout the country.” Our US correspondent Sharon Harris looks in more depth at the context of the New Jersey decision in her column this issue.
INBRIEF
UNHAPPY VALLEY Authorities in Nepal are considering relocating the country’s casinos out of the Kathmandu Valley. Currently there are eight casinos in hotels in Kathmandu, the capital, as well as two in Pokhara, but they have recently been subject to police raids – Nepali citizens are prohibited from gambling in them – and have come under fire for not paying monies due to the government.
TOGETHER AT LAST The merger of brewer SAB Miller’s South African gaming operation Tsogo Sun with the gaming firm Gold Reef Resorts has been completed. The merged Tsogo Sun now has 14 casinos in six provinces.
NO TO NATIVES New York state’s Interior Department has rejected plans by the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohicans to develop an Indian casino in the Catskills, although they had been approved by former Governor David A. Paterson.
EXPO-NENTIAL Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas last year saw attendance rise to just under 25,000, according to organisers. This year, the event moves from the Las Vegas Convention Center to the Sands Expo and Convention Center; 248 exhibitors have already signed up.
NEW IN NOLA Penn National Gaming has begun work on a $145 casino development in New Orleans.
VEGAS, EUROPE Las Vegas Sands is considering spending $20bn in Spain on creating what Chairman Sheldon Adelson calls a “mini Las Vegas Strip”, located in either Madrid or Barcelona. The proposed project could have as many as 20,000 hotel rooms.
THE GUYS HAVE IT Nine percent of British men and two percent of women play in land-based casinos, according to the third Gambling Prevalence Survey conducted by the country's Gambling Commission. Altogether, however, 73 percent of the over-16 population gambles in some way – mostly on the National Lottery. The survey looks comprehensively at all kinds of gaming in Britain.
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