NORTH AMERICA
NJ Sportsbooks Break US Records - Again
New Jersey is the first state in US history to post a legal sports betting handle of more than $900m from the Garden State's online and retail sportsbooks
US - Tribes drop plans for East Windsor casino Connecticut's two Native American tribes, the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes, have confirmed they are dropping plans to build the jointly- owned Tribal Winds casino in East Windsor, as they look to focus on their existing casinos in face of the coronavirus pandemic and in the hope of seeing sports betting introduced across the state.
In a joint statement, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and Mohegan Tribe said they need to focus 'for the foreseeable future' on Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun, which have seen 'unprecedented challenges' over the past seven months.
They stated: “Every day brings new challenges and we’re doing our best to navigate these waters because we know how important our businesses are to the surrounding communities, our employees and the state as a whole. The best thing we can do right now for each of those stakeholders is to focus foremost on the success of Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods. We’ve been through so many ups and downs when it comes to the Tribal Winds project. There have been many moments where it was clear the easiest path would be to just walk away. And while there’s no way we could have accounted for this latest delay, we still believe Tribal Winds is a viable project that will come to fruition once markets improve and we’ve taken concrete steps toward restoring normal business operations."
Both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos have been operating at only 25 per cent capacity with Foxwoods furloughing 100 members of staff and reducing operating hours. Governor Ned Lamont wanted the tribes to shelve plans for the East Windsor project to avoid litigation from MGM Resorts International, which would only have delayed the introduction of sports betting. He said: "It was a source of aggravation to some of the outside casino places that had objections there. We’re trying to reach an accommodation where we can get sports betting and even iGaming going in the state — doing it in a way that doesn’t prompt a litigation war of sorts, and we’re trying to work that through. It’s going to take a little bit longer."
Rodney Butler, Chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot tribe, added: “The easy solution, in the interim, if we can’t figure out all the bigger gaming issues, would just be to have sports betting at Mohegan and Foxwoods, and then we can save the more difficult conversations for down the line,” he said.
Rep. Sean Scanlon believes sports betting will be approved in 2021 due to 'overwhelming bipartisan support to get this done.' “The tribes understand that because the economy has changed,” he said. “More and more people in the legislature, and certainly in the executive branch, are aware of the fact that our neighbours are doing it. I think that the stars are aligning.”
P18 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA
New Jersey became the first US state in history to post a legal sports betting handle of more than $900m, as the Garden State's online and retail sportsbooks put the first $1bn month clearly in their sights in November.
"Even if New Jersey can't quite reach $1bn in a month before the end of the NFL season, the mere possibility so soon after the industry launched in 2018 would have been close to inconceivable until just a few months ago," said Dustin Gouker, lead analyst for
PlayNJ.com. "Te restart of the US sports world after the shutdowns of spring and early summer has fuelled online sports betting in ways that would have been hard to predict before this year."
New Jersey's sportsbooks generated $931m in wagers in November, according to official data released Monday, breaking the previous record of $803.1m set in October and marking the fourth consecutive month the state has set an all-jurisdiction record for handle. November's bets produced $6.2m in state taxes on $50.6m in revenue.
November's handle rose 65.6 per cent from $562.7m in November 2019, which was then a state record. And revenue was up 53.7 per cent over $32.9m in November 2019.
Football attracted $433.3m in bets, up from $278.9m in October. Sports categorised as
US
Boyd Gaming is selling its Eldorado Casino in Southern Nevada to DeSimone Gaming. Te casino in downtown Henderson casino is one of three Boyd venues that have remained shut since the closures began in March. Te others are Eastside Cannery and Main Street Station. Boyd now owns 11 casinos in Nevada. Boyd's revenue for the first nine months of the year came in at $1.5bn, running at a decline of 40 per cent from 2019 levels. Boyd spokesman David Strow said: “Te Eldorado was a non-core asset to our company, and as we have continued to grow over the years, this property represented a very modest part of our overall business." DeSimone also owns the Railroad Pass Hotel, Casino and Travel Center, which is also in Henderson.
‘other’ than football, basketball, or baseball drew in $221.5m.
"When the traditional major betting sports went quiet, most of the major online sportsbooks were really good at engaging their customers with an array of offerings, from golf to table tennis," said Eric Ramsey, analyst for
PlayNJ.com. "What is surprising is that those efforts continue to pay dividends even as the major sports have returned."
Online betting generated 93.6 per cent, or $872.1m, of the state's total handle, which was up from 92.6 per cent in October. FanDuel Sportsbook/PointsBet topped online operators with $21.2m in gross revenue, down from $29.3m in October.
Retail sportsbooks generated $59.5m in bets, up from $59.2m in October. Meadowlands/FanDuel topped retail books with $3.6m in revenue.
"As good as the online market has been, Atlantic City has been hit hard this year by the pandemic," Mr. Gouker said. "Te state's growth overall over the last few months is almost entirely the product of online sportsbooks. Tat will continue for the foreseeable future."
New Jersey's online casinos and poker rooms fell short of its first $100m revenue month with $91.8m in November.
Pennsylvania Casino gaming operations suspended until 2021
Te Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has announced it will be working with the 12 operating casinos in the Commonwealth on closing procedures as part of a COVID-19 mitigation order announced by Governor Tom Wolf.
Under the order, casinos will cease all gaming activities and patron entry by 12:01 a.m. Saturday, December 12th. Te order impacts Harrah’s Philadelphia, Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, Lady Luck Nemacolin, Live! Casino Pittsburgh, Meadows Casino and Racetrack, Mohegan Sun Pocono, Mount Airy Casino Resort, Parx Casino, Presque Isle Racetrack and Casino, Rivers Pittsburgh, Valley Forge Casino and Resort, and Wind Creek Bethlehem
Rivers Casino Philadelphia had
already closed on November 20 in accordance with an order from the City of Philadelphia. Under the Governor’s order, casinos may reopen at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, January 4, 2021.
Gaming Control Board Executive Director, Kevin O’Toole says that public health and safety of patrons, casino employees and others are of paramount importance: “Te Board is continuously monitoring developments and will update licensees and the public as frequently as possible with any new developments.”
Te closures do not affect other forms of gaming regulated by the Gaming Control Board offered via the internet including casino-type games, sports wagering and fantasy contests.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94
