Operator News
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Te US Department of Justice (DOJ) has said there will be no threat of enforcement or criminalisation for state lotteries or their vendors for past or current operations under the Wire Act. However during a teleconference hearing before the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit the DOJ failed to guarantee that lottery providers or others would not be subject to future criminal prosecution.
Scientific Games has announced that it will expand its sports betting partnership with Betfred to roll out its digital and retail solutions in the state of Colorado. Te two companies have now extended their collaboration to include digital and retail sportsbook services at the Saratoga Casino Black Hawk in Colorado. Te news comes after Betfred selected Scientific Games to provide OpenSports in Pennsylvania in February.
Betfred has now launched OpenSports full retail solutions including Self-Service Betting Terminals (SSBT’s) at Saratoga Casino Black Hawk, with the company’s digital services expected to follow in time for the 2020-2021 NFL season. Scientific Games will supply Betfred's operations in Colorado with its OpenPlatform, its player account management platform.
Keith O'Loughlin, SVP Sportsbook, Digital for Scientific Games, said, “Betfred are a well- respected and successful UK operator and we are excited to partner with them as they build their expansion plans in the U.S. Hot on the heels of our Pennsylvania announcement with Betfred, this is another huge vote of confidence in our OpenSports platform. We are committed to set our customers up for long term success in regulated markets, and we’re excited to showcase our product and service capabilities in two U.S. states with Betfred.”
Betfred recently announced the signing of a multi- year sponsorship agreement to become an official partner of the Denver Broncos. Tis latest deal builds on Scientific Games’ strong foothold in the U.S. sports betting market, with its OpenSports solutions powering land-based and online operators.
Roar Digital is making headway in Oregon. Roar Digital, LLC – the joint venture between MGM Resorts International and GVC Holdings and the Confederate Tribes of Grand Ronde, have announced a long-term partnership. ROAR Digital will be the Tribes' exclusive sports betting partner pending regulatory approval.
Roar Digital will open a BetMGM Sportsbook at the largest casino in Oregon Spirit Mountain Casino this year. As well as retail sports betting Roar Digital will roll out an on-reservation mobile sports
betting app, as well as an eventual state-wide online sports betting offering, as it becomes available to the Tribe.
"We have found a great partner in the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde and Spirit Mountain Casino and look forward to working with the Tribe to bring a leading retail and online sports betting experience to Oregon," said Adam Greenblatt, CEO of Roar Digital.
Rivers Casino in Des Plaines has become the first gambling house in Illinois to offer legal sports betting online. Players are able to sign up for a
BetRivers.com account online or via mobile app under a temporary Executive Order made by Governor Pritzker.
“While entertainment options are limited as we seek to minimise the spread of the virus, we are focused on
BetRivers.com providing sportsbook players with a high-quality online product with exciting sports betting options,” Rush Street Interactive president Richard Schwartz said in a release. “We will have great customer service with fast payouts and an overall friendly approach that treats every player with honesty and care.”
BetRivers, which is owned by Rush Street Interactive, was the first retail sportsbook to open in the state, taking its first bet at the Rivers Des Plaines Casino on March 9.
Last year when Illinois passed its sports betting law, it called for in person registration for the first 18 months. However this was overruled by Governor Pritzker, so Illinois residents can register from their mobile devices in order to bet on sports.
Te order overrides the Illinois Sports Betting statute that requires account registration to occur in person and on site at the associated casino location. Executive Order 2020-41, meant that seven Illinois casinos were granted Master Sports Wagering licenses, the qualification required by the state’s gaming commission to operate as an online sports betting provider. Te executive order was part of the governor’s coronavirus disaster proclamation. Te administration is searching for ways to make up for losses after the pandemic left a $2.7bn shortfall in the state budget.
In a session lasting 45 minutes judges heard oral arguments from lawyers representing the New Hampshire Lottery Commission and NeoPollard on the one side and those acting on behalf of the DOJ on the other.
U.S. Circuit Judge William Kayatta, one of three judges presiding over the appeal argued that: “Any state could wake up tomorrow morning and discover that if it doesn’t substantially change its practices in 90 days, its officials could go to jail.”
But Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Eric Sandberg assured the court that: “Tere’s not only no credible threat of prosecution, there’s no threat at all,”
When pushed for clarification he stated only that state officials would not be subject to prosecution for anything they are doing now arguably leaving room for the DOJ to go after officials or more likely vendors later.
In June last year a New Hampshire federal judge ruled that the Wire Act should only be applied to sports betting, rejecting the 2018 DOJ opinion that claimed the 1961 federal gambling law should cover all interstate online gambling. Arguing that that it would not prosecute state officials without giving them 90 days’ warning, the government moved to dismiss the New Hampshire Lottery Commission’s suit with the US First Circuit Court of Appeals.
Te government again insisted before the first Circuit Court that its intent was not to prosecute anyone and the case was therefore moot, according to Court House News.
Te DOJ opinion dated November 2, 2018 reversed the 2011 opinion, declaring that the Wire Act’s prohibitions are “not uniformly limited to gambling on sporting events or contests” in effect claiming that the 1961 Wire Act bans not only interstate transmission of sports betting but also casino, lottery and all other forms of online gambling as well. Te impetus for the decision came from Te Criminal Division within the DOJ which asked the Office of Legal Counsel’s (OLC) to reconsider the 2011 opinion’s conclusion that the Wire Act is limited to sports gambling.
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA P29
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