With the added boost of Washington D.C. lawmakers stepping up to the Responsible and Regulated gambling plate, there’s much to cheer stateside this week in our latest Casino Cabbie Letter From America.
Gaming industry stakeholders nationwide have made significant positive steps towards promoting Responsible Gambling Education Month (RGEM) 2024. The SAFE Bet Act nears fruition. Illinois regulators have tightened gambling ad rules. And the ANR have stoked the Great Indoor Casino Smoking debate.
Read on.
Bad Bovada
Controversial offshore hustlers Bovada are in everybody’s bad books in these regulation framed times and now three more states–Pennsylvania, Kansas and Louisiana–have added the site to their exclusion lists – and banned Bovada from targeting players in their jurisdictions.
It’s been a turbulent year for Bovada, which has received more cease-and-desist orders than any other offshore operator in the U.S.
But while this shows increasingly serious intentions to tackle offshore gambling from regulators, it’s likely to have little impact on the US$63.8 billion (£47.7bn) that’s estimated to be splurged on illegal bookies by U.S. gamblers every year.
Welcome To The Garden
Garden state New Jersey–the first legal iGaming market in the USA–is celebrating a record month for Internet gambling in August, just gone.
Total revenue for the month was US$555.1 million (£420m), up 4.4 percent year-on-year.
The undoubted star of the show was iCasino, accounting for an impressive US$198.4 million (£148.3m) — up 27.8 percent, compared to the same month last year.
But in a negative, sports betting, surprisingly; given the plethora of sporting action; was down a humbling 34.7 percent, generating only US$62.7 million (£46.9m) in August.
Overall, land-based casino remained the primary source of revenue, delivering US$294 million (£222m) — a rise of near five percent, year-on-year.
Illinois Tightens Ad Rules
The Illinois Gaming Board has voted to enact stricter advertising rules for state sports betting and casino operators.
Among the new regulations–primarily designed to protect under 21-year-olds–there’s a ban on using misleading slogans, such as: “free”, “free of risk”, “cost-free” or “free of risk”.
Advertising is not allowed at venues, universities, colleges or student environments where the majority of attendees are under 21, and betting logos have been banned from Responsible Gambling assistance sites.
Illinois joins a cluster of other U.S. states that are taking pro-active measures to protect consumers and the sports industry, in response to growing numbers of problem gamblers, and betting scandals effecting too many sports teams.
No Smoke and Ire
Anti-smoking activists Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) have upped their nationwide campaign against allowing smoking on the casino floor.
They’ve written open letters to regulators and lawmakers in Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia calling for an outright smoking ban.
The campaigning correspondence has highlighted the primary and secondary risks posed by indoor smoking.
“Allowing smoking on gaming floors not only poses significant health risks to workers and patrons alike, but it also encourages prolonged gambling sessions without breaks — breaching a fundamental tenet of Responsible Play,” affirm ANR.
The letters also made solid arguments for a link between problem gambling and smoking. The ANR claim casinos are aware of the issue, but choose to ignore it.
Okie Dokie
Oklahoma Republican Senator Bill Coleman has announced that he will file a sports betting bill during the state’s 2025 legislative session, which opens in January.
Coleman, who proposed a similar bill in the previous legislative session, is optimistic about the tax impact.
“The figures I keep hearing is around US$150 million [£112m] in state revenue that would come out with sports betting in Oklahoma,” he claims.
But many experts, comparing other states with a similar size population to Oklahoma (4m) say the senator’s estimates are a tad optimistic.
Previous attempts at expanding gambling in Oklahoma have been nixed by his boss, Republican Governor Kevin Stitt, who remains locked in a dispute with the state’s influential Indian Tribal gaming lobby.
Wynn Lose. Again
It’s been a lousy week for Wynn Resorts with the embattled U.S. casino making the headlines again for all the wrong reasons.
Wynn’s latest setback focused on the company paying out some US$70 million (£52.3m) to settle a class action lawsuit brought by its own executives over allegations of sexual misconduct by their ex-CEO, the eponymous Steve Wynn.
This came on top of the $130 million (£97.2m) paid in a non-prosecution agreement to the Department of Justice earlier this month, which closed-off yet another scandal precipitated by the chequered sexual legacy of the said Mr Wynn.
And if this wasn’t unwelcome enough, Manhattan residents and grassroots organisations have now joined with prominent New York City lawmakers Tony Simone and Deborah Glick to oppose Wynn’s proposed Hudson Park casino and residential complex.
Down Home Alabama
Finally, in our last nugget of tasty news, Republican Alabama State Representative Matthew Hammett has proposed increasing the state’s punitive measures for illegal gambling operators.
Running an illicit betting operation is currently a Class A misdemeanour in the “Mudbug” state, drawing a maximum punitive sanction of only US$6,000 (£4,494).
Under Hammett’s new proposals, it would become a Class C felony, with offenders facing fines of up to US$10,000 (£7,491).
And if offenders then commit a second crime of the same type, they could face up to 20-years in jail and a sanction of US$20,000 (£14,982).
