Welcome to our latest Letter From America, featuring a week of high drama in the US gaming world, with fresh lawsuits, high-profile resignations, and significant regulatory shake-ups making headlines.
So buckle up as we dive into the latest developments and take a tour of the States, starting with a new legal challenge to the Seminole Tribe’s Gaming Compact in Florida.
Florida Gaming Compact — Déjà Vu?
The Seminole Tribe’s exclusive rights to gaming in Florida are under fire once more. This time via a lawsuit from a group calling itself “Protect the Constitution LLC”.
The suit argues that the Tribe’s sports betting platform, Hard Rock Bet, breaches the Florida Constitution by skipping voter approval—a requirement according to a 2018 amendment.
No individuals or companies have been named in the lawsuit. But “Protect the Constitution LLC” is registered in Delaware and has said its members “offers (sic) products in the state of Florida and [have] suffered harm, including reduced revenue, as a result of the legislation purporting to authorise ‘casino gambling’ throughout the state.”
The Seminoles’ 2021 Compact has already survived some heavyweight legal challenges, so whether this new challenge has legs is yet to be seen.
Watch this space.
Texas Lottery Boss Bails
Amid growing scrutiny over two jackpot wins, totalling more than US$200 million (£160m), the executive director of the Texas Lottery Commission, Ryan Mindell, has resigned just a year into the role.
If Mindell’s resignation feels familiar, that’s because it mirrors the exit of his predecessor, Gary Grief, who also stepped down amid mounting pressure over similar pressures and allegations.
While Mindell has stayed quiet on the matter, his resignation coincides with ongoing investigations initiated by Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) and State Attorney General Ken Paxton (R).
They’re digging into the state lottery’s integrity, particularly the use of third-party couriers to sell tickets, which could spell significant changes for the whole commission – or, as some are calling for, its disbandment altogether.
Nevada’s Got A New Gaming Chief
And it’s not just Texas looking for new leadership. Over in Nevada, industry veteran Mike Dreitzer has been named the new Chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB), taking over the reins from Kirk Hendrick on June 23.
What’s different here is the absence of a scandal. More prosaically, Hendrick, appointed in 2023, is only retiring early from the position.
Dreitzer, who was appointed by Nevada’s Republican Governor Joe Lombardo on April 21, brings considerable experience to his new role, having served as CEO of Gaming Arts and been a former President for North America at Ainsworth Game Technology.
He’s even served a stint as Nevada’s Deputy Attorney General, where he advised both the NGCB and the Gaming Commission; so he’s eminently qualified to guide gambling in the spiritual home of the industry.
This wealth of experience will be crucial as Dreitzer continues Hendrick’s short but impactful legacy, which includes modernising the NGCB and tackling major money laundering and illegal bookmaking cases that led to multi-million-dollar sanctions for Resorts World Las Vegas and MGM.
MGM Nixed
And speaking of MGM’s Nevada sanctions, on April 24, the NGCB confirmed the company’s US$8.5 million (£6.8m) settlement related to money laundering that occurred during the tenure of ex-MGM Grand President Scott Sibella: Specifically, allowing illegal bookmakers–among them Wayne Nix and Mathew Bowyer–to gamble unchecked at MGM Grand and MGM Cosmopolitan.
According to the NGCB complaint, MGM failed its anti-money laundering duties and turned a blind eye to Nix and Bowyer’s spending, which amounted to millions of dollars.
New York’s Quit Sands
In big news for the Big Apple’s casino resorts venture, heavy-hitter Las Vegas Sands has decided to quit the race – for now. They’ve stepped back from their ambitious US$6 billion (£4.8bn) casino plan for Long Island’s Nassau Coliseum.
The reason? The company is worried “about the impact of the potential legalisation of iGaming on the overall market opportunity and project returns”.
Patrick Dumont, the group’s President and Chief Operating Officer, made the announcement this week, adding that the company remained “very interested in continuing the development of the site”. But now would investigate options to do so through a third party.
Pennsylvania Joins The iPoker Party
Last but not least. On April 23, Pennsylvania became the sixth state to sign the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA), enabling Pennsylvanians to compete against players in Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, Michigan and West Virginia in games of virtual poker.
According to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, the move: “Creates more choice and freedom for an estimated 150,000 online poker players in Pennsylvania and expands the pool of [cross-border] online poker players by more than 50 percent.”.
Multi-state poker games go live today! At BetMGM and Borgata.
