News

Brendan Bussmann quoted in the Las Vegas Review Journal

Should Allegiant Stadium become site of a legal sportsbook?

by Richard N. Velotta

Boston-based DraftKings Inc. hopes to develop a sportsbook at or near some of Major League Baseball’s most hallowed ground – Chicago’s Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs.

It’s not quite a done deal, as Chicago City Hall has to weigh in.

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Brendan Bussmann quoted in the Helena Independent Record

Above the Fold: Does gambling pay? The launch of sports betting in Montana

by Eric Seidle

In this episode, we focus on the initial launch of sports betting in Montana, take a look at how our sports betting law shapes up nationally and discuss some of the user critiques of Sports Bet Montana.

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Brendan Bussmann quoted in PlayUSA.com

A Notable Las Vegas Presence is Significant for DraftKings and FanDuel Sportsbooks

By Brant James

Johnny Avello left without ever having to leave.  Former bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas for 13 years, the affable New Yorker become the head of sportsbook at DraftKings in 2018 when legal sports betting became a possibility outside of Nevada with the repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act.

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Brendan Bussmann quoted in the Las Vegas Review Journal

Thousands of MGM Resorts workers to be laid off Monday

by Bailey Schulz

Thousands of MGM Resorts International employees across the country have received notice that they will be laid off Monday.

The layoffs, which were first made public through a legal notice published in May, affect roughly 18,000 furloughed MGM employees – about a quarter of the company’s pre-pandemic workforce.

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Brendan Bussmann quoted in the Las Vegas Review Journal

Golden Nugget, others with Las Vegas ties damaged by Hurricane Laura

by Nicole Raz

Several casinos in Louisiana with Las Vegas ties have been dealt another blow – this time from Hurricane Laura.

Casinos in the area – and all over the country – were already reeling from the economic toll of the pandemic, which caused hotel-casinos to shutter their doors for months and to reopen with dampened visitation.

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Brendan Bussmann quoted on SportsHandle.com

DraftKings CEO Rips Rush Street Over Illinois Sports Betting: ‘Corrupt Idiots’

by Jill R. Dorson

DraftKings CEO and co-founder Jason Robins on Monday morning fired off some harsh words showing that the is unappreciative – to put it mildly- of competitor Rush Street Gaming’s jockeying in the Illinois sports betting field.  This comes on the heels of Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday rolling back the requirement that patrons must register for sports betting accounts in person, which Rush Street, operator of the Rivers Casino BetRivers online sportsbook, had favored.

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Brendan Bussmann quoted in the Las Vegas Review Journal

Wynn employees to receive stock in move to keep workers

by Bailey Schulz

Wynn Resorts Ltd. is offering key employees shares of the company in order to retain them during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company on Tuesday offered a combined 176,247 shares to roughly 240 of its “top leaders” in Las Vegas and Boston, including executive officers, according to a Thursday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Workers will be able to cash out one year after receiving the stock grant.

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Brendan Bussmann quoted in the Las Vegas Review Journal

Hotel owners facing ‘unprecedented wave’ of foreclosures, group says

by Mike Shoro

Hotel owners are facing an “unprecedented wave” of foreclosures, without federal help with commercial debt relief, according to a Tuesday letter from the industry to Congress.

Nearly 1 in 4 hotels were at least a month late on their mortgage loan payments as of July, the highest figure on record, according to a recent report released by analysis firm Trepp.  Just 1.34 percent of hotels were in the same boat at the end of 2019, the report said.  Industry watchers said that figure is alarming, if expected.

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Brendan Bussmann quoted in Gaming Today

Millennials a boon

by Buck Wargo

Casinos have seen a bright spot during their reopening that the gaming industry hopes will continue once the coronavirus pandemic ends – a greater showing of millennials at their properties.

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Brendan Bussmann quoted in the Las Vegas Review Journal

Las Vegas preparing for Labor Day boost

by Bailey Schulz

Foot traffic is expected to spike in Las Vegas this Labor Day weekend, a much-needed boost for a tourism-driven  city that has seen visitation rates plummet because of COVID-19.

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