News

Brendan Bussmann interviewed on bookies.com

Q & A with GMA partner Brendan Bussmann on Arizona sports betting

by Christopher Boan

It has been more than a month since Arizona sports betting kicked off, and the state has not looked back.

The Grand Canyon State has already punched above its weight class, with geotracking company GeoComply listing Arizona fourth out of 18 states and the District of Columbia in NFL gambling transactions during September with 36.9 million.

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GMA quoted in the Las Vegas Review Journal

Las Vegas Sands Corp. confident it will keep Macao gaming license

by Richard N. Velotta

Las Vegas Sands Corp. CEO Rob Goldstein said Wednesday that the company expects to continue operating in Macao after the government there reconsiders gaming licenses next year.

“I think the government has recognized that we’ve been awfully good licensees, partners and friends with China and Macao.  So I really don’t think (losing licenses) is a possibility,” Goldstein said during an earnings conference call.

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GMA quoted in the Las Vegas Review Journal

Rising room rates, sold-out hotels signal comeback of big events like EDC

by Colton Lochhead

In a city built on tourism, traveler demand is finally meeting the supply in Las Vegas.

With the likes of the electric Daisy Carnival, a Raiders home game and  slew of other major events throughout the valley, rooms at Las Vegas resorts are hard to come by.  And for those handful of rooms that are still up for grabs, you’ll need to pay a hefty sum to snag one.

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GMA quoted in GGB News

‘Zero-Tolerance’ Ambushes Macau’s Golden Week

By Marjorie Preston

It was a one-two punch followed by a haymaker.  In Macau, a handful of new Covid-19 infections at the end of September effectively ended hopes for a tourism revival during Golden Week.

The annual celebration (October 1-7), kicking it off with Chinese National Day, commemorates the 1949 founding of the People’s Republic of China.  In a normal year, Golden Week is prime time for tourism in Macau.  And this year, following 18 months of unprecedented challenges due to Covid-19 – as well as increasing crackdowns by Beijing – the city needed one in the win column.

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GMA quoted in the Las Vegas Review Journal

Technology innovations shine amid G2E’s slot machines, table games

by Richard N. Velotta

Big, loud, dazzling slot machines were the stars of the Global Gaming Expo show last week.

New variations on table games held their own.

But it was the supporting cast of products and their technology that wowed many of the thousands of attendees who wandered the trade show, the casino industry’s largest product supermarket, which ended it’s run Thursday at The Venetian Expo.

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GMA quoted in the Las Vegas Review Journal

Consolidation in sports betting operations unlikely to slow down

by Colton Lochhead

The sports betting world is in the midst of another flurry of billion dollar-plus consolidation moves that are shaking up the industry, a trend that isn’t expected to slow down anytime soon.

“(Merger and acquisition) activity is going to continue to be robust, not only in the short term, but in the long term as well,” said Brendan Bussmann, director of government affairs for Las Vegas-based Global Market Advisors.

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GMA quoted in the Las Vegas Review Journal

New table games shown at G2E offer new experiences for players

by Mike Shoro

Table games have been slow to catch up to the technological revolution happening on the slot machine side of gaming, but that’s changing.

On Tuesday, table game manufacturers at the annual Global Gaming Expo, or G2E, showed off some of their latest products striving to narrow that gap while fostering a lively, social gaming experience.

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GMA quoted in CDC Gaming Reports

Rising room rates, return of conventions, and strong entertainment schedule point to strong fall in Las Vegas

by Buck Wargo

Some 300,000 fewer visitors came to Las Vegas in August than in July and analysts pointed to a spike in COVID-19 cases for the decline. Still, Las Vegas is poised to have a strong fall with the return of convention season this week at the Global Gaming Expo and the return of foreign travel in November.

Despite a dip to 2.99 million visitors in August from 3.3 million in July, Las Vegas showed its resiliency by exceeding gaming revenues in August 2019 when there were 3.57 million visitors. August marked the sixth consecutive month that Nevada exceeded $1 billion in gaming revenue; the Strip’s revenues were 20% higher than August 2019 even though revenue fell 21% from July.

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GMA quoted in the Las Vegas Review Journal

Global Gaming Expo to showcase latest slots, table games

by Richard N. Velotta

If there ever was a slot machine supermarket, it would be G2E.

Beginning this week, gaming industry professionals will gather at The Venetian Expo to see, hear and touch what gaming manufacturers say will be the next generation of casino gadgetry design to keep players more engaged – and spend more of their entertainment dollar.

Leaders of the American Gaming Association, operators of G2E – the Global Gaming Expo – say quality, not quantity, will be the emphasis of this year’s show.

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GMA quoted in the Las Vegas Review Journal

Acquisition of The Cosmopolitan was shrewd move by MGM Resorts

by Richard N. Velotta

Shrewd move, MGM.

Last week, the largest employer on the Strip made the surprise announcement that it’s acquiring the operations of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas for $1.625 billion.

It’s part of a larger $5.65 billion real estate deal for Blackstone with a method in vogue in the gaming industry these days: A group of investors is buying the real estate beneath The Cosmopolitan, and MGM is getting the operations piece.

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