News

GMA quoted in the Las Vegas Review Journal

CEO Matt Maddox leaving Wynn Resorts

by Richard N. Velotta

Matt Maddox, Wynn Resorts Ltd.’s chief executive officer since Steve Wynn resigned in 2018, stunned the gaming industry Tuesday by announcing he’s leaving the company as of Jan. 31.

Craig Billings, who is CEO of Wynn Interactive and who has served as President and chief financial officer of Wynn Resorts, was named the new CEO effective Feb. 1.

The company’s board of directors unanimously requested Maddox remain on the Wynn Macau and Wynn Interactive boards through 2022. That will enable him to consult for the company during the critical concession renewal process in Macao next year.

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GMA quoted in Global Gaming Business News

D.C. Sports Betting Struggles to Find Its Footing

by Bill Sokolic

There are no casinos in Washington, D.C. There are no casinos on the horizon in Washington, D.C. The nations’ capital is bordered on one side by Virginia and on the other by Maryland, state with both sports betting and casinos, already active or in the works.

Washington does offer sports betting, however, so locals, visitors and workers can wager on their favorite teams in D.C. instead of heading north on I-95 or across the Potomac.

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GMA quoted in The Nevada Independent

A buyer’s market: Vegas Strip casinos a hot commodity

by Howard Stutz

High-profile Las Vegas Strip resorts aren’t put up for sale everyday.

Last week, however, Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International, the Strip’s two largest operators with a combined 17 properties, each said they wanted to part ways with a hotel-casino.

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GMA quoted in the Las Vegas Review Journal

Cosmo purchase, Mirage sale highlight gaming moves

by Richard N. Velotta

MGM Resorts International has announced two blockbuster moves in just over a month.

Can the company’s plans to acquire the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas for $1.625 billion and sell The Mirage be characterized as a simple trade-off, shedding the older Strip property in its portfolio and replacing it with a resort that is only a decade old?

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GMA quoted on SportsHandle.com

Do Parimutuels Have A Chance At Stopping Florida Sports Betting? Experts Don’t Think So.

by Jill R. Dorson

Nearly from the start, Florida’s sports betting legalization and launch have been mired in challenges – opponents brought three lawsuits and one ballot initiative proposal within four months of the state legislature approving sports betting by the Seminole Tribe. No state that has legalized sports betting since the May 2018 fall of the Professional Amateur Sports Protection Act has come under such fire.

To date, one of those lawsuits, brought by West Flagler Associates (Magic City Casino) and Bonita-Fort Meyers Corp. (Bonita Springs Poker Room) and filed in a U.S. District Court in Northern Florida, has been dismissed. and most stakeholders say a suit brought by a pair of Florida businessmen in the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia – considered the second most powerful in the nation for its physical location and proximity to the Supreme Court – doesn’t have legs.

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GMA quoted in Northern Nevada Business Weekly

Downtown Reno rebirth focuses on non-gaming opportunities to boost economy

by Howard Stutz

The outline of the Harrah’s name was barely visible atop one of the Nevada gaming industry’s historic landmarks on an early October morning, the actual signage long since removed.

A few days later, all traces of the Northern Nevada gaming mainstay were gone, the sign’s outline whitewashed by a fresh coat of paint.

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GMA quoted on SportsHandle.com

Sources: ‘Super Bid’ And One Other Will Win Coveted NY Mobile Sports Betting Approvals

by Matt Rybaltowski

The New York Gaming Commission in close to awarding mobile sports wagering bids to two consortiums made up of the most prominent names across the U.S. sports betting industry, multiple sources told Sports Handle Tuesday night.

The winning candidates appear to be headlined by a so-called “super bid” from a group that includes industry heavyweights FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM, as well as Bally Bet.

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GMA quoted in the Nevada Independent

Downtown Reno rebirth focuses on non-gaming opportunities to boost a changing economy

by Howard Stutz

The outline of the Harrah’s name was barely visible atop one of the Nevada gaming industry’s historic landmarks on an early October morning, the actual signage long since removed.

A few days later, all traces of the Northern Nevada gaming mainstay were gone, the sign’s outline whitewashed by a fresh coat of paint.

It was a beginning in an end. The closure of Harrah’s after nearly 84 years in the Northern Nevada city also signifies the rebirth of downtown Reno as the city seeks to broaden its economy.

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GMA quoted in the Las Vegas Review Journal

Planned Chicago resort won’t be developed by a Las Vegas Company

by Richard N. Velotta

The developer of Chicago’s first integrated resort won’t have a Las Vegas address.

Responses to a request for proposals were announced late Friday by the city, the country’s third-largest metropolitan area with 9.5 million residents.

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GMA quoted on nwi.com

Illinois Gaming Board weighing dollars vs. diversity in south suburban casino decision

by Dan Carden

The Illinois Gaming Board is facing a choice between greater state and local tax revenue or more economic opportunity for minority groups as it weighs where to locate the long-sought south suburban Cook County casino license.

On Thursday, representatives from the two finalist casino companies and their host communities – Homewood- East Hazel Crest and Matteson – made their final pitches to state gaming regulators ahead of a preliminary license decision expected early next year.

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