News

GMA quoted in the Las Vegas Review Journal

New California sports-betting plans could add to ballot confusion

by Richard N. Velotta

Two more initiatives have been proposed for the possible legalization of California sports wagering, assuring Golden State voters will have plenty of research to do if each of the measures qualifies for the November 2022 ballot.

If Californians approve sports betting, it’ll be, by far, the largest market in the country, although analysts, including Chris Grove of Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, are convinced it won’t cut into Nevada sportsbook revenue.

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GMA quoted in The Nevada Independent

Original Fontainebleau developer gets chance to finish resort a decade later

by Howard Stutz

Jeffrey Soffer has visited Las Vegas often in the 12 years since halting the Fontainebleau project when it was 75 percent completed and four months from its scheduled opening.

The chairman and CEO of Florida-based Fontainebleau Development, who walked away from the planned $2 billion development when his financing disappeared, was perplexed. He couldn’t understand why another builder didn’t finish the planned nearly 3,800-room hotel-casino project at the north end of the Strip.

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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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