News

Josh Swissman quoted on cdcgaming.com

Nevada regulators to hear from Virgin’s Betfred Sportsbook

Betfred Sportsbook will appear in front of Nevada regulators in a special meeting Wednesday, setting the stage for Virgin Hotels Las Vegas to open sports betting prior to the Super Bowl.

Virgin, the former Hard Rock, reopened in March 2021, but without the Betfred sportsbook that was announced in July 2020.

The special Gaming Control Board meeting comes one day before the Nevada Gaming Commission holds its monthly meeting. That agenda hasn’t been released yet.

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Josh Swissman quoted on americanbanker.com

What China’s post-COVID travel reopening means for payments providers

While cross-border travel revenue for card networks and processors has rebounded in many global regions — surpassing pre-pandemic levels — Asia’s recovery has lagged behind primarily due to lingering lockdowns. That’s poised to change as China this week reopened its borders for travel.

There are already indications of strong pent-up travel demand that could be a boon for Mastercard and Visa, which have each seen significantly lower revenue from cross-border travel spending in Asia since the pandemic began.

Read the full article here.

Josh Swissman quoted on cdcgaming.com

Analysts confident in strong 2023 for Las Vegas

It took Nevada and the Strip only 11 months in 2022 to break their 2021 records for all-time gaming win, and industry experts remain confident in a strong 2023, despite ongoing concerns of a recession and lingering inflation in the economy.

Setting another gaming revenue record in 2023, however, will be difficult, even in a year that will benefit from a boost in conventions and international travel, along with the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November.

Through November based on numbers released Thursday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the state’s casinos have won $13.5 billion in 2022, already surpassing the $13.4 billion for all of 2021. It’s the same story on the Strip, with gaming revenue of $7.5 billion through November, 16.3% higher so far and already surpassing the $7.1 billion for all of last year.

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Josh Swissman quoted on cdcgaming.com

2022 in Gaming: Industry executives, workers, observers select the most important stories

From the continued growth of sports betting and its less mentioned online partner, igaming, to deals, mergers and acquisitions, it was a busy year in the gaming industry.

We also were busy at CDC Gaming Reports, keeping abreast of the latest developments, attending industry conferences, talking to thought leaders and tracking trends, in efforts to bring you the best gaming coverage anywhere.

As part of our year-end coverage, we asked industry personnel to select their most important stories of 2022.

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Josh Swissman quoted on ReviewJournal.com

Convention, meeting industry sees recovery return in 2023

As business travelers flood Las Vegas this week to attend CES to test out the latest gadgets and technology, members of the meeting and convention industry will also be taking notice — looking for signs of a recovery as it tries to recapture its pre-pandemic-level of convention business.

Concerns over the impact of COVID-19 on business travel has instead evolved to fears of inflation’s impact and the economic uncertainty stemming from the series of rate interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. But most industry insiders say Las Vegas has yet to show anything other than growth as it approaches sales and enthusiasm nearing 2019 levels.

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Josh Swissman quoted on ReviewJournal.com

New Year’s hotel rates 3 times more than Christmas on Strip

What a difference a week makes, especially when you’re forecasting hotel room rates in Las Vegas.

Based on a survey of prices the Review-Journal conducted Wednesday afternoon, holiday room rates for the New Year’s Eve weekend will be about three times higher than Christmas weekend.

Room rates in Las Vegas for a Friday through Sunday stay, that includes Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, averaged $127.73 a night, based on listings from hotels.com. For the same period a week later, which includes New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, the average is $371.14. The survey included 67 properties for the Christmas holiday and 65 for New Year’s.

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Josh Swissman quoted on igamingbusiness.com

New sheriff in town: Fertitta takes Las Vegas

In a city long known for bigger-than-life figures such as mobster Bugsy Siegel, reclusive tycoon Howard Hughes and casino mogul Steve Wynn, Tilman Fertitta is the newest big player on the Las Vegas Strip.

The billionaire Texas businessman and owner of Fertitta Entertainment, which owns more than 600 restaurants, hotels, casinos and other entertainment destinations across the US, has planted his flag on the Strip.

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Josh Swissman quoted on ReviewJournal.com

NFR, Raiders, concerts means higher room rates this weekend

Cowboys, music fans and sports fanatics are flooding into Las Vegas this week thanks to a long list of events that starts with the National Finals Rodeo on Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

And a stacked calendar of events — including rodeo-related festivities, country music concerts, headlining residencies, a college football championship game and a home Raiders contest — is driving up room rates, during the slowest period of the year when travelers can typically get better deals after a busy Thanksgiving weekend.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the lowest-priced two-night booking available through Hotels.com was $209 per night for a Friday through Sunday stay at Circus Circus. Prices are flexible and can change based on available supply and demand.

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Josh Swissman quoted on cdcgaming.com

Las Vegas nears pre-pandemic visitation in October

Las Vegas edged closer to its pre-pandemic self by hosting 3.63 million visitors in October, falling 29,000 visitors short of matching the count in October 2019.

As convention business roared back last month, Las Vegas recorded 7.3% more visitors than the 3.39 million that came to the city in October 2021, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

The report came as Nevada, led by Las Vegas, surpassed $1 billion in gaming revenue for the 20th consecutive month.

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Josh Swissman quoted on ReviewJournal.com

How long will it take for California sports betting to regroup?

The failure of California’s two dueling sports wagering propositions on this month’s general election ballot has left some important questions unanswered: Will California residents ever be allowed to legally bet on sports, and if so, how long will it take?

Based on what everybody saw when the election results came in, it could take awhile.

Proposition 27, a proposal favored by out-of-state gambling interests that included FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM, would have allowed online betting on smartphone apps. Opposed by California’s tribal casinos, the measure was supported by only 16 percent of voters.

The tribes apparently convinced voters that betting online is far more addictive than betting in person and potentially too accessible to children.

Read the full article here.