Research Briefs

Research Brief: State Legislative Update on U.S. Sports Betting & Online Gaming June 2020

Posted on June 11, 2020

While sports betting revenues remain low during the Great Shutdown, sports are beginning to return to the scene, and while there may not be fans in stadiums, there is a wealth of opportunities to keep fans engaged and restart sports betting revenue generation around the U.S. While April and May will still be fairly dismal in terms of numbers and performance, it is important to lay the groundwork now for the return of sports in the near term. This will not only make the argument that sports will hopefully unite society during this challenging time, but it can also influence and motivate other states to consider legalizing sports betting to compete against the illegal market.

Foreign sports such as European soccer continue to dominate the sports airwaves, but other familiar sports are beginning to emerge through the world of COVID-19 testing and social distancing. This includes the first out of the gate with the UFC, followed by NASCAR which has now hosted a series of races. The return of golf was highlighted over Memorial Day weekend with “The Match” featuring Tiger Woods/Peyton Manning vs. Phil Mickelson/Tom Brady.

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Research Brief: PASPA U.S. Sports Betting Two Years Post Repeal

Posted on May 16, 2020

Two years ago, the Supreme Court of the United States made a historic decision in Murphy v. NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association), ruling on the constitutionality of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (“PASPA”). In overturning PASPA, the Supreme Court allowed sports betting to spread across the country with active sports betting now in 18 states. There are eight other jurisdictions that are in the process to go live in the near future, including North Carolina, which is tribal; Tennessee and the District of Columbia, which have regulations completed; Washington, Virginia, and Puerto Rico, which are currently in the regulatory phase; and South Dakota and Maryland, where sports betting will be on the ballot this November.

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Research Brief: State Legislative Update on U.S. Sports Betting & Online Gaming May 2020

Posted on May 8, 2020

When the Wind Creek Bethlehem (formerly Sands) facilities initially received a gaming licensing in 2006, the licensing team produced a video that talked about the effect that Bethlehem Steel had on the town. This was the steel plant that helped build the New York Skyline and supported our military might through World War II. The eventual shutdown of the blast furnaces at the plant was the stoppage of the American icon that used to run 24/7/365. Those that still live in Bethlehem today have said that the blast furnaces created a deafening noise when they fell silent. Some may say that we are hearing the same noise today as the sports world has fallen silent.

With the Great Shutdown upon America and most of the world, operators and sports fans have had to look to other sports than the traditional major league and amateur sports that Americans where used to watching. Snooker, bandy, darts, and other games are now commonly found on sports betting apps along with a greater understanding of sports like Taiwanese baseball, Russian ping pong, and Belarusian soccer that have all seen their day in the sun as regulators work with operators to provide content for sports books. While ESPN may be televising cherry pit spiting or rock skipping, those sports have yet to make the cut as operators and regulators have not determined whether or not these are valid events that could have a wager conducted.

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Research Brief: Japan’s IR Opportunity

Posted on April 26, 2020

Given these unprecedented and uncertain times, many questions continue to be raised as to how the process of integrated resorts in Japan may be affected by the ever-changing events surrounding the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. As seen by government actions around the globe, this virus has not only affected Japan, but the rest of Asia, the United States, the Americas, and the world. China is experiencing a second wave of the virus not only in Wuhan, which just recently updated its case counts, but throughout the country. This has extended over the past few weeks to other jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, which just extended its lock down by 14 days, and other parts of Asia that were not initially hot spots but have extended as conditions have changed.

Japan’s integrated resort selection process has come into the crosshairs between numerous issues including the virus, the now-2021 Olympics, the upcoming World Expo in 2025, and the microcosm of Japan’s political process. While tourism has been halted across the globe, Japan will once again be on a path to achieve the tourism goals set by Prime Minister Abe; goals which are achievable with the introduction of integrated resorts once the pandemic subsides. The robust opportunity remains available for Japan to reach these goals and bring in tens of billions of dollars in investment between the three licenses, as well as job creation and other economic benefits that go along with them.

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Research Brief: Understanding Casino Operations

Posted on April 16, 2020

Given the uncertainties of coronavirus disease (“COVID-19”), investors are looking to understand the general operating parameters of a given casino operation and fixed versus variable expenses. This document provides detail on the intricacies of casino operations from a revenue and expense standpoint, including gaming revenues, operating expenses, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (“EBITDA”). The goal of this exercise is to provide an understanding of how these items may fluctuate between operators, as well as between jurisdictions. Additionally, this document will provide readers with an understanding of fixed versus variable expenses (for facilities that are open), allowing investors to more accurately project the performance of target properties under a variety of recovery scenarios.

The following discussion is based on Global Market Advisors’ (“GMA”) experience of reviewing hundreds of income statements from casino properties across the world. For the purposes of this analysis, GMA focused its evaluation on regional gaming operations in the United States, representing casino operations that have generated between $50 and $700 million in annual gaming revenue. Often, the only access that investors may have to operating income statements would be from those published from Nevada and New Jersey. As will be seen within this document, many departmental and overall margins vary greatly from casinos between these and other states. While many operations may have expenses that lie outside of the ranges presented in this report, the overwhelming majority of regional casinos across the United States likely fall within these ranges.

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Research Brief: State Legislative Update on U.S. Sports Betting & Online Gaming April 2020

Posted on April 9, 2020

Over the course of the last month, the sports world has largely gone silent around the globe. Since the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak began in China, it has swept its way around the world and has ended most of the sporting events that we have enjoyed. Sports has and always will be something that unites us. With the most recent announcements, including the postponement of the Masters which should be taking place later this week (moved to November), the cancelling of the British Open, and uncertainty of every professional and amateur event, it has forced sports book operators to become creative in pulling sports from across the globe to provide some level of content to eager viewers.

The numbers for February will likely be a strong benchmark that, like most gaming revenue, will not be seen for some time across most jurisdictions. Mobile gaming markets will likely make the quickest comeback once sports begin to return, as some polling has shown that social distancing will continue once things begin to return to a level of normalcy. This shows that mobile wagering is a driver not only before the Great Shutdown but post-coronavirus to allow operators and patrons to enjoy sports in their own way, whether that be at an arena or venue, at a sports book, at a neighborhood bar & grill, or at home.

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Research Brief: State Legislative Update on U.S. Sports Betting & Online Gaming March 2020

Posted on March 6, 2020

In the coming weeks in the sports betting world, the focus will be on college basketball with the conference tournaments and NCAA Tournament that are upon us. However, there is an incredible amount of activity in state legislatures as they either launch their efforts prior to the tip-off or try to get legislation passed before the final buzzer. A host of states have legislative sessions that are ending in March, while others are just reaching the second half of their session. Many of these efforts may result in a buzzer beater as stakeholders move towards compromises while other states may miss and have to wait for the next legislative session to start their discussion.

As we look at the current state of play in sports betting across the country, mobile wagering continues to be a dominant factor and a revenue driver for states. Nevada for the first time has started to report the percentage of mobile wagers, showing that nearly fifty percent of sports wagers in the state were placed through a mobile device. Pennsylvania saw the highest share of mobile wagering, as nearly 90 percent of their revenue came from mobile devices. Revenue continues to grow across the country as these markets mature with mobile options allowing for further growth opportunities.d.

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Research Brief: State Legislative Update on U.S. Sports Betting & Online Gaming February 2020

Posted on February 9, 2020

As we are coming off one of the most heavily watched sporting events and one of the most gambled-on events, we are just entering the proverbial Super Bowl of legislative activity. Numerous states are in the thick of their legislative sessions with numerous hearings and pieces of legislation surfacing as states work through sports betting, online gaming, brick-and-mortar casinos, and how to deal with the illegal/gray market.

As we look at states this month, there are four real groups to consider. In keeping with the football theme at the close of the 2019 season, we will classify these groups of states as “Professional Players”, “Draftees”, “College Players”, and “Signees”. Professional Players are those states that have already legalized sports betting and are up and running. Draftees are those jurisdictions that have legalized but have yet to launch in the market. College Players are those states that appear ready to launch and are in active debate to take it to the next level. Finally, in light of National Signing Day this week for future college football players, Signees are the states that are just starting their journey down the path of sports betting.

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Research Brief: Japan IR Timeline Update

Posted on June 4, 2019

Late last month, many stakeholders following the Japan Integrated Resort process believed they were thrown a curve ball, following reports stating that the process would be delayed by a year without the appointment of the Casino Management Commission and other cabinet and ministerial positions. However, the delay will likely not be as long as initially thought but would only be a minor delay in the marathon for integrated resorts in Japan.

First and foremost, this process is still in its infancy. While stalwarts of the process have been trying to get legislation passed for over twenty years, the race continues to move at a moderate pace as the government begins its official process to form the Commission and the 300-plus items that still need to be officially decided. It was thought that the Commission would likely be appointed before the end of the current regular session of the Diet. However, this part of the process has been delayed because of the upcoming elections that have been planned for the Upper House of the Diet. While it has not been confirmed that a double election would occur in July 2019, there is also the potential that a snap election in the Lower House could be held at the same time.

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Research Brief: Wire Act New Hampshire Case Ruling

Posted on June 4, 2019

On the afternoon of June 4th, a ruling was issued by United States District Judge Paul Barbadoro in the case between the New Hampshire Lottery Commission and Neopollard, a lottery vendor, against the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) regarding the Interstate Wire Act of 1961. The suit was brought by New Hampshire in response to the memorandum issued by the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel (“OLC”) on November 2, 2018 (the “2018 Memo”), which stated that the Wire Act applied to all forms of gaming and not just sports betting, reversing a previous opinion issued in 2011 (the “2011 Memo”). The 60-page ruling in the New Hampshire case confirmed the 2011 Memo, stating that the Wire Act applies only to sports betting and setting aside the 2018 Memo. The result in the New Hampshire case represents a shot across the bow of the authors of the 2018 Memo and others, in the DOJ and elsewhere, who have pushed this agenda for the last several years.

The case was one that many throughout the gaming and lottery industries had been watching since the 2018 Memo was released earlier this year. After the 2018 Memo was released, the DOJ offered a 90-day window before enforcement of the Memo would go into effect, which meant that enforcement should have commenced on April 15, 2019. The DOJ extended that deadline another 60 days earlier this spring, pushing the end of the non-prosecution period to June 14, 2019.

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