Government Law & Policies

Asian Recovery or More of the Same?

Posted on November 30, 2021

Heading into 2020, it looked as though the gaming world would continue on its track of expansion in Asia.  Macau was two years out from concession renewal. The Philippines was seeing strong growth in gaming and tourism.  Jurisdictions such as Cambodia, Vietnam and others were seeing strong growth in their existing facilities with new projects being announced along the way.

Yet, it was shortly after the start of that year that the world began to change, and change rapidly.  Macau initially shut down for two weeks, and the rest of the world soon followed with what still remains for many jurisdictions that are in Great Shutdown mode. Gaming revenue evaporated quickly. Timelines for expansion disintegrated. Concession renewals in Macau were put in limbo other than a two-year extension to put all of the concessionaires on the same timeline for renewals.  Heading into 2022, there are just as many uncertainties as portions of Asia finally began to reemerge rom nearly two years of lockdown.

 

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10 Trends for 2022 – Japan Crosses the First Finish Line

Posted on November 30, 2021

With the Olympics being a made-for-TV event, Japan was never able to achieve its tourism goal of reaching 40 million visitors in 2021. Looking back on 2021, the total foreign visitor volume may only amount to roughly 30,000. While border restrictions are starting to relax to a three-day quarantine, Japan has only seen 25,900 visitors through the end of October.

Japan has a new prime minister, Fumio Kishida, who recently just secured the hold that his party, the Liberal Democratic Party, has on the Lower House of the Diet that will ensure that IRs remain on track as the country begins to loosen its restrictions from the Great Shutdown.

Japan, which has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, will need to have IRs become a catalyst as it looks to restore and build upon its pre-pandemic tourist volumes.  With the Olympics in the rearview, IRs remain the single biggest opportunity for tourism and further investment in the country.

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Nix the Economic Incentives – Gaming is a driver that does not require handouts

Posted on November 2, 2021

Any development project in any industry will have various levels of economic impact. This includes the number of jobs it will create, the investment that is brought into the project, and the economic spillover.  Whether developing a new project on a greenfield site or a brownfield site, or redeveloping a building or area within a community, any development around the globe will bring these economic impacts.

When major industries look toward developments, and when cities look to attract new sectors or build upon existing developments, state and local governments will put forward a series of tax incentives, grants or other tools to lure these businesses to cities.  These includes big businesses that typically bring hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs in manufacturing, technology and other sectors along with some level of investment into a facility.

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Dragon Policy – China’s influence on gaming at home and abroad

Posted on October 5, 2021

China continues to exert its influence and powers around the globe in just about every aspect of social, economic and geopolitical dynamics. This includes not just what happens within the borders of China, but also the policies associated with its citizenry, either through travel and tourism to other parts of the globe or through its business influences as Chinese corporations establish a global presence in the same manner.

Gambling is seen as less than favorable in the eye of Xi Jinping, president of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. Xi maintains that gambling disrupts the social balance and harmony of the Chinese culture. This can be seen over the years in policy decisions to limit access to Macau, or Beijing’s policies toward other countries that may feature online gambling operations, an activity that is banned by the Chinese central government.

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Research Brief: Paving the Regulatory Future for IRs in Japan – May 2021

Posted on June 2, 2021

As the world continues to face numerous challenges and rebounds from the pandemic, most countries around the world remain closed to outsiders. Japan and others throughout Asia are trying to find a way to reopen but have had to implement new restrictions and emergency orders. In Japan, these have been most recently extended until the end of May in numerous parts of the country. This is further complicated by the upcoming Olympics and the inability to host foreigner visitors to the market. Olympic-sized problems surround this event in terms of not just the general logistics of hosting the Games, which were supposed to be a shining moment for this proud country, but also the public sentiment that is growing against hosting the games. A recent online petition had hundreds of thousands of signatures calling for the cancellation of the event, with at least nine of Japan’s 47 prefectural governors concurring with the petition. These issues further cloud Japan’s recovery in general terms and with regard to the hospitality industry, especially on the tourism goals established by the government.

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Research Brief: State Legislative Update on U.S. Sports Betting & Online Gaming – May 2021

Posted on May 17, 2021

Three years into the repeal of PASPA, the sports betting world continues to move forward at a quick pace. The challenges of the last year continue in various facets of the sports calendar that has not quite returned to normal, as well as occasional challenges still with athletes having to go through COVID-19 protocols. As fans will likely return to the stands with the goal of having 100 percent capacity in many cases by the fall, it will bring some normalcy back to the game and eventually, the schedule.

Some 30 states and jurisdictions have now legalized sports betting in some form, with others still having discussions on how to craft an ideal market that suits their needs. What continues not to be normal over some of the recent states is how they are crafting their own markets that are either reinventing the wheel or now reviewing best practices to create the ideal market in terms of competition and revenue potential to the state. At this point, most legislative sessions are closing out their 2021 session heading into June. However, more than a handful of states operate a year-round legislative session. The year 2021 will likely be known as the year that had some more interesting markets crafted which may cause challenges down the way for other states that have yet to legalize.

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Research Brief: PASPA U.S. Sports Betting Three Years Later – May 2021

Posted on May 14, 2021

Three years ago, the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) made a historic decision in Murphy v. NCAA, in favor of states’ rights and overturning the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (“PASPA”). In this decision on PASPA, the Supreme Court has allowed sports betting to now spread across the country with operational sports books in 22 jurisdictions (21 states and the District of Columbia)/ There are eight other jurisdictions (seven states and Puerto Rico) where sports betting is legal, but legislators and regulators are working through the next steps to bring the total number to 30 jurisdictions that have pushed forward since the repeal of PASPA three years ago today.  while some did not expect such a rapid expansion in such a short time, credit is due to Governor Chris Christie for initially pushing this effort on behalf of New Jersey.  It was this initial legal effort that was the catalyst for public opinion to grow in favor of sports betting.  Any assumptions that the overturning of PASPA was done by a public affairs effort, and not by the legal foundations or arguments, discredits the judicial process and the legal framework associated with separation of powers in the United States.

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Windy City Gaming: Chicago will finally plant its flag for a casino development

Posted on February 17, 2021

Casinos in urban environments, not always the norm, have offered challenges in certain jurisdictions.

Major markets such as Philadelphia have had casinos near downtown for years. Pittsburgh and Detroit also feature casino gaming in downtown settings. The Washington, D.C. market, with MGM National Harbor, has also made an impact. But in recent years, more developers have embraced urban environments to meld properties into the fabric of the greater communities they serve. Two of the more recent examples were in Massachusetts, with MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor.

Some of the greatest opportunities for gaming expansion in the United States remain in urban settings. For years, New York, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas and Houston have been seen as potential expansion sites. But the most immediate opportunity exists in Chicago, which will locate a gaming development within the city itself.

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Research Brief: State Legislative Update on U.S. Sports Betting & Online Gaming February 2021

Posted on February 9, 2021

The buzz from this year’s Super Bowl continues to catch fire with the legal sports betting market as it continues to expand across the country. Almost every media outlet has talked about not only the matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs (or Brady vs. Mahomes), but also a story about wagering, handle, the line, and some of the major brand names across the states that are conducting legal sports betting. This has been the case for several years, but sports betting has become much more mainstream.

This year’s Super Bowl did not offer the match up that everyone had expected between two premier teams featuring what many viewed as the ‘GOAT’ vs. the rising star “Kid.” Tampa Bay’s dominance in all facets of the game threw many sportsbooks off that had the line hovering around three to four points leading up to kickoff. The American Gaming Association prior to the game estimated that $4.3 Billion would be wagered.

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Research Brief: U.S. Court of Appeals First Circuit Wire Act Ruling

Posted on January 21, 2021

While most of the attention in the United States was focused on the Inauguration on January 20, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit released its ruling on a 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. The 2018 Memo reversed a previous interpretation of the original Wire Act issued in 2011 (the “2011 Memo”).

The 49-page ruling confirmed the district court’s ruling that the Wire Act only applies to a “sporting event or contest.” In light of today’s other activities, which largely surrounded the onboarding of a new administration that will push to reinstitute many Obama Era policies, this further accentuates the problems with the 2018 Memo and the stance issued by the Department of Justice in 2018.

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