A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, concerts, and sports.
Global Gaming Directory
Tuesday, November 29, 2022
Sunday, November 27, 2022
Global Gaming News: Macao Awards Casino Licenses to MGM, Sands, Wynn, 3 Others
Macao Awards Casino Licenses to MGM, Sands, Wynn, 3 Others
Macao has tentatively renewed the casino licenses of MGM Resorts, Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts and three Chinese rivals after they promised to help diversify the economy by investing in non-gambling attractions.
Macao has tentatively renewed the casino licenses of MGM Resorts, Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts and three Chinese rivals after they promised to help diversify its economy by investing in non-gambling attractions, the government said Saturday.
The announcement is positive news for owners who have invested billions of dollars to build the former Portuguese colony near Hong Kong into the biggest global gambling center. But the requirement to spend on theme parks, music and sports adds to financial pressure at a time when revenue has plunged under anti-virus restrictions.
Regulators will negotiate final terms before licenses take effect Jan. 1, the office of Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng announced. A seventh bidder, newcomer Genting Group of Malaysia, received no license.
The territory of 700,000 people on a peninsula in the South China Sea is the world's most tourism-dependent economy. It's under pressure from Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government to diversify with retailing, entertainment and other industries and to reduce reliance on gamblers from the mainland, its main revenue source.
License applicants promised to fulfill requirements including “exploring overseas customer markets and developing non-gaming projects,” a government statement said.
It gave no details, but TDM Radio Macau reported earlier the winners would be expected to invest a total of $12.5 billion.
Macao's economy has shrunk since anti-virus restrictions that shut down most tourist travel were imposed in 2020.
The Chinese operators include SJM Holdings, part of the empire of the late Stanley Ho, who had a four-decade monopoly on casinos until 2001.
The others are Melco International, run by Ho’s son Lawrence, and Galaxy Entertainment Group.
The decision to allow in foreign-owned casinos in 2002 brought a flood of money to Macao. The six license holders operate a total of 41 casinos.
Annual revenue from slot machines, dice tables and other games peaked at $45 billion in 2013, more than triple Las Vegas' level. But it slid after Beijing tightened controls on how often mainland gamblers could visit.
By 2019, before the pandemic, gambling revenue sank 19% from 2013′s level to $36.4 billion. In 2020, it collapsed 80% to just $7.6 billion. Last year, revenue climbed back to $10.8 billion, but that is down 75% from 2013.
In the latest quarter, the economy shrank by another one-third from last year's depressed level due to anti-virus controls imposed after outbreaks in June, according to the government. It said gambling revenue plunged 72.5% and tourist arrivals shrank 50.8%.
Adding non-gambling assets would make Macao more like Las Vegas. Casinos there try to attract families and non-gamblers with roller coasters, music, shopping centers, art exhibits and water parks.
SJM operates a zip line and indoor skydiving attractions. It dropped a proposal for a Hello Kitty theme park. The tycoon behind Galaxy talked about a possible theme park resembling the movie “Avatar,” but it never went ahead.
Monday, November 21, 2022
Global Gaming Blog: News (Gaming/Gambling): United States Igaming Revenue Report
News (Gaming/Gambling): United States Igaming Revenue Report
Total igaming revenue for October 2021 in New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, West Virginia, and Delaware added up to $445.2 million, an increase of just under 22% over October 2021…internet-gaming win reported in New Jersey was $147.2 million, reflecting growth of 15.9%...Michigan won a record $141 million from online gamblers…Revenue from igaming in Pennsylvania was $124.5 million, an increase of 17.4% over October 2021…Igaming operators set a revenue record in October at $21.9 million… West Virginia igaming revenue for October came in at $9.4 million, a 32% jump…Delaware’s internet casinos won $1.2 million from gamblers in October 2022, a 22.5% increase.
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
Blog: Gambling Group Estimates US Will Bet $1.8B on World Cup
Gambling Group Estimates US Will Bet $1.8B on World Cup
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Americans will bet $1.8 billion on the World Cup this year, the first to be held while legal sports betting is widespread in the U.S., according to the casino industry's national trade group.
About 20.5 million American adults plan to bet on the biggest soccer tournament in the world, legally or otherwise, the American Gaming Association estimated Tuesday. The majority plan to place bets online, with a bookie or at a physical sportsbook.
The survey is the organization's first for World Cup betting.
Thirty-one states plus Washington, D.C., currently offer legal sports betting, with five additional markets due to begin soon.
“As the first World Cup with widespread availability of legal sports betting, this will certainly be the most bet-upon soccer event ever in the U.S.,” said Casey Clark, the group's senior vice president. “With more than half of all American adults having access to legal betting options in their home market, legal sports betting will deepen American fan engagement in the most-watched sporting event in the world.”
Legal wagering is currently available to 132 million Americans in their home states. That is up dramatically from the 2018 World Cup, when only 10 million had access to it in just three states.
That was the year New Jersey won a U.S. Supreme Court case clearing the way for all 50 states to offer legal sports betting if they so choose.
The survey asked respondents what they would bet on if they were given $50 to make a wager on the winner of the tournament. The results were: United States (24%); Brazil (19%); Argentina (17%) and Germany (10%).
It also shows plenty of room for growth in terms of betting on the World Cup. Less than 3 in 10 Americans who plan to watch the tournament say they will bet on it.
The tournament begins Nov. 20 with host nation Qatar taking on Ecuador. The U.S. has its first game the next day against Wales.
Wednesday, November 02, 2022
Global Gaming Blog: Gambling companies get new advertising tag
Gambling companies get new advertising tag
Australian TV viewers will no longer hear the hastily uttered "gamble responsibly" tagline.
From March 2023, betting companies like Ladbrokes, Sportsbet and TAB must ditch the well-known slogan in favour of seven new and government-approved ones.
"Evidence and research clearly shows the 'gamble responsibly' message doesn't do the job of getting people to think and to minimise harm," Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth told ABC radio on Wednesday.
"So the new taglines, which were agreed with all state territories and the Commonwealth, are evidence-based and they actually have been shown to work."
The new mottos include "Chances are you're about to lose", "You win some. You lose more", "What's gambling really costing you?" and "What are you really gambling with?"
When on screen, they must accompany information about gambling addiction resources and appear in the largest font possible to take up a third of the on-screen space.
If the taglines are spoken, they have to be read slowly and calmly.
Online gambling firms must rotate through each of slogans over a 12-month period to stop viewers becoming acclimatised to a message.
While gambling critics welcome the changes, some want them to go further.
They're "welcome and a good start to the widespread reform urgently needed", according to Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie.
"Doing away with the 'gamble responsibly' message is appropriate because the problems in the online and sports betting industry are more about the predatory behaviour of that industry than the behaviour of gamblers.
"Of course there are many bigger reforms that remain unaddressed."
Mr Wilkie is calling for a ban on television gambling ads during G-rated viewing hours and the implementation daily limits on betting companies.
In NSW, parliamentary crossbenchers have pushed for a mandatory cashless gaming card to provide harm reduction benefits for problem gamblers and crackdown on money laundering.
A report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found Australians lost around $25 billion on legal forms of gambling from 2018-2019, one of the biggest per capita losses in the world.
Beyond the financial costs, the report also revealed for every person who experienced problem gambling, up to six people around them were negatively affected.
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