Tag Archives: casino

Detroit casino revenue down 8.8% YoY in June

Detroit casino revenue down 8.8% YoY in June

The three commercial casinos in Detroit, Michigan, posted $98.6m (£83.4m/€98.2m) in total revenue during June, an 8.8% drop on the same month last year.

Revenue from the MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino and Penn National’s Hollywood Casino at Greektown was down from $108.1m in June 2021 and also 9.3% lower than $108.7m in May of this year.

MGM retained top spot in the Michigan city with a 49% share of the market, ahead of MotorCity on 34% and Greektown with 17%.

Breaking down the monthly performance, table games and slots were responsible for $98.2m of all revenue for the month, but this was 7.2% lower than in June of last year.

MGM led this area of the market with $48.3m in revenue, up by 4.3% year-on-year. However, revenue at MotorCity was down 9.8% to $33.5m, while Greektown’s revenue dropped 26.6% to $16.4m.

The three casinos paid $8.0m in gaming taxes, as well as $11.7m worth of wagering taxes and development agreement payments to the City of Detroit.

Turning to retail sp..

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California Democrats endorse “no” vote on online betting measure

California Democrats endorse “no” vote on online betting measure

The California Democratic Party has recommended that those in the state vote against a proposal that would legalise online betting.

The party – which dominates California elections, having controlled both houses of the state legislature since 1996 – announced its official list of endorsements for ballot measures that will appear in the 2022 November election.

That election will include two ballot measures related to sports betting. Tribe-backed Proposition 26, titled the California Legalize Sports Betting on American Lands Initiative. would allow for retail sports betting only on tribal lands.

Read the full story on iGB North America

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Kyrgyz parliament votes to legalise casinos and igaming for foreigners

Kyrgyz parliament votes to legalise casinos and igaming for foreigners

Kyrgyzstan’s legislature has voted to re-legalise land-based gambling and launch online casino for the first time, though all offerings will only be available to foreign players.

The bill “On Gambling in the Kyrgyz Republic” – passed on its third reading – would legalise a wide range of forms of gambling. As well as casinos, slot halls and retail bookmakers – which had all been legal in the past before casinos were banned in 2012 and the latter two banned in 2015 – online casino games will also be legal.

However, all gambling will only be available to foreign players.

Land-based casinos must only be set up in restaurants or hotel complexes. The restaurant must have at least 100 seats, and the hotel must have at least 20 rooms. Slot halls, meanwhile, must be separate rooms or buildings from any other type of business activity.

Casinos located in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek must have at least 10 gaming tables, while those elsewhere must have at least five. Slot halls must contain a..

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Low betting margins continue to hinder Spanish industry in Q1

Low betting margins continue to hinder Spanish industry in Q1

Gambling revenue in Spain was down year-on-year again in Q1 of 2022, due to continued anaemic sports betting margins.

According to data from regulator the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), gross gaming revenue was down by 14.8% to €204.4m. However this marked a 16.3% quarter-on-quarter increase.

Revenue fell despite an increase in stakes, which grew 5.3% year-on-year to €7.41bn, a new record high. Deposits, meanwhile, grew by 4.3% year-on-year – or 7.1% quarter-on quarter – to €769.8m.
A similar trend emerged in 2021, when revenue was down despite a significant increase in stakes.

Breaking down revenue by vertical, sports betting revenue continued to be low at €65.2m, a 40.9% fall from Q1 2021, but up 49.1% from Q4 of that year.

Sports betting stakes remained high at €3.06bn, up 10.6% year-on-year, as it had done in H2 2021. This suggests a sports betting margin of just 2.1%. Margins were low across all sports, but lowest in horse racing at 1.4%.

House-banked casi..

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Tabcorp-backed body lobbies for higher online betting taxes in Australia

Tabcorp-backed body lobbies for higher online betting taxes in Australia

Tabscorp (TAB), Australia’s largest gambling business, has allied with anti-industry group the Alliance for Gambling Reform as well as the Australian Hotel Association to lobby for higher taxes for online betting operators.

The newly-created trade association, named the Aussie Fair Play Coalition (AFPC), will push for other states to follow Queensland’s lead in harmonising the tax paid by online and land-based operators.

The group pointed to the fact that online operators are principally foreign-owned, and therefore argue that the inequitable tax rates unfairly penalise domestic businesses. While some online operators are from Australia, the majority are not based in Australian territory.

This argument is not a novel one – Victoria introduced the first point-of-consumption tax (POCT) in 2019, in the wake of fears that foreign-owned bookies were not paying Australian taxes.

Currently, the POCT stands at 10% in New South Wales and Victoria, 15% in the Australian Capital Territory, T..

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Swedish gaming revenue up to SEK6.54bn in Q1

Swedish gaming revenue up to SEK6.54bn in Q1

Total gaming revenue in Sweden was up 5.8% to SEK6.54bn in the first quarter of 2022, as growth in land-based casinos and online gaming offset a decline in lottery sales.

Despite being a year-on-year increase, revenue was down 6.8% from the previous quarter.

Online betting and gaming made up most of this total, with revenue growing 7.2% to SEK4.20bn. This was also up 0.3% quarter-on-quarter.

The state lottery – run by Svenska Spel – as well as Svenska Spel’s Vegas brand of slot halls – brought in a combined SEK1.29bn, down 4.4% from Q1 of 2021 and down 23.6% from Q4.

Svenska Spel’s Casino Cosmopol brand of land-based casinos, meanwhile, brought in SEK103m, after no such revenue in Q1 of 2021, when these casinos were closed because of Covid-19. Compared to Q4, revenue was down 28.5%

Charitable lotteries brought in SEK863m, which was very slightly up from the same period of 2021, but down 3.0% from Q4.

Restaurant casinos brought in SEK39m, up from just SEK5m in Q1, but down from SE..

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Minnesota tribal sports betting bill passed by House

Minnesota tribal sports betting bill passed by House

A bill that would allow online sports betting to be governed by Minnesota’s 11 federally recognised Native American tribes has been passed by the state’s House.

House Bill 778 was passed after its third reading on May 12, following an amendment. It was first introduced on February 4 2021, initially allowing both tribal and commercial betting.

It was adopted by the Committee for Finance and Policy in March this year, along with House Bill 167, which initially focused on sentencing hearings. Both bills were amended to permit sports betting to be operated by the state’s tribes.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

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Californians to vote on legalising online betting this year

Californians to vote on legalising online betting this year

A proposition to allow online sports betting in California – but with licence fees of up to $100m – will to appear on the state’s ballot this November.

Flutter chief executive Peter Jackson confirmed that the measure – backed by Flutter’s FanDuel brand, as well as DraftKings and BetMGM – was set to appear on the ballot this November, having gained more than the required 997,139 signatures.

“We’re very excited abut the Californian situation,” he said. “Clearly getting to this stage was not straightforward but we’re very, very happy to be on the ballot.”

These signatures must still be verified, though the measure reportedly has enough signatures that this is expected to be a formality. If it appears on the ballot and is approved by a majority of voters, it will become law.

The measure is titled the California Legalize Sports Betting and Revenue for Homelessness Prevention Fund Initiative (2022), as 85% of tax proceeds will gowards reducing homelessness. Sports wagering will be taxed ..

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Churchill Downs revenue hits record $364.1m in Q1

Churchill Downs revenue hits record $364.1m in Q1

Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) has opened 2021 with a record-breaking performance over the three months to 31 March.

Group revenue for the first quarter of 2022 increased 12.3% year-on-year to $364.1m (£290.4m/€345.9m), a new record for the business.

Gaming was the top performer over Q1 with revenue of $179.2m, up 16.4% year-on-year, aided by capacity restrictions at its Oxford Casino Hotel in Maine, Flordia’s Calder Casino and Presque Isle in Pennsylvania.

The gaming division is set to expand further through the acquisition of Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, which adds properties in New York, Virginia and Iowa to CDI’s portfolio.

The operator’s advance deposit wagering business Twinspires followed with revenue of $101.4m, down marginally year-on-year, after a decline in horse racing revenue was partially offset by growth from its sport and casino business. That operation is being wound down, however.

CDI’s live and historical horse racing business reported a 34.8% jump in r..

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Pennsylvania betting operators record negative GGR in February

Pennsylvania betting operators record negative GGR in February

Gambling revenue in Pennsylvania increased 24.4% year-on-year to $375.7m in February, despite the state reporting a loss for its regulated sports betting market.

The overall figure for February was up from $302.0m in the same month last year but was 4.4% lower than $393.1m posted in January of this year.

Figures published by the Pennsylvania Gambling Control Board (PGCB) showed year-on-year growth in almost all areas of the market, with the exception of sports betting where revenue plummeted from $16.4m in February 2021 to a loss of $442,847.

This was the first month in the history of the regulated Pennsylvania market in which operators made a loss.

Retail revenue reached $1.0m but online revenue came in at a loss of $1.5m. Players staked a total of $597.1m on sports during the month, an increase of 17.2% on last year.

Valley Forge, with its partner FanDuel, was the most successful sports betting operation in February, posting $1.6m in revenue. Hollywood Casino at Penn National’s ..

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