Gambling in the USA
Gaming Americas Weekly Roundup – May 16-22
Welcome to our weekly roundup of American gambling news again! Here, we are going through the weekly highlights of the American gambling industry which include the latest news, new partnerships and new appointments. Read on and get updated.
Latest News
Galaxy Gaming has launched Triton Casino Systems, a brand-new table game progressive operating system. Triton Casino Systems has refined what made its precursor, Bonus Jackpot System, successful and adds a wealth of new features to enhance the casino floor.
Codere Online has released its financial results for the first quarter of 2022. The multinational gaming firm posted revenues of $304.8m which represents a recovery of 83% of total revenues before the pandemic hit.
Hard Rock Digital has announced the expansion of Hard Rock Sportsbook to Virginia, with its mobile app now live and a retail sportsbook scheduled to open in July at the Bristol Casino – Future Home of Hard Rock. The mobile app provides fans ages 21 and over with access to bets across major sporting events, innovative promotions and best-in-class customer support.
MGM Resorts International has announced the closing of its transaction with Blackstone to acquire the operations of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (The Cosmopolitan) for cash consideration of $1.625 billion.
TAPPP and BetMGM announced an expansion of BetMGM’s gift card distribution network. The number of stores carrying BetMGM prepaid cards will roughly double from around 6000 to more than 12,000 in the current quarter.
Global Payments Gaming Solutions has announced that Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, has selected its igaming solutions for its new sports betting app, BetSaracen.
Chewelah Casino in Washington has selected OPTX platform for its marketing products.
DraftKings has launched its online sportsbook and online casino products in the Canadian province of Ontario.
Partnerships
Casino Arizona and its sister property Talking Stick Resort will be the official casino and resort partner for the Arizona Diamondbacks under a new partnership between the D-backs and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, which owns the two locations.
Paysafe has entered into a new partnership with Strive Gaming, an advanced player account management (PAM) platform designed for the multi-state requirements of online operators in the North American market.
Butler National Corporation, through its wholly-owned subsidiary that manages Boot Hill Casino & Resort in Dodge City, Kansas, has entered into an agreement with DraftKings and Bally’s Corporation to provide sports wagering in Kansas.
Accertify Inc has announced a partnership with Hard Rock Digital to protect its mobile sports betting platform from fraud. Accertify will protect customers’ accounts and personal information, prevent fraudulent activity and manage chargebacks, while minimising friction for users of the Hard Rock Sportsbook mobile app.
New Appointments
AviaGames, creator of the award-winning “Bingo Tour” app and Pocket7Games social competition platform, has appointed Jiangbo Tian as Director of Data Intelligence.
SCCG Management Founder and CEO, Stephen Crystal, has announced that Jenny McLauchlan has joined the Las Vegas office as their Legal Compliance and Regulatory Advisor.
FanDuel Group has announced that it has appointed Asaf Noifeld as Managing Director, Casino. In the newly created role, Noifeld will be responsible for oversight of FanDuel Group’s online casino business.
Stephen Richardson, Chief Administrative and Compliance Officer at Scientific Games, has been appointed to the National Technology Security Coalition’s (NTSC) Board of Directors.
Gambling in the USA
Zula Casino Kicks Off its Spectacular 1-Year “Zula-versary” with a Month of Events and Promotions
Zula Casino launched its online social casino in the US exactly a year ago delivering more. More games. More rewards. More free-to-play entertainment through a personalized experience. Zula Casino marked its one-year launch by crossing the 1000 casino-game threshold – a milestone that positions it among the top platforms nationwide.
The month-long birthday bash intends to go over the top to give back to its amazing player community that helped make this first year so incredible. With its advent calendar format, players can unlock a special surprise each day ranging from a “Win-a-Vacation” event, a carnival event, free spins and new exclusive games, and a prize pool of over 25 billion Gold Coins (GC) plus 150,000 Sweeps Coins (SC) to be given out throughout the month. Over this period, Zula Casino will run other special events, including surprise happy hours with special coupons, various social media contests, and special giveaways.
“We’re incredibly proud of the player experience we’ve built over the last 12 months. The platform has garnered a substantial and loyal pool of players, and it’s not just because we offer one of the largest game selections from leading global providers, but also the exclusive experiences we’re providing, and the platform’s continued evolution with enhanced promotions, personalization, and seamless user experience,” said Tamar Laypan, Program Manager of Zula Casino.
Zula Casino has added over 1000 games across all categories over the past 12 months, including slots, jackpots, fish, table, plinko, megaways, crash, hold and win, tumble games, and more. These additions include top games like Big Bass Vegas and Fire Stampede, as well as branded exclusives like Gold Gold Gold 5000, supplied by Booming Games, and Sweet Bonanza 1000 by Pragmatic Play. With recent additions, Zula Casino now boasts 25 game providers, including Relax Gaming, Habanero, Evoplay, Pragmatic Play, RubyPlay, Gamzix, Let Us Entertain You Inc., to name a few.
Zula Casino flourished in a tough and highly competitive market, launching its proprietary-integrated platform in September of last year. With an average TrustPilot score of 4.6 and almost 9K reviews, the online social casino is among the highest-rated free-to-play sites in the market.
Zula Casino was also previously shortlisted for the prestigious Global SBC Awards in the category of “Rising Star in Casino”.
Diana Goode
NCPG Welcomes Diana Goode to the Board of Directors
NCPG has announced the appointment of Diana Goode to the National Council on Problem Gambling’s Board of Directors. Diana, who has served as the Executive Director of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling (CCPG) since May 2018, brings over 25 years of nonprofit leadership experience to this role.
In her time with CCPG, Diana has championed initiatives that address problem gambling and promote responsible gaming across Connecticut. Additionally, she has played an active role on the NCPG Affiliates Committee, contributing valuable insights from her years of experience.
Before joining CCPG, Diana held executive roles in nonprofits focusing on poverty alleviation and financial literacy in Connecticut. Her academic credentials include a degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA in Finance and Marketing from the University of Connecticut. She resides in the Greater Hartford area, where she remains deeply engaged in her community.
Diana will serve an interim appointment in the Affiliates seat on the NCPG Board of Directors until Spring 2025.
Gambling in the USA
Gaming Executives Positive on Current Business Conditions, Cautious on Future Growth Expectations
Overall Balance Sheet Health, Access to Credit Continue to Improve
In the face of slowing revenue expansion, gaming industry leaders continue to hold an overall positive view of the current business situation, with a notable improvement in credit conditions, according to the latest American Gaming Association (AGA) Gaming Industry Outlook.
The majority of respondents (88%) view the current state of the gaming industry as either good or satisfactory. Meanwhile, executives have a more conservative outlook on future business conditions, with respondents split on whether they expect conditions to improve over the next three-to-six months (3% net positive) and many expecting a decrease in customer activity (28% net negative).
“After years of very strong consumer gaming spending growth, expectations around customer activity over the next three to six months have cooled considerably,” said AGA Vice President of Research David Forman. “Still, gaming businesses remain well positioned, with executives touting strong balance sheets and more viewing access to credit as easy than restrictive for the first time in two years.”
Gaming Executive Panel
Since Q1, gaming executives’ sentiment has shifted, with a greater number of respondents now expecting a decline in customer activity over the next three to six months (28% net negative, up from 4% net negative in Q1). Despite this, panelists foresee improvements in overall balance sheet health (34% net positive).
Additionally, more executives reported access to credit as easy (19%) rather than restrictive (3%) for the first time in two years, and fewer cite interest rates as a major limiting factor than in the spring.
Hotel (56%) and food and beverage facilities (56%) continue to be the main and growing focus of capital investment among operators, followed by live entertainment (28%) and casino floor slots (22%).
Meanwhile, gaming equipment suppliers now believe their pace of capital investment and game sales will decelerate (13% net negative).
These expectations are impacted by evolving macroeconomic challenges, with uncertainty of the economic environment vaulting to the top of executive concerns (56%, up from 34% in Q1), followed by state regulatory concerns (31%), and inflationary or interest rate concerns and geopolitical risk (both 34%).
The Current Conditions Index
The Current Conditions Index for Q3 2024 was 97.3, which is consistent with real annualized contraction of 2.7 percent. The Current Conditions Index measures real economic activity in the industry, as measured by gaming revenue, employment and employee wages and salaries.
The Future Conditions Index
The Future Conditions Index, a leading indicator of changes in industry conditions, measured 98.9 in Q3. This indicates an environment in which real economic activity in the gaming sector, after controlling for underlying inflation, is expected to moderately decrease over the next six months (1.1% annualized rate).
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