February 5, 2025 – FairOdds Network

February 5, 2025

After IPI disaster, has CNMI abandoned land-based casino hopes?

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is drafting legislation that would dissolve its gaming commission. The Pacific island group is looking at igaming as a next step.

On 4 February, CNMI representative Ralph N Yumul told Marianas Variety that a house committee is reviewing the 2014 statutes which legalised gaming and established the Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC).

If enacted, the move would transfer the regulator’s enforcement powers to the lottery commission. At that point, Yamul said, the CCC “will not be in existence anymore”.

Committee members are also looking at online gaming and “marketing it out to the world”, Yamul said. The CCC “can’t do its job anymore”, he added, “because it’s tied with the only casino licensee in the CNMI.”

And its experience with that licensee, Imperial Pacific International (IPI), has been nothing short of disastrous.

Ten years ago, IPI opened a temporary casino, called Best Sunshine Live, inside a shopping mall on Saipan, th..

February 5, 2025

Hawaii senate committee moves sports betting bill, but road to legalisation no sure thing

A Hawaii senate bill that would legalise digital sports betting moved forward on Tuesday (4 February). But not convincingly.

On Tuesday the senate economic development and technology committee advanced SB 1569, which would allow for statewide mobile sports betting. It is the second wagering bill to gain traction in the Hawaii legislature in a week.

On 31 January, the house economic development and technology committee moved HB 1308 forward. That bill is the house companion to SB 1569. In both chambers, the committees unanimously moved the bills, but several lawmakers did so “with reservations”. That suggests that the bills won’t have a smooth ride through the legislature.

The sports betting bills are two of at least eight gambling bills in the state legislature. Among them is a house bill that would only allow for gambling in designated tourist zones, a restriction not seen elsewhere in the US, but proposed and in practice in several Asian countries. There are also bills that wou..

February 5, 2025

Greenblatt expects player acquisition decline as BetMGM aims to be “home of the premium mass player”

Entain and MGM Resorts' JV, BetMGM, expects player acquisition rates to slow as it looks to benefit from a premium player base placing higher value bets.

While the group posted a falling EBITDA, once again in the negative, in its FY24 results on 4 February, it pointed to a “year of investment” which sought to increase player value and active users of its product.

Speaking to analysts following the group’s full-year earnings call on 4 February, BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt said during the year the focus had been on investing in its igaming strengths and refining its marketing, attribution, CRM and segmentation models.

These helped to drive a stronger performance in the latter part of the year.

Monthly user growth expected to slow

Monthly users in the operator’s fourth quarter were up 55% year-on-year. Greenblatt said this was achieved without the addition of any new states. Total monthly active users for the year hit 946,000, up 14% year-over-year.

However, while BetMGM toute..

February 5, 2025

BlueBet agrees to acquire TopSport assets

BlueBet Holdings has entered an agreement to acquire certain assets of Merlehan Booking, the Australia-facing sports and racing betting company trading as TopSport.

Under the deal, BlueBet will pay an initial AU$10 million (£5 million/€6 million/US$6.3 million) to acquire the assets from TopSport. This will comprise 70% cash and 30% in new, ordinary shares in BlueBet.

The agreement, announced today (5 February) by BlueBet, will also include potential further payments. These are contingent on BlueBet’s share price reaching certain milestones and the net gaming revenue performance of the assets.

To support the cash portion of the purchase price, BlueBet has successfully undertaken an equity raising. This will raise $15 million in gross proceeds via the issue of approximately 44.1 million new shares in BlueBet.

Why is BlueBet acquiring the assets?

Operated by father and son duo Lloyd and Tristan Merlehan, TopSport offers both sports and racing betting in Australia. In the first half ..

February 5, 2025

Texas governor OK with legal sports betting, but his words may not matter

On Tuesday (4 February) Texas governor Greg Abbott said during a podcast that he doesn't “have a problem with online sports betting”. But he's not the Texas politician who has the power to call – or block – a vote in the senate.

Abbott, who has been the governor since 2015, said during his re-election run in 2021 that he wasn’t opposed to gambling in his state. According to the Texas Tribune, he and former house speaker Dade Phelan went “further” in their support.

The sticking point in the Lone Star State has long been lieutenant governor Dan Patrick. He has consistently said that he will not call a vote on an expansion of gambling in Texas unless there is a Republican majority to support it.

I've said repeatedly there is little to no support for expanding gaming from Senate GOP. I polled members this week. Nothing changed. The senate must focus on issues voters expect us to pass. We don’t waste time on bills without overwhelming GOP support. HB1942 won’t be referre..

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Daily Archives: February 5, 2025