MGM – FairOdds Network

April 16, 2025

MGM CEO: Prediction markets may be ‘cement’ for federal government to enter gambling space

Bill Hornbuckle is urging the legal sports betting industry to handle the prediction market battle properly to avoid federal intervention.

As Bill Hornbuckle travelled to Atlantic City this week for a prominent gaming conference, the legal sports betting industry nationwide continued to race toward a proverbial fork in the road.

Days earlier, Kalshi had reported handle of $86 million (£65 million/€75.6 million) during The Masters tournament, roughly three times the volume traded on the platform for the Super Bowl. Over the last month, Kalshi and other prediction markets have been subject to a wave of cease-and-desist orders from states around the country. The litigation comes as the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) prepares this month for a highly awaited roundtable on the regulatory implications of sports event contracts.

Operating tax free on trading revenues, prediction markets pose an existential threat to the regulated gaming industry in the view of some industry ..

April 14, 2025

Weekend Report: First US approval for Beter, STS new sportsbook chief, woman wins $15 million judgment against casino

Welcome to the Weekend Report, where iGB looks at the news that you may have missed across the last few days. This week: Beter gains first US approval, STS names new sportsbook chief and a woman wins a $15 million judgment against a Las Vegas Strip casino.

Beter lands first US approval in New Jersey

Sports betting odds, data and content provider Beter has secured its first approval in the US.

Vendor registration from the New Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement enables Beter to work with licensed operators in the state. This includes delivering its real-time data and live streams.

The first approved product is its flagship Setka Cup table tennis tournaments. This is already live in New Jersey from Bet365.

Beter arranges over 11,000 Setka Cup matches per month, offering more than 30 betting markets per event. In total, it organises over 46,000 fast-betting events monthly across esports and sports disciplines.

“This is a milestone moment for the Beter team,” CEO Gal Ehrlich said..

March 14, 2025

BetMGM learned from its marketing and spending mistakes, Hornbuckle confident in US product roadmap

MGM Resorts CEO Bill Hornbuckle is confident its BetMGM JV with Entain will increase its EBITDA by $250 million (£193.3 million/€229.9 million) in 2025, thanks to ongoing product updates including single-game parlay, omnichannel and single wallet.

Hornbuckle told the audience at JP Morgan’s Gaming conference on 13 March that, while BetMGM is not the fastest product in the US market today, it is now twice previous iterations.

“I know we’ve stopped losing share,” the CEO said. “I think we see a lot of green shoots particularly in January, February and March. Everything we’ve seen would suggest the projection we’ve given is real and we can hit that target.

“The flow through is about 70%, I would say historically we did some things that we’ve learned from, marketing wise and expense wise.”

Reflecting on these “mistakes,” Hornbuckle said the operator had spent $13 million on a Super Bowl ad in 2023, which he acknowledged “wasn’t the greatest idea”.

“Nor was it a great commercial, t..

March 3, 2025

Weekend Report: Trump set to pardon Pete Rose, new Genting Berhad CEO, Pope betting

Welcome to the Weekend Report, where iGB looks at the news that you may have missed across Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This week: Trump set to pardon Pete Rose, Genting Berhad names new CEO and controversial Pope betting markets.

Trump pledges to pardon Pete Rose

US president Donald Trump has said he will pardon baseball legend Pete Rose and hit out at the decision to exclude him from the sport’s Hall of Fame.

Rose was banned from baseball for life after admitting to betting on the sport back in 2004 but never bet against his own team. His bid for reinstatement was rejected in 2015.

Rose, who also served five months in prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion in 1990, died last year aged 83.

Writing on social media last week, Trump said he will pursue a “complete pardon” for Rose.

“He never betted against himself, or the other team. He had the most hits, by far, in baseball history and won more games than anyone in sports history,” Trump said, according to ESPN.

Genting Berh..

February 25, 2025

Michigan igaming momentum continues in new year

Record monthly online gambling revenues lifted Michigan’s combined gross igaming and sports betting receipts to $331.2 million (£262.5m/€316.4m) in January.

The total figure, comprising igaming receipts of $248.2 million and sports betting revenue of $83 million, was up 25.4% over December’s total.

January’s record online gambling figure surpassed the previous record of $244 million set in December. Adjusted monthly igaming gross receipts of $233.1 million represented a year-on-year increase of 42%.

Online gambling growth

Last month, the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) reported that igaming revenue reached an all-time high of $2.9 billion in 2024.

The momentum appears to be continuing in the new year, with the market’s three biggest players increasing their monthly receipts.

BetMGM and MGM Grand Detroit, which generated market-leading igaming receipts of $640.1 million in 2024, remained at the top with $66.5 million in January. This figure was up from $65.1 million in Decemb..

February 13, 2025

China drives MGM Resorts to record revenue in 2024, digital up 28% as betting platform launch is imminent

MGM Resorts International posted a record $17.24 billion (£13.80 billion/€16.53 billion) in consolidated net revenue during its 2024 financial year, driven once again by growth within its China-facing business.

Total revenue for 2024 surpassed the $16.16 billion reported during the previous year by 6.7%. It is also the highest annual amount ever posted by MGM, the operator confirmed yesterday (12 February).

Revenue was flat across two of MGM’s four core divisions – Las Vegas Strip Resorts and Regional Operations. However, significant growth in China, accompanied by a similar increase in digital revenue, pushed the yearly total up.

“We are proud to report the best full-year consolidated net revenues in the history of the company,” CEO Bill Hornbuckle said. “This was driven by a record performance from MGM China. We’re also encouraged by the strong demand we’re seeing in the business so far in 2025, which positions us well for continued growth.”

MGM China revenue rises 27.6%

The sta..

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..

November 18, 2024

LatAm Q3 results round-up: Brazil betting launch dominates discussions

With the majority of the gambling industry having published their Q3 results, iGB looks at how operators fared in the region and their plans for the future there.

Brazil will launch its legal betting market on 1 January 2025 and one operator that is hoping to make a real dent in the market is the giant Flutter Entertainment.

Back in September, Flutter announced it had agreed to acquire an initial 56% stake in NSX Group, which operates the Brazil-facing Betnacional brand. The deal is worth $350 million (£266.5 million/€316.0 million).

For the nine months ending 30 September, Flutter reported year-on-year revenue growth in Brazil of 4%. In its earnings call following the Q3 results release, CFO Rob Coldrake spoke of the operator’s excitement for the market opening.

“We’re very confident about our approach in Brazil,” Coldrake told reporters. “We’ve grown with our brands that we’ve got there already. We’re very excited about the NSX acquisition.”

The NSX acquisition will create a new..

October 23, 2024

BetMGM launches in Sweden as European expansion continues

LeoVegas has launched its BetMGM brand in Sweden, marking its third market launch outside North America.

BetMGM joins sister brands LeoVegas, GoGoCasino and the sports betting brand nya expekt in LeoVegas’ home market of Sweden.

The brand was initially developed for the US market via a joint venture between MGM Resorts and Entain. MGM snapped up LeoVegas in a $604 million deal in 2022 and subsequently bought Tipico’s US betting platform in June to support its entry into Brazil and bring LeoVegas’ sports betting tech in house.

LeoVegas CEO and founder Gustaf Hagman told iGB in September 2023 that MGM’s intention was to grow internationally in the digital space, with LeoVegas as the powerhouse.

Setting BetMGM live in the UK was its first point of call in September last year. This was followed by the Netherlands in April as the operator sought to replicate its initial success in the UK market elsewhere in Europe.

What BetMGM products are available in Sweden?

The same offering w..

August 15, 2024

MGM enters joint venture with Grupo Globo to launch BetMGM in Brazil

MGM has established a joint venture with media giant Grupo Globo to enter the licensed betting market in Brazil. The offering will use BetMGM’s branding and LeoVegas’ betting and gaming technology.
The venture will leverage Grupo Globo’s consumer network of approximately 70 million daily users across tv, digital, radio and print media. It is the largest media group in Latin America.

Once its licence is approved, the JV will launch in 2025 with its headquarters in Sao Paulo.

In a statement, BetMGM said the venture would maintain exclusive rights to all of MGM Resorts’ iconic brands and will count on the customer bases of both companies to establish a widely known betting offering.

MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle said the JV was a key milestone in the operator’s growth strategy.

“Brazil is one of the most exciting and vibrant emerging gaming markets in the world, and no one has more exposure and expertise in this market than Grupo Globo.

“This historic alliance allows us to quickly enter t..

July 30, 2024

Insider who tried to wager $100,000 on Alabama baseball sentenced

The Indiana businessman who attempted to wager $100,000 on an Alabama-LSU college baseball game last year was sentenced on Monday (28 July) to eight months in prison and three and a half years of supervised probation.
Bert Neff, who received a text from former Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohanan saying that Alabama had pulled its starting pitcher, walked into an MGM casino in Ohio on 28 April 2023 and attempted to place a $100,000 bet based on the information.

MGM employees refused the bet, but allowed Neff to lay down $15,000 on LSU to win. The attempt to wager $100,000 and the ensuing $15,000 bet were considered suspicious by MGM employees. The bets were quickly flagged and, within days, markets on LSU-Alabama baseball were suspended. Within a week, Bohanan was fired.

Bohanan has not been charged. But the NCAA sanctioned him for 15 years.

Neff, whose son played baseball at Cincinnati when the bet was placed, wasn’t charged for wagering with inside information. Federal authorit..

September 8, 2023

LeoVegas breaks ground with BetMGM UK

The news that BetMGM would be launching in the UK gave its gambling market a much-needed shake. But it was the fact that LeoVegas, not Entain, would be MGM’s launch partner that really set the conversation alight. Gustaf Hagman, CEO of LeoVegas, believes his company is more than ready to take on the challenge.

To say the journey to the launch of BetMGM UK has been complex would be an understatement.

To the uninitiated, an established US-facing brand – a joint venture of two industry giants – has managed to implant itself into the UK market.

But peeling back the layers reveals a different story. BetMGM’s US offering is a joint venture shared between MGM and Entain. But the launch of BetMGM UK doesn’t include Entain at all.

Instead LeoVegas, which was acquired by MGM Resorts last year for $604m, will power BetMGM’s new UK platform. This means that BetMGM UK will be competing directly against Entain’s UK brands, which include the likes of Ladbrokes, Coral and Gala.

Despite the enormi..

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