Welcome to our weekly roundup of American gambling news again! It was again an eventful week in the USA, despite the still-active virus attack.

Here, we are going through the weekly highlights of the American gambling industry which include the latest news and new partnerships. Read on and get updated.

Latest News

Casinos in New York are now able to stay open until 11 pm after Governor Andrew Cuomo eased the Covid-19 countermeasures in the state. Along with casinos, the governor’s executive order also puts back the previous 10 pm curfew by an hour for restaurants, bars, gyms and fitness centres, billiards halls and any other location with a State Liquor Authority licence.

The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) has authorised the launch of another online gaming and sports betting operator. The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians — which operates three casinos under the Four Winds brand in Dowagiac, Hartford and New Buffalo — and its platform provider, Pala Interactive LLC, join a group of other operators and platform providers the state agency has approved in recent weeks, since the two forms of gambling officially launched in the state last month.

NeoPollard Interactive has congratulated its customer network on exceptional Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) results. NPi’s iLottery partners, including the Michigan, Virginia, New Hampshire and North Carolina Education Lotteries, achieved topline sales totaling a collective $2 billion. Just as impressive as this milestone achievement is the fact that these lotteries grew topline sales by a remarkable 89% from the previous fiscal year. FY20 is defined as the twelve-month period ending 30 June 2020 for each state except Michigan, which concluded FY20 on 30 September 2020; all four lotteries have continued to achieve significant growth in the current fiscal year.

A class-action lawsuit filed last week targets Apple for hosting and profiting from casino-style apps through the App Store, specifically titles developed by Zynga. Lodged with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Columbia, the suit takes issue with free-to-play games that offer micro-transactions, or in-app purchases, for digital currency or other forms of digital goods.

Partnerships

Playtech plc has announced that it has signed strategic agreements with various subsidiaries of Greenwood Racing, which own and operate the Parx Casino in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. The agreements include licensing of Playtech products to the Greenwood companies in the states of Michigan, Indiana, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, commencing with the launch of online casino in Michigan on Playtech’s IMS Platform and Player Account Management (PAM).

Online casino content provider Pragmatic Play has entered into a partnership with BetPlay, one of the key operators in Colombia. This new partnership will see the Colombian operator take Pragmatic Play’s entire suite of award-winning slots including the fan-favourite Wolf Gold, recent hit The Hand of Midas, and the highly acclaimed John Hunter series. BetPlay is the online gaming division of Corredor Empresarial, the country’s national lottery operator. This deal is a strategic move in Pragmatic Play’s expansion plan in Latin America, as BetPlay is one of the market leaders in the regulated country as well as the main sponsor of the National Football League (NFL).

The Director Board of Atlantic Lottery has appointed Patrick Daigle as the organisation’s interim President and CEO. Daigle began his Atlantic Lottery career in 1997 and most recently served as the Lottery’s Chief Financial Officer. Sean O’Connor, Chair of Atlantic Lottery’s Director Board, said Daigle’s nearly 25 years of proven senior leadership experience will be a valued asset to the organisation during the transitional period.

DraftKings has appointed Jennifer Aguiar as its Chief Compliance Officer. Previously, Aguiar served as the company’s Vice President of Compliance and Risk. As Chief Compliance Officer, Aguiar will be responsible for overseeing corporate compliance and enterprise risk management. Among other responsibilities, she will ensure DraftKings’ compliance with all U.S. and international licensing requirements related to daily fantasy sports, sports betting and iGaming.

Gaming Americas rebrands Sports Betting & Casino Summit North America.

Digital events specialists Hipther Agency has revealed its new branding strategy for its flagship conference in the Americas, previously called “Sports Betting & Casino Summit North America”

Starting 2021, Gaming Americas’ annual summit will be hosted under the “Summits by Gaming Americas” brand and will consist of two events:

• 22 June, 2021 – Gaming Summit North America (#GSNA2021)
• 23 June, 2021 – Gaming Summit Latin America (#GSLATAM2021)

Building on the success of the first edition that took place in 2020, the team is excited to add a full day of discussions about the Latin American gambling industry as part of the content coverage on GamingAmericas.com.

The Summit by Gaming Americas brand complements the Gaming Americas Quarterly Meetups and offers a leading range of insights and networking opportunities for industry stakeholders across North and Latin America.

Zoltán Tűndik, Co-Founder and Head of Business at Hipther Agency commented: “In less than a year, Gaming Americas has proved itself and climbed many rankings to become a one-stop media outlet which offers quality content daily and hosts some of the most talked-about industry meetings. We constantly adding to our offering and now our leading summit will cover even more regions in the Americas.”

The team at Hipther Agency are already planning for the second meetup dedicated to the Americas, which will take place on the 29^th of April and also preparing for the Summit which will take place between 22-23 June, 2021.

Details about the 2-day Summit can be found here: https://summits.gamingamericas.com/

Details about the Gaming Americas Quarterly Meetups can be found here: https://gamingamericas.com/meetups/

For sponsorship/speaking and marketing inquiries, make sure to reach out to Andrada Marginean (B2B Sales Executive at Hipther Agency).

For media-related inquiries, please contact Alexandru Marginean (Marketing Specialist at Hipther Agency).

To receive constant updates, subscribe here: http://eepurl.com/hfyZxf

Welcome to our weekly roundup of American gambling news again! It was again an eventful week in the USA, despite the still-active virus attack.

Here, we are going through the weekly highlights of the American gambling industry which include the latest news and new partnerships. Read on and get updated.

Latest News

The Argentine game and platform developer Vibra Gaming has announced that it has received the approval of its RNG by Gaming Laboratories International. This certification is a vital step for Vibra Gaming’s games to be made available for distribution by operators and in jurisdictions requiring this level of technical standards and compliance.

American poker legend Chris Moneymaker has signed with online poker site Americas Cardroom. The new ACR Team Pro made the announcement during the live stream of the $8 Million Venom, which saw its prize pool reach $9,435,000. The Venom is the biggest online poker tournament for U.S. players and consistently smashes records with each incarnation.

Detroit’s three casinos, MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino and Greektown Casino, have reported $90.84 million in monthly aggregate revenue in January, the first full month the venues were open since shuttering in November under state orders tied to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to a report released by the Michigan Gaming Control Board, table games and slots collectively generated $86.78 million in revenue last month. Retail sports betting generated a total of $4.06 million in revenue.

Pollard Banknote Limited has announced that Ms.PAC-MAN, the iconic pop-culture powerhouse, has re-joined its portfolio of licensed properties. Under license from BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc., Ms.PAC-MAN fits seamlessly into Pollard Banknote’s Retro Collection – an ever-growing and diversified selection of recognisable retro brands including PAC-MAN, GALAGA and DIG DUG.

INTRALOT has announced that it has reached a binding agreement with Nexus Group in Peru to sell its entire stake of 20% in Intralot de Peru SA, an associate of INTRALOT Group, for a cash consideration of US$21million. The Company also signed a three-year extension of its current contract with Intralot de Peru SA through 2024, to continue to provide its gaming technology and support services.

Connecticut Lawmakers are planning to legalise online gambling to help fund the state’s Pledge to Advance Connecticut (PACT) programme. A group of Democratic legislators unveiled plans to legalise additional forms of gambling. The new tax revenue that it would derive should be allocated to the state’s PACT programme, they say.

Plans for a casino in Hawaii are not moving forward after a recent proposal was rejected by lawmakers. The members of the House Economic Development Committee voted to reject a proposal to bring a casino to Kapolei. The plans were submitted by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) and would have created a gambling venue to support the state agency in charge of placing Native Hawaiians on homestead property.

Bud Smith, former chairman of the British Colombia Lottery Corporation, has told a public inquiry that he warned cabinet ministers about the risks of high-end gaming. Smith told the inquiry into money laundering that he had warned finance minister Mike de Jong and New Democrat Attorney General David Eby about the risks of gaming where bet limits reached $100,000 or over.

Partnership

The Canadian Gaming Association has entered into a partnership with the iGaming Academy to launch a full online training solution, including up-to-date compliance and skills training courses and a robust Learning Management System (LMS), all specialised for the gaming industry. This new partnership will ensure that the gaming companies in Canada are able to easily access high quality, regulator-approved training content year-round.

WynnBET, the online gaming division of Wynn Resorts, has announced a marketing collaboration with the Memphis Grizzlies. The announcement comes less than two weeks after WynnBET was approved as an operator in Tennessee by the Sports Wagering Committee of the Tennessee Education Lottery Corp.

Online sportsbook PointsBet has become an official sports betting partner of the National Hockey League (NHL). The long-term agreement between PointsBet and the NHL spans across both the US and Australia. As part of the partnership, PointsBet receives rights to use NHL marks and logos, as well as a variety of NHL sponsorship and promotional opportunities for its brand across various linear, digital and social media assets.

DraftKings Inc. and the National Football League (NFL) have signed into an agreement to expand their current daily fantasy sports (DFS) and content partnership to Canada. The new deal further deepens the relationship between the two organisations and enhances the DFS fan experience in Canada as the NFL season approaches the Super Bowl.

Compliance

Coljuegos, the gambling regulator in Colombia, has awarded a five-year igaming license to sports betting exchange Betfair. The license will allow Betfair to operate betting on real sporting and non-sporting events, online slots, roulette and blackjack.