Commentary on Sports Betting from BMM Sponsored Panel at IMGL 2018

BMM Testlabs, the world’s leading gaming testing laboratory and technical consultancy, had the pleasure to participate at IMGL 2018 in Prague on September 6-8. BMM served as sponsors for the US Sports Betting panel with Director of iGaming and New Product Strategy, Filippo Ferri as a panelist.

Ferri commented, “As always, the IMGL conference was very successful for BMM. We truly enjoy meeting with our European clients and letting them know what the most recent developments in our industry are, specifically sports betting in the US. BMM is one of only two laboratories that can test sports betting platforms in the US and our staff are the most reputable and knowledgeable professionals on sport betting.”

Ferri participated in the panel ‘Sports Betting in the USA: Now that the Gloves are Off…Who Wins?’, along with Marc Ellinger, a Partner at Ellinger and Associates, LLC; Jeremy Kleiman, Lawyer at Saiber LLC; Heidi McNeil Staudenmaier, Senior Partner at Snell & Wilmer, and Keith Miller, Professor of Law at Drake University. They discussed the impact on individual states now open for sports betting and who the winners and losers will be in the short and long term.

Ellinger, a Partner in Ellinger and Associates, LLC, in Jefferson City, Missouri moderated the panel and commented, “The United States Supreme Court’s decision in Christie v. NCAA, the fifty states and the related tribes find themselves in a new world where they are independently in control of their ability to authorize sports betting. Every state is different and the tribes are all different, so it is likely to see a variety of sports betting regimes and regulatory schemes all across the United States. One thing is for sure, sports betting is going to expand across the nation.”

Kleiman, a Gaming Lawyer at the New Jersey law firm Saiber LLC, stated, “Sports betting in the U.S. will continue to be linked to land-based casino licenses in most jurisdictions. There are opportunities for European operators not yet in the market, but they will need to enter into commercial partnerships with casinos. Moreover, although the U.S. licensing regimes are burdensome, a gambling license from a major U.S. jurisdiction is a credential that will help non-U.S. operators to reach commercial agreements.”

McNeil Staudenmaier, a Senior Partner based in the Phoenix, Arizona office of the law firm of Snell & Wilmer, added, “Literally every Native American Tribe in the United States is considering whether to undertake sports betting at their tribal casino operations. At present, there are nearly 500 tribal casinos in the United States which generated approximately $32.4 billion in gaming revenue in 2017. The Mississippi Choctaw Tribe commenced their sports betting operations in late August 2018. Other tribes are likely to follow suit in the near future. Before being able to offer sports betting at their tribal casinos, the Tribes need to first determine whether sports betting is permitted by the applicable Tribal-State Compact and the Tribal Gaming Ordinance. If not, the Tribe will need to negotiate an amendment to the Compact with the State and then obtain approval from the United States Secretary of the Interior. The Ordinance likewise will require an amendment and approval by the National Indian Gaming Commission. If a State is seeking to conduct sports betting off reservation, the State will need to review the Tribal-State Compact for any “exclusivity” issues.”

Professor Miller concluded, “The Supreme Court decision may have opened opportunities for states to offer sports betting, but states should not view sports betting as a means of generating large tax revenues. Sports books are not especially profitable and the states may be disappointed if expectations for taxes are too high.”

Look out for BMM at upcoming industry events educating the industry on Sports Betting in the US.

about BMM:
BMM is the longest established and most experienced private independent gaming certification lab in the world, providing professional technical and regulatory compliance services to the gaming industry since 1981.

At its core, BMM is a systems-expert company that has provided consulting for and tested many of the largest gaming networks and systems over the last 36 years. In addition, BMM has been successfully testing and certifying the full scope of Class III casino products for over two decades.
BMM authored the first set of independent gaming standards in 1992 and the first set of online gaming standards in 2001.
BMM employs some 325 people in 14 global locations and serves over 440 jurisdictions.
BMM’s world headquarters are in Las Vegas (USA), with offices in Mexico City (Mexico), Lima (Peru), Melbourne and Sydney (Australia), Singapore, Macau (SAR, China), Moncton (Canada), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Barcelona (Spain), Vienna (Austria), Bologna (Italy), Midrand (South Africa) and Bucharest (Romania).

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