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, new partnerships and new acquisitions. Read on and get updated.

Latest News

Caesars Entertainment’s Atlantic City resorts have reached the impressive milestone of distributing one million masks to its employees and customers. During the Harrah’s Resort’s 40th anniversary festivities, Harrah’s longtime customer Angelina Lanza received the one-millionth mask.

The Indiana Gaming Commission is expected to revise its order requiring Caesars Entertainment Inc. to sell the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond by the end of the year. Sara Tait, Executive Director of the Indiana Gaming Commission, said that the commission likely will defer Caesars’ mandatory divestment of the state’s most popular casino for at least one additional year.

The Kansas Lottery has temporarily put a stop to in-person claims due to a rise in Covid-19 cases in the state. Customers who want to claim on a winning ticket will now have to do so by mail. Any prize of over $600 must go through the Lottery’s headquarters. The process requires customers to fill out the back of the lottery ticket, sign it and send it by mail with a printed claims form.

A state agency has launched a one-year study on gambling addiction in Illinois. Results from the report will be used by the Illinois Department of Human Services to help direct future strategies to prevent problem gambling and increase access to treatment and services.

Travis J. Iles, Commissioner of the Texas State Securities Board, has announced a series of enforcement actions against fifteen fraudulent online investment scammers. The enforcement actions highlight a key tactic of fraudulent investment platforms – using the internet and social media to broadly recruit new victims into the schemes.

Partnerships

Golden Matrix Group Inc. has entered into a partnership with Playtech plc. Under terms of their deal, Playtech will have the exclusive rights to distribute GMGI’s newly-developed suite of Esport, peer-to-peer betting games and GMGI’s successful AI player acquisition and retention system throughout Playtech’s extensive global network. Also, Golden Matrix will be granted non-exclusive rights to distribute Playtech’s most popular games through its vast operator network. Playtech gaming software distributed by GMGI will include live dealer games, slots, table games, bingo and poker.

Kindred Group’s Unibet has expanded its comprehensive product offering in Pennsylvania by launching online live dealer tables from Evolution, the leading provider of live casino solutions. Unibet already has a close relation with Evolution in New Jersey and Europe. Unibet will now offer multiple live Blackjack and live Roulette tables in Pennsylvania, with other live games coming later this year.

TransAct Technologies Incorporated has announced that it has been selected by the all-new Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas to support the opening of their new gambling floor. Circa has chosen TransAct’s industry-leading Epic 950 and Epic Edge printers for use in all of their 1350 slot machines.

Acquisition

Canadian gaming and esports company GameSquare Esports has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding shares in Reciprocity Corp, a privately held gaming and esports company. Under the terms of the LOI, GameSquare Esports will issue 43,750,000 common shares of GameSquare to the shareholders of Reciprocity.

Compliance

Nuvei Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of Nuvei Corporation, has received approval to support the sports betting and iGaming industry in West Virginia. With the approval, the Company will be allowed to operate as an iGaming supplier in compliance with the codes outlined in West Virginia’s Interactive Wagering Act and provide services for sports betting operators under West Virginia’s Sports Wagering Act.

Landcadia Holdings II Inc. has secured regulatory approval from the New Jersey Casino Control Commission to acquire Golden Nugget Online Gaming Inc.

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, new partnerships and new acquisitions. Read on and get updated.

Latest News

Score Media and Gaming Inc. has introduced Bet Section, its new integrated and personalised suite of betting features. According to the firm, the new dedicated home within theScore’s media app takes its innovative cross-platform media and betting experience with theScore Bet to the next level. Bet Section delivers suite of new personalised betting features, further deepening theScore’s industry-leading media and gaming integrations. Personalised betting features include prioritised and tailored markets, live bet tracking and exclusive promotions.

The Cordish Companies has celebrated the opening of Live! Casino Pittsburgh. The eagerly awaited $150 million Live! Casino, located at the Westmoreland Mall in Pennsylvania, is scheduled to open its doors to the general public at 6:00 am on 24 November 2020. The Cordish Companies’ Principal Jon Cordish, Managing Partner Joe Weinberg and Cordish Gaming Group President Rob Norton were joined at the ribbon-cutting ceremony by incoming state Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward and state Representative George Dunbar.

The Argentina government has decided to raise the online gaming tax rate for 2021. Online gambling has barely been regulated in Argentina, but that hasn’t stop authorities from approving a tax increase for the sector. As contemplated in the 2021 Budget, the rate online operators pay will rise from 2% to 5% next year.

Partnerships

Online gaming platform developer LatamWin has entered into a partnership with edict egaming, a subsidiary of Gauselmann Group, which will bring new benefits to Merkur game users in Latin America. One of the main goals of the agreement is to engage online gaming operators and all those new companies of the industry, LatamWin said in a press release.

Scientific Games Corporation has signed a new five-year deal with the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission (MSLC). As per the deal, Scientific Games will supply its world-leading instant games, second chance promotions and digital engagement programmes to the Massachusetts Lottery. Scientific Games’ new contract, which may be extended up to two years by MSLC, includes consumer digital services that will engage players through exciting second chance game features and help the Lottery protect and grow revenues for the Commonwealth.

JCM Global and The Mint Gaming Hall at Kentucky Downs have expanded their partnership again. As per the deal, JCM will upgrade all 450 games in the casino to its award-winning iVIZION bill validator with ICB Intelligent Cash Box system. Also, JCM will install its iVIZION with ICB and GEN5 Thermal Printer in the newly expanded casino area, which houses approximately 600 games and opened in September.

New Appointment

GVC Holdings PLC has appointed Martin Lycka as its Senior Vice President for American Regulatory Affairs and Responsible Gambling. In this role, Lycka will be responsible for expanding GVC’s licensing and regulatory structure in the US and underscoring the company’s commitments to responsible gambling, sports integrity and regulatory compliance. Lycka will also lead regulatory affairs in Canada and support GVC’s Latin America regulatory strategy as the company looks to establish state-regulated offerings in these regions.

New Acquisition

Bally’s Corporation has completed the acquisition of Bally’s Atlantic City Hotel & Casino from Caesars Entertainment Inc. and Vici Properties Inc. The purchase price of the acquisition was $25 million, subject to customary adjustments, and was funded with cash on hand.

Compliance

The Virginia Lottery has received 25 applications for mobile sports betting permits. The names of the companies that applied are not revealed by the Lottery. Big-name companies like DraftKings, FanDuel and Penn National Gaming, affiliated with Barstool Sports, and major casino operators have already shown interest in Virginia’s sports betting industry and may be among the applicants.

BETEGY, a sports data content production service based in Warsaw, Poland, has raised a new round of investment capital from JKR Investment Group, to support its ambitious United States expansion plans.

To help guide its U.S. growth, the company has retained Bill Pascrell, III, Esq., as a supervisory board member.  Pascrell, a globally recognized gaming industry attorney, advisor and strategist, is a partner in Princeton Public Affairs Group, Inc., a public policy consulting and advocacy firm.  

Betegy is an automated content creation system which turns complex sports data into engaging graphics, animations, banners, widgets and texts.  Using machine learning algorithms, the service provides betting operators and media companies with analytics and data visualization by generating high-quality, personalized content. 

Founded in 2012, Betegy clients include ESPN, Tipico, Ringier Axel Springer, Bwin, Yahoo Sports, Sportsbet.io, and Winners.net. With JKR’s financial investment and Pascrell’s management insights, Betegy plans to help U.S media companies, gaming operators and professional sports leagues to gather and display complex data from multiple sources, in fast and easily understood formats. 

The European JKR Investment Group specializes in investments in the tech entertainment industry, helping ambitious start-ups and growing companies to build profitable entertainment businesses using its wide network and in-depth industry expertise.  The Group invests in the igaming, digital marketing, fintech, and esports sectors.

Alexander Gusev, CEO and Managing Partner of JKR, expects the JKR investment “will strengthen our ecosystem and help Betegy to compete successfully in the dynamic and growing market. We are delighted to extend our portfolio with investment into the industry innovator: Betegy is an excellent example of how a service can help clients amplify their specialists’ resources, releasing them from routine production. Operators, sports leagues and online media, their users and wider communities will benefit from Betegy’s leading data technologies and services”

Widely known for his gambling industry expertise and successful advocacy among national and state policymakers, Pascrell represents dozens of clients from around the world including Hard Rock International, Golden Nugget, GVC Holdings, Lottoland, Monmouth Park Race Track, Meadowlands Race Track, PointsBet, PokerStars, Amaya, A Game Above, Hexigames, GiG, and BetMakers.  

Pascrell’s work has been pivotal for several major gaming industry milestones including the successful legalization and regulation of U.S. sports betting through a 10-year campaign to repeal the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), culminating in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 landmark ruling.  He also led the successful campaign to bring legalized and regulated online gaming to the U.S. in 2013.     

Pascrell said, “Joining Betegy as a new Supervisory Board member provides a great opportunity and responsibility toward a growing U.S client base. Led by Alex Kornilov, CEO & Founder, Betegy has combined cutting-edge technology with a powerhouse management team for a truly global reach.  Betegy is a strong and dynamic company that has the tools and leadership to penetrate the U.S. market and to provide unique data content to its growing U.S. clientele.”       

Kornilov explained, “This is a new chapter for Betegy clients as together we change the approach to data-driven content production globally. Our partnership with JKR Investment Group is more than a financial backing of our vision.  We gain in-depth industry expertise and access to a wide network, which will accelerate our growth.  

“At the same time,” he added, “Bill Pascrell’s long experience in U.S. and global markets will be invaluable as he helps us to navigate new markets. His experience is vital for Betegy’s success in the U.S.”