Say what you like about Michigan, it’s giving New Jersey and Pennsylvania a literal run for their money in Internet gambling. Win/day is just over $3 million, close behind the Keystone State’s $3.15 million and challenging the Garden State’s $3.65 million. Sports betting handle last month was $359.5 million, which (before promotional outlays) translates into $32 million in revenue, a figure dwarfed by $95 million in i-gaming win. Market leader in handle was FanDuel/MotorCity Casino with 30% ($107 million), followed by BetMGM‘s 26% ($92.5 million), DraftKings‘ 21% ($76.5 million) and—losing a bit of ground—Barstool Sports‘ 11% ($39.5 million). Others showing up on the radar were PointsBet/Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians ($14 million), William Hill/Grand Traverse Bay Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians ($11 million), FoxBet/Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians ($7 million), BetRivers/Little River Band of the Ottawa Indians ($5 million), Twin Spires/Hannahville Indian Community ($3 million) and WynnBet/Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians ($2 million).
As for win, it broke in BetMGM’s favor ($9 million), with FanDuel posting $8 million, DraftKings $6 million and Barstool $5 million. Of the also-rans only PointsBet and William Hill cracked the $1 million mark. Said one analyst, “The top three have separated themselves from the pack, but BetMGM has differentiated itself in generating heavy action while preserving its win with less in promotions.”
When it came to i-gaming, the brick-and-mortar leader (MGM Resorts International) was also the Web boss, with 32% market share and $31 million in revenue. Next was FanDuel’s $19 million, then BetRivers’ $7 million, FoxBet’s $6 million and Barstool’s $4 million. Part of the key to the Wolverine State’s success, has been the ability to launch with a full strike package of games—no waiting around for blackjack, as happened in Pennsylvania. The only loser has been the tax man, whose take was diminished by heavy deployment of promotional credits, thereby minimizing taxable revenue. “As successful as the launch has been, those promotional credits are starting to stack up, which could take some time to work through,” said PlayUSA analyst Matt Schoch. “The summer months will likely end up being more fruitful for the state, even as betting predictably slows with a lighter sports calendar. If tax revenue remains lackluster, however, it could grow into a larger issue that may need to be fixed going forward.” Gov. Whitmer, take note!
Having resolved its stance on i-gaming, the American Gaming Association is turning its gun sights upon renegade slot routes, releasing a white paper on black-market slots. As we’ve often noted in the past, these devices are untested, unregulated and potentially unfair to consumers. “History has taught us that unregulated gambling gives rise to an array of legal and social concerns and ultimately erodes public confidence in the safety and integrity of the whole gaming industry,” said Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich. Added the AGA’s Jessica Feil, “Unfortunately, there’s been a rapid increase of unregulated gaming machines that exist in the shadows, taking advantage of loopholes and flouting the law, with little to no oversight. These machines ultimately endanger consumers and communities, fueling problem gambling and crime while drawing important tax revenue away from states.”
Ah, tax revenue. Now we’re getting to the nub of the issue. Black-market slots represent a sieve through which taxes slip (to say nothing of potential revenue for Big Gaming). The AGA offers three policy nostrums. One, stricter policing of laws on what constitutes a legal gaming device, something in which many states—ahem, Florida—have been lax. Two, don’t simply roll over and legitimize these routes for the sake of a quickie economic fix. (That’d be you, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam [D]). Third, self-regulation by businesses that host gambling devices. Number three is a big ask but the AGA obviously doesn’t want to take a simply adversarial stance. Whatever happens, if anything, they have our support.
Elsewhere on the advocacy front, Indiana Grand came under fire from the Shelby County Drug Coalition for permitting smoking. It’s part of a wider front against area restaurants and bars that allow customers to smoke ’em if they’ve got ’em. SCDC exec Keyen Macklin pointed to an in-progress, $32.5 million expansion of the racino as the perfect premise to go smokeless, suggesting that an outdoor smoking area be substituted, pointing to a 2020 study by the American Lung Association that showed overwhelming support from casino customers themselves. “You’ll hear a lot of our residents talking about not being able to enjoy that because of the smoking,” she said of Indiana Grand. Calling the notion of revenue loss “a flat-out lie,” Macklin pointed to Ohio as an example of a state that has no in-casino smoking and where the industry is thriving. (She also noted Illinois, not such a good instance.) “So being a casino, you would think they would bet on the better odds of going smoke free to increase their revenue,” she said. Colleague Lori Springer tactlessly suggested that the problem would solve itself as Baby Boomers “die off,” leaving younger, more health-conscious gamblers to replace them.
Warming to her argument, Springer added, “Another thing, on the [Caesars Entertainment] website, under their core values, they talk about prioritizing guest safety, so knowing tobacco kills more people than all other drugs combined, it’s not possible to allow smoking inside and prioritize safety.” Macklin piled on, saying, “Caesars says under core values that employees are the heart of the business and they care, but having them working in a smoking environment is dangerous. And Caesars actually owns successful smoke-free casinos, so why protect some of your employees but not others?” (They’ve got a point.) The two won’t find much succor from local politicians, who fear a reduction in taxes from Indiana Grand is smoking is verboten.
New Jersey‘s casino industry, meanwhile, got lit up by the South Jersey Times. Zinging the flip-flopping of Gov. Phil Murphy (D) on the smoking issue, just for openers (and Murphy’s myriad positions on the issue make little sense) the paper’s editorial board them took aim at Big Gaming itself. They wrote, “the best time to snuff out this behavior is when a pandemic becomes a long-term game-changer. It certainly makes zero sense to return to smoking sections while [Atlantic City] patrons still must wear masks, and just recently won the right to remove them briefly to eat or drink at the slots or a card table.” Alluding to the industry’s failed experiment with a 2008 smoking ban, the Times continued, “So much time has passed that it’s incredible to see the Casino Association of New Jersey trot out the same old response to renewed talk of a ban.” Unfortunately for the editorial writers, they got carried away with themselves and accused the industry of cultivating problem gambling, of which (they contended) smoking was one enabler. Too bad they didn’t stick to a narrower, health-based argument. If the industry can—and has—stand tall against Covid-19, then licking smoking on the gaming floor should be no great challenge.
No surprise, WalletHub has yet again elected Nevada the country’s most gambling-addicted state, followed by Mississippi and South Dakota (the least-addicted is supposedly Utah. Tell that to Wendover.) The Silver State tied with Oklahoma and S.D. for most casinos per capita, and edged those two states for the most gambling machines per capita. (Blame it on slot routes, if you must.) Massachusetts and Rhode Island led the nation in lottery sales. Actual gambling disorders are highest in Mississippi and Minnesota, while Nevada is fifth, with Kansas (!) and New Jersey sandwiched in between. Michigan, surprise of surprises, has the fewest disordered gamblers. Hawaii, where gambling is illegal, leads the nation in gaming-related arrests, along with Mississippi, while six states are tied for the fewest. Judging by the states that routinely appear at the bottom of WalletHub’s stat sheet, the only way not to have unpleasant side effects from casinos is not to have them, period. A radical solution. As for WalletHub’s shaky contention that gambling addictions “may be on the rise due to increased isolated time spent online during the COVID-19 pandemic,” it appears premature, at best. Judging by the reliance on industry opponents like John Warren Kindt, we suspect that WalletHub has an axe and is not-so-subtly grinding it.
Jottings: Feeling its oats, Resorts World Las Vegas is opening early (June 24) with a staggering 40-plus eateries. That’s really putting your money where your mouth is … There’s a new proposal afoot for Atlantic City‘s Bader Field. It entails—get this—Formula One racing. The time when the city attempted to sell the ex-airport to Penn National Gaming seems like very ancient history indeed … Elsewhere in town, Bobby Flay is out at Borgata. Our Boardwalk correspondent reports that a ‘temporary’ restaurant will supplant Flay. “My suggestion is serving surplus MREs (military ready to eat) meals. May taste better than Wolfgang Puck‘s when we ate there only one time—one and done. Wolfgang Puck’s place never re-opened” … Macao gambling revenues for March limped along at 31% of pre-Coronavirus levels. “It’s important to remember that this sequential trend reflected travel curbs and soft travel into Chinese New Year’s and that GGR improved every month during the 1Q21, indicating, to us, pent-up demand with the quarter ending up stronger than how it started,” wrote JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff, arguing that mass-market play (vital to Sands China) is at half of pre-Covid strength … Good news for Nevada. Unemployment continues to creep downwards, to a statewide average of 8%. It’s 9% in Las Vegas but only 4.5% in Reno. Whouda thunk? … Cell phones will not be allowed at Dave Chappelle‘s July 2 MGM Grand Garden Arena show. Whew. Glad we got that sorted. As for heath precautions or capacity constraints, the official press release is mum.
I give Resorts World huge kudo’s, they have created hype, they have projected out to people that they do not intend to cut corners, At first I was very lukewarm about a new “theme less” high dollar, high roller resort opening up in the north strip, now I want to go there badly. After years of drama, construction, and supposed hype, Aria and City Center opened up several years back, as a Las Vegas junkie I was excited, it did not end up doing anything for me, although I do admit the rooms are nice inside the hotel. Resorts World will certainly have higher table limits than my budget, I will not become a regular unless they have good video poker at the quarter level, which is highly unlikely. All I ask is they they dazzle me, and so far so good…