{"id":29525,"date":"2021-04-21T11:04:54","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T19:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=29525"},"modified":"2023-09-26T13:34:01","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T21:34:01","slug":"michigan-sports-betting-i-gaming-surge-aga-chases-renegade-slots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/blog\/michigan-sports-betting-i-gaming-surge-aga-chases-renegade-slots\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan sports betting, i-gaming surge; AGA chases renegade slots"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Motor-City.jpg?w=980&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7816\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\" class=\"has-drop-cap\">Say what you like about <strong>Michigan<\/strong>, it&#8217;s giving <strong>New Jersey<\/strong> and <strong>Pennsylvania<\/strong> a literal run for their money in Internet gambling. Win\/day is just over $3 million, close behind the Keystone State&#8217;s $3.15 million and challenging the Garden State&#8217;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 <strong>FanDuel<\/strong>\/<strong>MotorCity Casino<\/strong> with 30% ($107 million), followed by <strong>BetMGM<\/strong>&#8216;s 26% ($92.5 million), <strong>DraftKings<\/strong>&#8216; 21% ($76.5 million) and\u2014losing a bit of ground\u2014<strong>Barstool Sports<\/strong>&#8216; 11% ($39.5 million).  Others showing up on the radar were <strong>PointsBet<\/strong>\/<strong>Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians<\/strong>\u00a0($14 million), <strong>William Hill<\/strong>\/<strong>Grand Traverse Bay Band of Ottawa &amp; Chippewa Indians<\/strong>\u00a0($11 million), <strong>FoxBet<\/strong>\/<strong>Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians<\/strong> ($7 million), <strong>BetRivers<\/strong>\/<strong>Little River Band of the Ottawa Indians<\/strong> ($5 million), <strong>Twin Spires<\/strong>\/<strong>Hannahville Indian Community<\/strong> ($3 million) and <strong>WynnBet<\/strong>\/<strong>Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians<\/strong> ($2 million). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">As for win, it broke in BetMGM&#8217;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, \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">When it came to i-gaming, the brick-and-mortar leader (<strong>MGM Resorts International<\/strong>) was also the Web boss, with 32% market share and $31 million in revenue. Next was FanDuel&#8217;s $19 million, then BetRivers&#8217; $7 million, FoxBet&#8217;s $6 million and Barstool&#8217;s $4 million. Part of the key to the Wolverine State&#8217;s success, has been the ability to launch with a full strike package of games\u2014no 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. \u201cAs successful as the launch has been, those promotional credits are starting to stack up, which could take some time to work through,\u201d said <strong>PlayUSA<\/strong> analyst <strong>Matt Schoch<\/strong>. \u201cThe 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.\u201d Gov. Whitmer, take note!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\" class=\"has-drop-cap\">Having resolved its stance on i-gaming, the <strong>American Gaming Association<\/strong> is turning its gun sights upon renegade slot routes, releasing a white paper on <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.americangaming.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Unregulated-Gaming-Machines-White-Paper-Final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">black-market slots<\/a>. As we&#8217;ve often noted in the past, these devices are untested, unregulated and potentially unfair to consumers. \u201cHistory 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,\u201d said <strong>Arizona<\/strong> Attorney General <strong>Mark Brnovich<\/strong>. Added the AGA&#8217;s <strong>Jessica Feil<\/strong>, \u201cUnfortunately, there\u2019s 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\u00a0while drawing important tax revenue away from states.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-26537\" style=\"width: 150px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/northam.jpg?w=980&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\"> Ah, tax revenue. Now we&#8217;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\u2014ahem, <strong>Florida<\/strong>\u2014have been lax. Two, don&#8217;t simply roll over and legitimize these routes for the sake of a quickie economic fix. (That&#8217;d be you, <strong>Virginia<\/strong> Gov. <strong>Ralph Northam<\/strong> [D]). Third, self-regulation by businesses that host gambling devices. Number three is a big ask but the AGA obviously doesn&#8217;t want to take a simply adversarial stance. Whatever happens, if anything, they have our support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\" class=\"has-drop-cap\">Elsewhere on the advocacy front, <strong>Indiana Grand<\/strong> came under fire from the <strong>Shelby County Drug Coalition <\/strong>for permitting smoking. It&#8217;s part of a wider front against area restaurants and bars that allow customers to smoke &#8217;em if they&#8217;ve got &#8217;em. SCDC exec <strong>Keyen Macklin<\/strong> 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. \u201cYou\u2019ll hear a lot of our residents talking about not being able to enjoy that because of the smoking,\u201d she said of Indiana Grand. Calling the notion of revenue loss &#8220;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shelbynews.com\/news\/drug-free-coalition-urging-casino-to-go-smoke-free\/article_61317df4-7991-515e-a256-88bcb55a5492.html\" target=\"_blank\">a flat-out lie<\/a>,&#8221; Macklin pointed to <strong>Ohio<\/strong> as an example of a state that has no in-casino smoking and where the industry is thriving. (She also noted <strong>Illinois<\/strong>, not such a good instance.) \u201cSo being a casino, you would think they would bet on the better odds of going smoke free to increase their revenue,\u201d she said.\u00a0Colleague <strong>Lori Springer<\/strong> tactlessly suggested that the problem would solve itself as Baby Boomers &#8220;die off,&#8221; leaving younger, more health-conscious gamblers to replace them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">Warming to her argument, Springer added, \u201cAnother thing, on the [<strong>Caesars Entertainment<\/strong>] website, under their core values, they talk about prioritizing guest safety, so knowing tobacco kills more people than all other drugs combined, it\u2019s not possible to allow smoking inside and prioritize safety.\u201d Macklin piled on, saying, &#8220;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?&#8221; (They&#8217;ve got a point.) The two won&#8217;t find much succor from local politicians, who fear a reduction in taxes from Indiana Grand is smoking is<em> verboten<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-24040\" style=\"width: 150px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Murphy.jpeg?w=980&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\"> <strong>New Jersey<\/strong>&#8216;s casino industry, meanwhile, got lit up by the <em>South Jersey Times<\/em>. <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nj.com\/opinion\/2021\/04\/time-is-right-for-full-nj-casino-smoking-ban-editorial.html\" target=\"_blank\">Zinging the flip-flopping<\/a> of Gov. <strong>Phil Murphy<\/strong> (D) on the smoking issue, just for openers (and Murphy&#8217;s myriad positions on the issue make little sense) the paper&#8217;s editorial board them took aim at Big Gaming itself. They wrote, &#8220;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 [<strong>Atlantic City<\/strong>] 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.&#8221; Alluding to the industry&#8217;s failed experiment with a 2008 smoking ban, the <em>Times<\/em> continued, &#8220;So much time has passed that it\u2019s incredible to see the <strong>Casino Association of New Jersey<\/strong> trot out the same old response to renewed talk of a ban.&#8221; 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&#8217;t stick to a narrower, health-based argument. If the industry can\u2014and has\u2014stand tall against <strong>Covid-19<\/strong>, then licking smoking on the gaming floor should be no great challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\" class=\"has-drop-cap\">No surprise, <strong>WalletHub<\/strong> has yet again elected <strong>Nevada<\/strong> the country&#8217;s <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/wallethub.com\/edu\/states-most-addicted-to-gambling\/20846\">most gambling-addicted state<\/a>, followed by <strong>Mississippi<\/strong> and <strong>South Dakota<\/strong> (the least-addicted is supposedly <strong>Utah<\/strong>. Tell that to <strong>Wendover<\/strong>.) The Silver State tied with <strong>Oklahoma<\/strong> 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.) <strong>Massachusetts<\/strong> and <strong>Rhode Island<\/strong> led the nation in lottery sales. Actual gambling disorders are highest in Mississippi and <strong>Minnesota<\/strong>, while Nevada is fifth, with <strong>Kansas<\/strong> (!) and New Jersey sandwiched in between. Michigan, surprise of surprises, has the fewest disordered gamblers. <strong>Hawaii<\/strong>, 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&#8217;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&#8217;s shaky contention that gambling addictions &#8220;may be\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC7546777\/\">on the rise<\/a>\u00a0due to increased isolated time spent online during the COVID-19 pandemic,&#8221; it appears premature, at best. Judging by the reliance on industry opponents like <strong>John Warren Kindt<\/strong>, we suspect that WalletHub has an axe and is not-so-subtly grinding it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"551\" width=\"980\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Resorts-World-LV-1024x576.jpeg?resize=980%2C551&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-25438\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\"><strong>Jottings<\/strong>: Feeling its oats, <strong>Resorts World Las Vegas<\/strong> is opening early (June 24) with <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/vegas.eater.com\/2021\/4\/19\/22391763\/resorts-world-opens-las-vegas-strip-june-24\" target=\"_blank\">a staggering 40-plus eateries<\/a>. That&#8217;s really putting your money where your mouth is &#8230; There&#8217;s a new proposal afoot for <strong>Atlantic City<\/strong>&#8216;s <strong>Bader Field<\/strong>. It entails\u2014<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/ggbnews.com\/article\/is-formula-1-racing-a-fit-for-ac-entertainment\/\" target=\"_blank\">get this<\/a>\u2014<strong>Formula One<\/strong> racing. The time when the city attempted to sell the ex-airport to <strong>Penn National Gaming<\/strong> seems like very ancient history indeed &#8230; Elsewhere in town, <strong>Bobby Flay<\/strong> is out at <strong>Borgata<\/strong>. Our Boardwalk correspondent reports that a &#8216;temporary&#8217; restaurant will supplant Flay. &#8220;My suggestion is serving surplus MREs (military ready to eat) meals. May taste better than <strong>Wolfgang Puck<\/strong>&#8216;s when we ate there only one time\u2014one and done. Wolfgang Puck&#8217;s place never re-opened&#8221; &#8230; <strong>Macao<\/strong> gambling revenues for March limped along at 31% of pre-<strong>Coronavirus<\/strong> levels. &#8220;It\u2019s important to remember that this sequential trend reflected travel curbs and soft travel into Chinese New Year\u2019s 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,&#8221; wrote <strong>JP Morgan<\/strong> analyst <strong>Joseph Greff<\/strong>, arguing that mass-market play (vital to <strong>Sands China<\/strong>) is at half of pre-Covid strength &#8230; Good news for <strong>Nevada<\/strong>. Unemployment continues to creep downwards, to a statewide average of 8%. It&#8217;s 9% in <strong>Las Vegas<\/strong> but only 4.5% in <strong>Reno<\/strong>. Whouda thunk? &#8230; Cell phones will not be allowed at <strong>Dave Chappelle<\/strong>&#8216;s July 2 <strong>MGM Grand Garden Arena<\/strong> show. Whew. Glad we got that sorted. As for heath precautions or capacity constraints, the official press release is mum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Say what you like about Michigan, it&#8217;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&#8217;s $3.15 million and challenging the Garden State&#8217;s $3.65 million. Sports betting handle last month was $359.5 million, which (before promotional outlays) translates into [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83928,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1728],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29525"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83928"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29525\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}