In a rare moment of grace, Penn National Gaming agreed not to sue Prince George’s County over the award of a Maryland casino project to MGM Resorts International. (As expected, Greenwood Racing also signed away its prerogative to litigate.) Perhaps the fact that Penn’s Rosecroft Raceway proposal got not one vote had something to do with the decision. With the stroke of a pen, the two companies regained an aggregate $46.5 million in licensing fees. And they can go back to jockeying over who gets a slot parlor in Massachusetts and a casino in Philadelphia. Greenwood and Penn are butting heads wherever there’s a battlefront, seems like.
Taking a page from Massachusetts, lawmakers in New York State are floating the idea of 
“protecting the basic home rule rights of municipalities with respect to casino siting,” by allowing cities and towns to have voting power over whether or not a casino is allowed within city lines. “This [expansion] plan will never work if Albany bureaucrats are forcing casinos down the throats of communities that don’t want them and can’t accommodate them,” said Manhattanite and co-sponsor state Sen. Liz Krueger (D). Given the level of opposition to casinos upstate, this is probably smart politics but it also sets up a scenario whereby New York City and its environs can thwart casinos when they (the cities) become eligible in 2020. At present, casino siting is in the hands of an as-yet-unappointed committee.
Casino expansion in New Hampshire is off to a strong start, with 108 legislators declaring their support. “The bill would allow for one casino awarded to a licensee through competitive bidding that is subject to strict regulations.” Taxed proceeds would be used to fund treatment of problem gambling, and the whole kit ‘n kaboodle would be brought under the umbrella of the New Hampshire Gaming Commission, which oversees racing, the state lottery, charitable gambling and whatever new regulatory framework casinos would require. The one-casino-only bill still faces long odds in the state House, though.
Bowl was super. It certainly was for CG Technology. The former Cantor Gaming outperformed the market, recording 16% of all wagers at its eight sports books. It held over $2 million, a 55% increase from last year. The $19 million in wagers made at CG books was a 30% bump from 2013’s Super Bowl.
For most jurisdictions, 7% monthly growth in revenue would be cause for celebration. “Most jurisdictions,” however, are not Macao. “Disconcerting,” analyst Carlo Santarelli called the numbers.
