A Delaware sports book took 36 bets in its first 20 minutes of operation yesterday, making it the first state outside Nevada to capitalize on the Supreme Court‘s recent legitimization of sports wagering. “In New York, we would go right to the corner store, to the bodega, and bet. That’s not legal, but, you know, everybody was doing it. But now it’s legal so it’s 
great,” Dover denizen Karriem Keys told a reporter. The first bet placed was a $10 wager by Delaware Gov. John Carney (D), who bet on the Philadelphia Phillies to beat the Chicago Cubs. Delaware’s going to have the field to itself at least until this weekend, presuming that New Jersey‘s Legislature can get sports-betting regulations passed by then. Assemblyman Ralph Caputo (D) administered a smackdown to representatives of the major leagues who had their hands out for “fraud-fighting measures.” “The tool you’re looking for is money. That’s not going to happen,” an angry Caputo told them. “You guys are in it to make money. This is hypocrisy to the fullest extent.” The leagues were also frustrated in their demands for real-time data from sports books and the evidence of game fixing be shared by regulators with them.
Further back is Mississippi, where books won’t be in operation until late July at the earliest. West Virginia is suffering an impasse because Gov. Jim Justice (R) wants the books to pay ‘integrity fees’ and the Lege is ignoring him. (West Virginia would be the only state to bow to this odious skim.) While the illegal betting market is widely estimated at $150 billion, states are being told not to expect nearly that much from legal wagering. Moody’s Investor Service projects the tax haul from sports betting at $1.5 billion, and that’s if all 50 states go for it (including mobile wagering).
What if they gave sports betting and nobody came? That’s the situation in Pennsylvania, where licenses are available but no casino has applied for one. Given the combination of a $10 million upfront fee, a 34% tax rate and a host-community levy can you blame the casino industry for sitting this one out? By contrast, New Jersey taxes books’ gross revenue at 8% at terrestrial casinos, 12.5% at online ones. That’s not even going to put a baby bump in the state budget.
* Las Vegas can heave a sigh of relief. A 10-month declivity in visitation has finally bottomed out and showed signs of renewed growth. In April, Sin City eked out a tenth of a percent increase in visitation. An 11.5% increase in convention attendance is credited for the stabilization, led by fragrant Waste Expo. (And followed at a distance by the National Indian Gaming Association, some 8,600 strong.) Hotel occupancy was up to 91%, although most of the gain was from off-Strip hotels. (More bang for the buck?) As for gambling revenues, that normally surefire barometer, Wendover, was off the mark, posting a 1% decline.
* Having completed the lion’s share of collective bargaining with Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International, the Culinary Union is now ramping up the pressure on 15 other casinos. “The agreements with MGM and Caesars have historic language regarding 
immigration, technology and automation, and safety, from sexual harassment language to safety buttons. We always have one standard for our contracts, and we are going to negotiate that one standard with other properties,” said Culinary spokeswoman Bethany Khan, setting the agenda for talks with smaller fry and one-off properties. One of the accomplishments of the Caesars/MGM negotiations was to obtain language stating that immigrant workers who lose their work permit will retain full pay and seniority if they can get reinstated. That’s a laudable gain in what is becoming an increasingly xenophobic political climate.
* At a time when Las Vegas casinos are curtailing gambling (50,000 fewer slot machines than in 2001), Hard Rock Tampa is doubling down. A $700 million extension of the property will add 1,000 slots and 75 tables, along with a raft of other amenities.
