Storm in Atlantic City; Big trouble for sports betting

All was not sunny at Borgata last weekend. Our Atlantic City correspondent writes, “When we were driving back to Borgata, heavy rain started. As we pulled into MGM valet intake the wind was getting stronger. The luggage carts were starting to roll around, so the valet people took quick action and knocked the luggage carts over into the nearby grassy area to keep them from hitting parked cars. The wind got extremely strong, and started to make the parked cars rock back and forth, including ours, and we even felt some ‘lift.’

“We agreed it was no longer safe to get out of our car, to walk to the casino doors and certainly not safe to open our trunk to get our luggage out. We went to self-park, it has a shared wall with the casino building, so we didn’t get wet or have our luggage blow away. We learned a few days later that one of the tornadoes that hit New Jersey touched down in Mays Landing, Atlantic County.”

A.C. Mayor Marty Small (D), meanwhile, managed to get his photo snapped with Sen. Cory Booker (D). That highlighted another think-Small agenda that included hitting up Secretary of Housing & Urban Development Marcia Fudge for additional federal housing. “He also met with staff of other agencies to ‘pitch’ big projects, such as funding for paving streets in Atlantic City,” according to one newspaper. Our correspondent resumes, “Atlantic City has previously reported a balanced budget. How sad that A.C. ‘balanced’ the budget by not doing anything, and expecting the state and/or the feds to pay for everything that is needed there.”

Bally’s Atlantic City, the casino that quality forgot, has rolled out its big-ticket entertainer for 2Q23: Mike Del Guidice. Never heard of him? Neither had we. He used to back Billy Joel. That fact and $35 will theoretically get you in the doors for his show, hopefully not a rerun of the KC & the Sunshine Band fiasco, reported in these pages. Or you could go to the Golden Nugget for Frankie Avalon, maybe not a state-of-the-art casino entertainer but a known commodity.

Yesterday, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission elected not to allow wagering on the Boston Marathon. And that’s not the only lump sports betting has taken this week. The backlash against monetary ties between sports-betting operators and academic institutions continues to draw fire. In Maryland, it only remains for Gov. Wes Moore (D, above) to sign a new bill that would prevent colleges and universities from receiving financial compensation from OSB providers “based on student participation in sports wagering.” Contracts with betting providers would also have to be made public. SB 620 passed the state Senate and was voted out of the House 134-0. That’s quite a warning shot across Big Gaming’s bow.

Critics might say SB 620 is a solution in search of a problem, as only the University of Maryland College Park has a contract with an OSB provider (PointsBet). But maybe it’s better to nip this phenomenon in the bud. PointsBet recently fled the University of Colorado when its affiliation with that school became the subject of unfavorable news coverage. We can expect something similar to happen in College Park. Other states that permit collegiate betting, such as New York and New Jersey, are having legislative qualms as we speak.

Back in Massachusetts, the MGC has outlined a new set of marketing criteria, ones that would “limit advertising on social media and connected television; prohibit app designs from encouraging risky behavior; and restrict operators from improperly targeting users through digital advertising or push alerts.” The Bay State attorney general’s office wants the MGC to go farther, including a ban on promotional offers of various types and stronger conflict-of-interest rules.

But neither the MGC nor the attorney general is doing enough to satisfy state Sen. John Keenan (D), who said, “Particularly when it comes to young people on the cannabis side, they can’t advertise in a forum, or to an outlet or any place with the expected audience is going to be more than 50 percent of people under the age of 21. That same standard was not applied to sports betting.” Keenan is the author of a bill that would outlaw such lingo as “bonus promotions,” “same-game parlays,” “odds boosts,” “risk-free” or “no-sweat.” Sounds fair to us.

DraftKings pushed back with a blizzard of jargon, the bottom line of which is that it employs data analytics to identify disordered players, honors opt-out requests and promulgates responsible-gaming messages. All well and good. Perennial agitator and cretin Les Bernal of Stop Predatory Gambling (i.e., all gambling) got into the act, calling for a total ban on in-game advertising, saying it would corrupt the little nippers. We’ve not reached that watershed yet but it is remarkable how swiftly the blowback from omnipresent sports betting advertising has manifested itself compared to Great Britain, Europe and Australia, where similar phenomena are transpiring. Big Gaming proved its own worst enemy in its naked cupidity and avarice.

Still on his heels from the backlash, American Gaming Association President Bill Miller wrote to The Hill to protest Chicken Little “clickbait” newspaper headlines. Harrumphed Miller, The Hill had run an anti-gambling piece who author didn’t “let the facts get in the way of a good story … Criticizing legal sports betting adverts might drive clicks, but it misses the mark on what legal advertising does in practice: it plays an essential role in moving people away from the illegal, offshore sportsbooks that provide no consumer protections, aren’t accountable to regulators and siphon over $700m away from state tax coffers each year.” He’s certainly right about that, and it’s a point that needs to be made and reiterated whenever somebody wants to outlaw legalized sports betting.

However, there’s no question that the industry is in full retreat right now, as manifested by the sudden—and entirely laudable—code of conduct that was unveiled a fortnight ago. As Miller wrote, “The updated code includes enhanced protections for college-aged audiences by prohibiting college partnerships that promote, market, or promote wagering to current students. It also forbids sportsbook NIL deals for amateur and college athletes and eliminates ‘risk-free’ language in advertising.” But was the AGA being proactive or reactive? Would it have done this right thing absent heavy political pressure? That pressure isn’t relenting. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D) still wants to know what deals colleges and universities have in place with the industry. If Big Gaming weathers this storm—as it will—it probably will not happen without further concessions being put in place.

Jottings: Kudos to Big Gaming for setting an example in diversity. Fully 61% of the employees at 26 companies and tribes surveyed were of minority origin. That’s way up from 2011 and Latinos led the charge. However, minorities and women continue to be underrepresented in upper management. As American Gaming Asssociation CEO Bill Miller said, “Encompassing data from across commercial, tribal and manufacturing gaming verticals, the survey both highlights our industry’s leadership on diversity while presenting areas for continued progress.” Very true … Remember Jamul Indian Casino? It’s where Penn Entertainment stubbed its toe trying to get into tribal gaming. Fortunately, Jamul Casino has rebounded sufficiently from Penn to warrant building a $515 million, 16-story hotel, to be financed by a seven-bank consortium. It’s a better investment than cryptocurrency, to be sure … $650 million Caesars Virginia (above) needs 1,300 good men and women to fill its ranks one for every slot machine. It’ll start with 400 workers for the summer temporary casino and expand from there …

Live table games are coming to Hard Rock Rockford, as the casino adds blackjack and poker. For now, the games will be offered for limited hours … Atlantis Casino was the site of the biggest jackpot in Reno history. A lucky lady parlayed a $10 Megabucks wager into a $14,005,832.09 payout on the International Game Technology slot … Las Vegas Sands‘ sale of Venelazzo is paying off for CEO Rob Goldstein in Singapore. The company’s revamp of two towers of Marina Bay Sands is on pace to be ready by year’s end … There’s a new euphemism for wacky weed. It’s “Beach Fire,” the name of the new marijuana dispensary at Michigan‘s tribal Turtle Creek Casino. Expect some blissed-out customers jonesing for a buffet.