Move over sports books, here comes … Buffalo Wild Wings?!? Yes, the restaurant business known for its trivia games and spicy food wants to get into the sports-betting business. “As the largest sports bar in America, we believe Buffalo Wild Wings is uniquely positioned to leverage sports gaming to enhance the restaurant experience for our guests. We are actively exploring opportunities, including potential partners, as we evaluate the next steps for our brand,” read a company statement. The move appears to be not coincidental with the recent acquisition of Buffalo Wild Wings by Inspire Brands. “Uniquely positioned” is right: The chain has outposts in all 50 states.
This isn’t entirely new for the restaurateur. Its Nevada locations have slot machines, among other gambling options. But the recent Supreme Court smackdown of the Bradley Act opens up several new jurisdictions, beginning with New Jersey. The company isn’t the only one that knows where the real money is. Already DraftKings and FanDuel are pivoting away from daily fantasy sports toward taking bets on the genuine item. As for Buffalo Wild Wings, it is hoping to win back Millennials (who prefer delivery to dining out) and congruently declining alcohol sales. To pull this off, the chain would probably have to partner with an established gaming operator but for now it’s a bold ploy.
To the east, several sports betting firms (including William Hill) say they are closing in on licenses in West Virginia but only tech provider GeoComply can boast that it already has one. As its name suggests, GeoComply will aid casinos on the geolocation front, no small concern when it’s unclear whether sports bets can be taken across state lines.
* Chalk up a loss for Greenwood Gaming in South Middleton, Pennsylvania. Having already voted once to opt out of mini-casinos, the Middleton board of supervisors voted against opting back in. This will not sadden many in the populace. Greenwood lawyer Mark Stewart implored, “We bring with us hundreds of good paying jobs, a business that will generate hundreds of millions of dollars of economic activity over the course over a very short period of time, $50 million annually.” However, his words fell on deaf ears, like those of supervisor Tom Faley, who said, “Traffic is almost at a standing point now. You put 500 cars on top of that, you really have a challenge. My personal feeling is you ought to leave the issue alone.” Greenwood, parent of Parx Casino, isn’t out of options and will shop the project to Shippensburg and Greene.
* Good news from Atlantic City: Not since 2014 has gambling-related employment topped 30,000 … until now. Reported The Press of Atlantic City: “Casino Control Commission Chairman James Plousis said July’s figures [30,217 jobs] reflect a mix of 
rehires from closed properties, veterans and Atlantic City residents.” Although Borgata remains the big daddy when it comes to employment — 5,938 souls — Hard Rock Atlantic City (4,393) and Ocean Resort (3,791) are doing their part. The job numbers are even more impressive when you consider that Atlantic City had 11 operational casinos in 2014, as opposed to only nine now. Keep up the good work.
* Galaxy Entertainment Chairman Lui-Che Woo, a longtime skeptic of Macao‘s casino recovery, is keeping his power dry. Galaxy just postponed Phase 3 of Galaxy Macau into 
2020. Phase 4 will follow in 2021, just before the expiration of Galaxy’s concession. The two phases are expected to cost $5.7 billion combined, and will include both a 16,000-seat arena and 400,000 square feet of convention space. Galaxy also hinted that it would team with Société des Bains de Mer et du Cercle des Étrangers à Monaco for its Japan foray. Even if Japanese tell pollsters they oppose casinos, their tourism tells a different story, with a fall in visitation to South Korea‘s casinos from Japan being made up by Japanese players.
* Tourism was up 4% in June, part of a larger positive trend. You know where it wasn’t up? Las Vegas. And if that doesn’t have casino executives losing sleep, it should.
