Nebraska lawmakers are pushing ahead with a bill aimed at tightening regulations on skill gaming machines present in various establishments statewide. The bill, LB685, spearheaded by State Sen. John Lowe of Kearney, has passed its initial stages with a resounding 31-0 vote in favor.

Proposed Laws Tackle Skill Games’ Growth with Taxes and Stricter Regulations

Skill games, often found in bars, restaurants, convenience stores, and other locales, have proliferated significantly over recent years. Unlike traditional slot machines, these games require a degree of skill to win, blurring the lines between entertainment and gambling. However, concerns have been raised about their addictive nature and potential societal impacts.

The proposed legislation seeks to address these concerns by implementing several key measures, reported WOWT. Firstly, it introduces a 5% tax on the net profits generated by these machines, alongside a $100 fee per machine paid by distributors. For larger distributors with 50 or more machines, this fee would increase to $5,000. 

The generated tax revenue would be allocated to various avenues, including property tax relief, funding for enforcement measures, and contributions to the state’s tourism initiatives.

Moreover, LB685 aims to establish stricter guidelines regarding the sale of co-branded alcoholic beverages, preventing their proximity to non-alcoholic counterparts. This measure aims to mitigate potential confusion among consumers and ensure compliance with age restrictions on alcohol sales.

Nebraska Legislative Debates Highlight Concerns Over Skill Games’ Resemblance to Slot Machines

During legislative debates, concerns were voiced regarding the distinction between games of skill and games of chance. Some senators argued that these skill games essentially function as modified slot machines, emphasizing luck over skill. 

Additionally, there were apprehensions about the proliferation of these machines, with worries that they could attract criminal activity and exacerbate societal issues.

However, proponents of the bill argue that tighter regulations are necessary to prevent the unchecked expansion of skill gaming establishments. 

Last year Nebraska faced a surge in skill games with over 4,700 units spread across retail venues, prompting lawmakers to reassess regulation and taxation. Concerns mounted over addiction risks and unlevel competition, leading to calls for increased oversight and enforcement, mirroring similar debates in other US states like Pennsylvania and Virginia.

By imposing taxes and enforcing revenue thresholds, the Alabama legislation aims to deter the creation of de facto casinos and promote responsible gaming practices.The bill’s advancement marks a significant step towards addressing the complexities surrounding skill gaming in Nebraska. As the debate continues, legislators are tasked with striking a balance between fostering economic opportunities and safeguarding the well-being of communities across the state.

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In a significant pushback against New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ ambitious plan to expedite casino approvals in New York City, Community Board 4‘s land use committee unanimously rejected the proposed amendment on December 13. 

Community boards, such as CB4 representing Hell’s Kitchen and Chelsea, play a crucial role in ULURP, offering advisory opinions on land use plans. Delores Rubin, an outspoken board member, expressed criticism toward the city officials, stating that they had been shaming city planning for relinquishing all responsibilities to the state. She underscored the significance of community input in the decision-making process, reported The City, a non-profit digital news organization.

Hell’s Kitchen resident David Korman echoed these sentiments, condemning the proposed amendment during a video conference, asserting that ULURP was designed to democratize the planning process. Korman argued that the amendment would exclude both the community and city planning professionals from the decision-making table.

The Planning Department justifies the removal of ULURP for casino proposals, citing the duplication of the state’s review process. Under the proposed changes, each casino proposal would be subject to scrutiny by a newly established Community Advisory Committee (CAC). This committee, composed of six members, including the Mayor, Governor, borough president, and local state representatives, aims to conduct public meetings and approve casino applications before reaching the state’s Gaming Facility Location Board.

City Planning spokesperson Casey Berkovitz defended the amendment, stating it is a more effective utilization of time and resources within the city. The goal is to create a level playing field for New York City applicants to compete with proposals elsewhere in the state, according to Dan Garodnick, director of the city planning agency.

However, concerns about the potential impact of gaming facilities on local communities have surfaced. Critics argue that the amendment may allow for large hotels without city planning oversight and could be detrimental to neighborhoods.

Despite these concerns, Mayor Adams, supported by City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, emphasized the economic opportunities associated with casinos, citing a potential annual revenue of $5.3 billion. 

While approximately a dozen casino proposals are in the pipeline, only nine are specific to New York City, including locations in Midtown Manhattan, Coney Island, The Bronx, and Queens. Notably, some proposals, like the one near Citi Field, may still require state legislature approval due to parkland considerations.

The fate of the amendment now rests with the City Planning Commission, where questions about its potential drawbacks and the necessity of ULURP for certain cases have already been raised. If approved, the proposal will proceed to the City Council and Mayor Adams for final consideration.

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As the NFL season gears up for kick-off, ESPN’s sports betting news and information program, Daily Wager, is making a major transition back to the East Coast. The show, which initially premiered on March 11, 2019, in Bristol, Connecticut, is returning to its roots and will commence broadcasting from ESPN’s headquarters on September 7, according to an announcement made by the network.

Relocation of Daily Wager Show Coincides with ESPN’s Strategic Partnership

With the impending launch of ESPN BET, a network-branded online sportsbook, the decision has been made to relocate the Daily Wager show from the Las Vegas Strip back to Bristol. ESPN recently entered into a transformative sports betting partnership with PENN Entertainment, aiming to unveil ESPN BET sometime this fall, potentially around Thanksgiving Day, as revealed by PENN Entertainment CEO Jay Snowden during an analyst conference call.

This shift in focus is leading to the unwinding of ESPN’s marketing affiliations with industry giants Caesars Entertainment and DraftKings, according to sources familiar with the matter. The Linq Promenade, where Daily Wager had its Vegas home, falls under the umbrella of Caesars Entertainment and was inaugurated by the casino conglomerate back in 2013.

Acknowledging the change, Scott Clark, VP of ESPN’s fantasy and sports betting content, expressed gratitude for the time spent in Las Vegas, stating: “ESPN created some great content and incredible memories during our time at the Las Vegas studio. With our new ESPN BET deal set to launch this fall, we felt it was best to return to our headquarters.”

Clark further extended his gratitude to everyone ESPN had collaborated with at Caesars Entertainment throughout the previous years and conveyed his best wishes for their future endeavors. 

New Schedule for Daily Wager Show Unveiled Alongside On-Air Shifts

Coinciding with the relocation, ESPN unveiled a fresh weekly schedule for Daily Wager. The show will air on ESPN2 from Thursday through Monday, with Tuesday and Wednesday marked as days off. Additionally, a new Saturday morning edition is being introduced at 11 AM ET to provide viewers with insights into the weekend’s football matchups.

This move follows ESPN laying off approximately 20 on-air personalities in July, including sports betting analyst Doug Kezirian and boxing analyst Andre Ward. These cuts, which also affected prominent figures like Jeff Van Gundy, Vince Carter, and Todd McShay, were confirmed following speculation about the reasons behind the move, including the impact of newcomer Pat McAfee and the network’s focus on managing costs during contract renewals.

With the NFL season’s commencement on September 7, marked by a face-off between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions, the network’s restructured lineup is poised to offer fans an enhanced sports betting experience. ESPN’s extensive sports coverage also includes the upcoming regular seasons of the NBA and NHL, both set to debut later this fall.

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Following last week’s news that Clarion Gaming is moving one of the largest conferences and shows in the gaming industry, the International Casino Exhibition (ICE) to Barcelona from 2025, it was reported on August 7th that Zitro, the leading slots developer with an office in Spain, supported the decision.

Sebastian Salat, Global President at Zitro, gave the following statement: “We fully support Clarion’s announcement to relocate ICE to the vibrant City of Barcelona, a destination we firmly believe is perfectly equipped to host the future editions of ICE. We believe this move will be a major step helping both ICE and the Industry to grow in partnership with the European gaming market. It will also increase the global dimension of ICE, as moving ICE to Spain will undoubtedly draw a higher number of Latin American operators, due to emotional and cultural links between Spain and Latin American countries.”

The relocation has been discussed for some time

Even though the potential move of ICE to some other European city has been under consideration for some time, the aforementioned decision was a new perspective for the entire sector.

In this regard, Salat added: “Over the years, ICE London has established itself as a resounding success in the gaming industry, gathering leaders, suppliers, operators, and gaming professionals from around the globe. It has grown in status as the most important trade show in Europe and has proven to be the ideal space to cultivate business relationships, and creating new opportunities for companies to expand their global reach. However, a good number of exhibitors, including Zitro, have realized significant challenges such as insufficient space venue for future growth, logistic complexities, and extremely high costs. Those challenges were communicated to Clarion and we were delighted this contributed to formal review through the recent bid process.”

One of the biggest European regulated markets today

The decision was also hailed as a good one as Spain represents one of Europe’s biggest regulated markets today, meaning in the online and land-based sectors, resulting in Barcelona being an ideal hub for European gaming firms. Also, the city is considered one of the key European tourist destinations, together with its top-quality facilities, logistics and extraordinary hospitality infrastructure, which proves that ICE 2025 will be a very rich experience.

Commenting on the beauty of Barcelona, the company notes: “The city’s captivating blend of rich cultural heritage, iconic landmarks, and vibrant atmosphere, offers attendees the perfect opportunity to complement their ICE experience.”

Source: “Zitro Comments On The Relocation Of ICE Show To Barcelona”. European Gaming. August 7, 2023

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ICE, Clarion Gaming’s famous B2B industry show, will no longer take place in London. After careful consideration, the company decided to relocate the event to Barcelona starting in 2025. Clarion Gaming noted that it also considered either moving the event to Madrid or Paris, or keeping it in London.

The company noted that its iGB Affiliate conference will also move to the capital of Spain’s Catalonia region. The events will be hosted there for five years, in accordance with the agreement with Fira de Barcelona, the city’s trade fair institution.

Equimore, a proven event specialist, will assist Clarion with its relocation project. The move was greenlit by ICE’s advisory board.

Meanwhile, iGB L!VE will instead relocate to London in 2025.

The Relocation Will Create New Opportunities for the Industry

Addressing the elephant in the room, Alex Pratt, Clarion Gaming’s managing director, said that the event will relocate to Barcelona because of the city’s “world-class facilities, outstanding hospitality infrastructure, logistics, ROI for customers and ability to scale.”

The move will effectively conclude a 12-year tenure at ExCeL London. Instead, the event will now be hosted at the 240,000-square-meter Fira de Barcelona property. The 2025 edition of ICE is planned to run for three days between January 20 and 22.

In addition, the move will form an alliance between the international gaming industry, Fira de Barcelona and stakeholders across Spain. Finally, Clarion Gaming noted that ICE and iGB Affiliate will be the only major events in Barcelona at the time, providing the industry with additional exposure.

Barcelona Was the Best-Equipped to Accommodate ICE

Pratt added that all four cities on Clarion’s shortlist had submitted “highly professional and impressive bids.” As a result, the decision to move the event to Barcelona didn’t come easily.

In the end, Clarion decided that Barcelona was “the best equipped” to be ICE’s strategic partner for the future. Pratt thanked ICE’s stakeholders for helping Clarion reach a decision and Equimore for its assistance.

The process [of selecting a location] enabled us to identify the city that our customers believe is best equipped to be our strategic partner for the future and is able to host two world-class events which meet the needs of businesses of all sizes and locations across every part of the gaming and ICE community.

Alex Pratt, MD, Clarion Gaming

In the meantime, iGB L!VE will move to London in 2025. Previously hosted in Amsterdam, the event will now be hosted at ExCeL London. Pratt noted that his team believes ExCeL London to be a “great destination” and believes that it will provide an amazing backdrop for the event.

Now that Clarion Gaming has reached a decision, it will focus on organizing next year’s editions of ICE and iGB Affiliate. For reference, the first event will run from February 6 to 8, 2024, while the latter will follow on February 7-8.

In other news, Clarion Gaming recently extended its ICE agreement with the European Casino Association.

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Bally’s Corporation and Gaming & Leisure Properties (GLPI) have announced a binding agreement with the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (Oakland A’s) to construct a Major League Baseball park at Bally’s Tropicana Las Vegas.

Bally’s consummated its purchase of the gaming and other assets when GLPI and PENN transferred ownership of the non-land assets of the Tropicana Las Vegas to Bally’s for $148 million in cash paid to GLPI on September 27, 2022.

Bally’s still intends to operate a casino from the location and expand assets on other portions of the property.

2.5 Million New Visits to the Location Expected Annually

The park is expected to deliver two and a half million fans per year to the only site of its type on the Las Vegas Strip. Benefits heralded in the announcement include enhanced attraction at the site driven by increased visitations, and the ability to further develop the site in a phased manner with a financial approach based on disciplined further investment.

Additional enhancements for iconic and sponsoring brands at one of the busiest traffic intersections in America which sees over seven-million visitor impressions each month, and significant marketing database growth for Bally’s to exploit as part of its global omnichannel growth strategy.

GLPI maintained ownership of the property which it had earlier purchased and was leased back to Penn National Gaming prior to Bally’s purchasing the gaming assets, license rights, etc. GLPI will pitch in up to $175 million toward improvements and receive future rent increases based on the increased value.

Bally’s is also banking on increased footfall for the casino and other assets through the ballpark and other attractions.

The Oakland A’s or stadium authority will have about 9 acres of the 35-acre site assigned for development by Bally’s and GLPI. The stadium would hold as many as 30,000 visitors at a time.

Oakland’s Triple-A minor league team, the Aviators already calls Las Vegas home.

Bally’s Confident but Hedging its Bet

Bally’s kept an Ace in the hole to assign assets and attract other partners, and it has other parties expressing interest in a similar offering. However, it is expected the necessary approvals from the MLB Association as well as public finance and legislative agreements will all come into place to make the current plan a reality.

Bally’s President, George Papanier, said “We are honored to have been selected to partner with the Oakland Athletics on this monumental step in helping to bring Major League Baseball to the great city of Las Vegas and to be a part of the once-in-a-generation opportunity of having a professional baseball team located within a short walk of the Las Vegas Strip.

“The Tropicana has been a landmark of Las Vegas for generations, and this development will enhance this iconic site for generations to come. We are committed to ensuring that the development and ballpark built in its place will become a new landmark, paying homage to the iconic history and global appeal of Las Vegas and its nearly 50 million visitors a year,” Papanier noted.

Among other comments, Peter Carlino, Chairman and CEO of Gaming & Leisure Properties said: “We are pleased to help facilitate their exciting vision for a new ballpark through our contribution of nine acres of the Tropicana site and look forward to the prominent place that the overall project will occupy in the Las Vegas skyline. The Oakland Athletics’ interest in developing a world-class Major League Baseball stadium on our site underscores its status as one of the most prime locations on the Las Vegas Strip and will enhance any future development of our remaining 26 acres.

“As the project moves forward, we also expect that Gaming & Leisure Properties will have opportunities to further invest in the various aspects of the overall project to the extent we deem that doing so will generate an attractive risk-adjusted return on our shareholders’ capital.”

Oakland A’s President Dave Kaval added: “We are excited about the potential to bring Major League Baseball to this iconic location. We are thrilled to work alongside Bally’s and Gaming & Leisure Properties, and look forward to finalizing plans to bring the Athletics to Southern Nevada.”

Source: Bally’s to replace Las Vegas Strip casino with MLB ballpark, G3 Newswire, May 16, 2023

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