Creating a buzz: Maryland bill’s forward pass
Maryland’s progress, Georgia’s chances wane, UKGC stats chaos, Tube ad ban +More
Maryland delegates approve iGaming bill, now heads to Senate.
In +More: MGM defends Mars attacks, Brazil delay.
“What’s the purpose?” Georgia’s sports-betting bill appears doomed.
Gambling Commission CEO in social media spat over PG statistics.
London’s mayor under pressure to fulfill Underground ad ban promise.
Maryland bill makes progress
Buzzer beater: Maryland’s House of Delegates waved through a landmark iGaming bill ahead of a major deadline, and now senators have three weeks to decide if the legislation can go in front of voters. HB 1319 was approved by a vote of 92-43 on Saturday, two days before the legislative session ended. The Senate now has until April 8 to pass the bill in order for it to be the subject of a state referendum.
HB 1319 would create 30 operator licenses with a five-year term limit and a $1m application fee. Licenses would be given to brick-and-mortar casinos, wagering facilities and tender-awarded operators.
Each of the state’s six B&M casinos may qualify for three iGaming skins.
Maryland’s four off-track betting and two bingo houses that have sports-betting licenses would qualify for a single online gaming platform concession.
Urban One, which part owned MGM National Harbor, would be granted a single online casino permit.
Roll with the changes: In recent weeks, the bill sponsored by Del. Vanessa Atterbeary has undergone multiple revisions, making it near unrecognizable from its original state. Under one recent change, which has angered lobby groups, punters will be unable to use credit cards to fund accounts.
The proposed tax rate is 55% on online slot games and 20% on online table games.
What may propel the bill over the line is the Old Line State’s proposed budget of $1.3bn and includes online casino revenue to fund education and transport initiatives.
The answer, my friend: “We can no longer rely on quick fixes or short-term approaches,” House Speaker Adrienne Jones said last week. “They will only land us right back in the same place next year. At this point, we know what the solution is, and it’s finally time that we just say it. The answer is revenues.”
Weak end: Industry observers say the Senate will be a tough obstacle given its historic opposition to similar legislation. Should Maryland give up, the only other US state with a hope of passing laws to legalize iCasino this year is Maine.
Call this legalization? “One interesting part of the discussion, which I believe needs to be more of a focus – states aren’t passing legislation to ‘legalize’ iGaming,” said Shawn Fluharty, president of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS).
“Rest assured it’s widely available in all states, you just aren’t regulating it, receiving revenue or protecting the public,” added Fluharty, who is also a state legislator in West Virginia and head of government relations at Play'n GO.
“Let us not pretend that anyone is getting prosecuted either, so it's a great business model. The real cannibalization discussion should be aimed at cannibalizing the black market,” he said.
He said “legislators, lobbyists, industry experts, unions” were quibbling over the details of a regulated market while illegal operators were raking in cash.
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Mission to Mars: MGM Resorts has responded to media reports about superstar Bruno Mars having racked up gambling debts of $50m, saying in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal that speculation he owes money to the company is completely false. Mars has a residency at Park MGM.
Malta’s regulator has canceled the license of Rush Gaming after warning the operator in January to refund players and pay off debts.
The launch of OSB and iCasino in Brazil is being delayed by the failure to name a president of the Secretariat of Bets and Prizes. The appointment by Minister of Finance Fernando Haddad is required by Brazil’s new online gambling bill.
Den of iniquity: In a joint operation, the police, the UK Gambling Commission, HMRC and Cardiff City Council raided an underground gambling operation in the Welsh capital, arresting two people and seizing various pieces of gambling paraphernalia.
What we’re reading
Tabcorp CEO Adam Rytenskild resigned after making sexually explicit comments about a Victorian regulator.
In the case brought by DraftKings against former employee Michael Hermalyn and Fanatics in Massachusetts, the company alleges he knowingly and intentionally downloaded numerous documents containing confidential information and trade secrets to his personal devices. In LegalSportsReport.
Georgia bill on life support
Into the long grass: If Georgia’s lawmakers want to legalize sports betting this year they have just nine days left to do so. The Georgia House Higher Education Committee discussed a resolution on Monday in regard to Senate Bill 386, which would open the state for 16 sports betting apps.
However, experts believe the bill appears doomed following a lack of enthusiasm from legislators citing moral concerns and an inability to agree on where the tax dollars should end up.
Is that all? Legislators were also unimpressed about the projected revenue, approximately $50m a year, and with just over a week of the legislative session remaining seem content to let the bill fizzle out.
Oh, what’s the point: “Since we’re not gonna really make any money based on what you’re saying, and then we’re gonna have people gambling, and then we’ve gotta take care of them, then why are we even doing this?” Rep. Rhonda Burnough said. “What’s the purpose?”
Senator Bill Cowsert, the bill’s sponsor, said Georgians want access to legal betting apps, and he believes they should have a chance to vote on it.
Commission of chaos
Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood: Confusion about the UK Gambling Commission’s new Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB) deepened this week, following a bizarre social media intervention from CEO Andrew Rhodes.
Responding on LinkedIn to an article by consultant Andrew Tottenham, Rhodes said it was “totally unfair and unreasonable” to say he did not stand behind the new statistics.
“That was not the question posed,” he added.
“I was asked whether the Health Survey with its published PG rate and the Gambling Survey for Great Britain with potentially a higher rate could both be accurate. I responded by explaining they are different methodologies.”
Rhodes admitted the Health Survey “had been the gold standard.”
But he added that the way people respond to surveys has changed and “reliance on face-to-face has become outmoded.” The GSGB would therefore be a “better standard.”
Health warning: Rhodes leant heavily on the recommendation from Prof. Patrick Sturgis of the London School of Economics, who, after an independent review, endorsed the findings of the GSGB. Rhodes said Prof. Sturgis “explains in quite a lot of detail how things have changed” since the Health Survey and “why moving in the direction of the GSGB’s approach is better.”
But in his LinkedIn response. Tottenham quoted Prof. Sturgis as warning that “until there is a better understanding of the errors affecting the new survey’s estimates of the prevalence of gambling and gambling harm, policymakers must treat them with due caution.”
Sturgis’ health warning added there is a “non-negligible risk that they substantially overstate the true level of gambling and gambling harm in the population.”
We all know where this is heading: Tottenham continued that he felt it was “irresponsible” for the Commission to “publish any of this data, even with explanatory notes in an accompanying media pack.”
“We both know where this will lead and so I urge you to think again about releasing the data later in the year until more work has been done refining the methodology and a new survey undertaken.”
Rhodes did not reply. He did, however, complain his comments had been “mischaracterized.” But when asked for evidence of this, he withdrew from the platform.
True to form? The controversy over the GSGB is consistent with a wider pattern of behavior. As Compliance+More reported last month, the chair of the Commission’s Advisory Board for Safer Gambling knew in 2022 that Public Health England’s (now withdrawn) claims about gambling and suicide were likely to be inaccurate; but considered this detail unimportant.
The Commission itself described PHE’s claims as not being based on reliable data – but elected not to disclose this opinion, which was eventually obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
Jeremy Lever, Head of Gaming at Armalytix, will be speaking at KnowNow Player Protection Forum on 27th March on Panel Four – What will gambling look like in the future and how are we embracing technology to support our approach?
Other panel members include Kirsty Caldwell – Betsmart founder and new Industry Forum member, Matt Curtis – Head of Responsible Gaming at L&L Europe and Simo Dragicevic – Co-Founder, The Game Safety Institute.
Khan under gambling ad pressure
Going underground: The London Assembly Health Committee has urged mayor Sadiq Khan to live up to his promise in his 2021 manifesto to ban all gambling ads on the London Underground. The committee heard the ban had been delayed by a legal issue regarding the definition of "harmful gambling.”
Khan told the BBC he had asked the Greater London Authority to “do some research into this.”
The mayor’s health adviser said once the definition was published Khan's team “will move as swiftly as possible.”
London Transport, which runs the Underground, earned £663,640 from gambling adverts in 2022-23, according to the latest data.
Khan, who is up for election in May, has faced criticism from rivals for backing down from his previous pledge. Liberal Democrat rival for London mayor, Rob Blackie, said a ban should be “easy to do.”
“It doesn't involve building anything or borrowing any money. It shouldn't be taking three years.”
Thailand draft bill
Thai sticks: A parliamentary committee has completed the draft of a bill to legalize integrated casino resorts within the country for the first time. The bill will now be sent to the country’s House of Representatives later this month for a first reading.
News reports suggested enforcement from the floor of the House is likely given the strong levels of bilateral support.
If it passed the House, the bill would then go in front of the Cabinet for their consideration and approval.
The only gambling currently allowed in Thailand is horseracing betting and the lottery.
Previous attempts at legislating for casinos have foundered, however, due to voter disapproval.
According to the Bangkok Post, under the proposals in the study private companies would shoulder the cost of construction and operation of entertainment complexes comprising casinos, while the government would be responsible for tax and regulation. A casino tax rate of 17% is proposed.
The vice-chair of the committee told Reuters the minimum investment for a large project would likely be ~$2.8bn.
Calendar
Mar 20: Kindred Sustainable Gambling Conference, London
Mar 27-28: Player Protection Forum, London
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