Illinois tax hike pushback

Prairie State tax debate, Swedish casino closure, Ohtani case plea +More

May 09, 2024

Operators hit back at Illinois tax hike plans.
In +More: Former MGM Grand president sentenced.
Lights out for Sweden’s land-based sector.
Guilty plea for Shohei Ohtani’s ex-interpreter.

Oh, save me, save me, save me from this squeeze.

Illinois tax debate

Chicago Outfit: Lobbyists representing major operators have argued the raising of sports-betting taxes in Illinois would mean worse odds, fewer promotions and a more active black market. The Prairie State is mulling a hike of more than double its rate of 15% to 35%, drawing scorn from the Sports Betting Alliance (SBA).

The group, which counts BetMGM, DraftKings, Fanatics and FanDuel among members, is asking punters to contact lawmakers to express their concerns.
They claim to have already prompted more than 25,000 emails to be sent to the Illinois governor.
Messaging on the SBA website reads: “Illinois legislators have until the end of May to vote on the proposed tax increase. This is a crucial time to make your voice heard.”

Cutting crew: The group said the “133% tax increase” would result in a reduction of customer support and responsible gaming efforts, as operators invest fewer resources in technology and services.

“SBA companies entered in Illinois with the understanding they would be operating under a 15% tax rate. All of them are currently operating in the red, but are still investing in the state based on long-term potential under a 15% tax rate,” an SBA spokesperson said.
“Doubling the tax rate massively, that changes the calculus and basically makes these investments exceedingly harder to recoup, much less turn a profit. The state taxes promos, so operators’ effective tax rate is actually between 30% and 60%.”
Illinois would not be the first state to trigger operators over tax rates, with New York still said to be too expensive at 51%, New Jersey mulling a rise of more than 100% and Ohio having doubled its rate from 10% to 20% in the last year.

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Grand slam: Former MGM Grand president Scott Sibella was sentenced to one year’s probation and fined $9,500, plus a $100 special assessment, for violating the federal Bank Secrecy Act established to prevent money laundering at financial institutions.

Back in the game: After serving a 12-month suspension for breaching NFL gambling policy, CJ Moore has re-signed with the Detroit Lions, who released the safety when news of his wagering came to light.

Cosmopol closure threat

That’s all folks: Sweden’s government wants to shutter state-owned Svenska Spel’s last land-based venue Casino Cosmopol, as the venue “no longer fulfills its purpose.” Ministers, who believe the Stockholm casino will never be profitable and its closure would not have much of an impact on black market activity, have proposed measures to cancel Casino Cosmopol’s license and pull the plug by January 1, 2026.

Skvensa Spel said it had no objection and agreed that, as visitor numbers fall, online traffic is growing.
The casino was fined by regulators for money-laundering weaknesses last year.
Casino Cosmopol is the last of four Svenska Spel casinos, with closures of the other three beginning in 2020 following the pandemic.

Whole lotto love: Separately, the Swedish government is to ease lottery provision restrictions, which it said are too dated for the modern market.

At present, a state lottery license only grants operators room to offer scratch cards, number games and probability games.
Legislators want to tweak the rules to ensure the license covers online bingo, computer-simulated slot games, local pool games and games on slot machines.

Ohtani interpreter plea

I did it my way: Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani’s former translator Ippei Mizuhara pleaded guilty on Wednesday to bank fraud, having been accused of siphoning nearly $17m from his former friend to pay off gambling debts.

Mizuhara, who allegedly wired money to an illegal bookie operating out of California, admitted one count of bank fraud and one count of subscribing to a false tax return, the Justice Department said.
He faces up to 33 years in federal prison.
“The extent of this defendant’s deception and theft is massive,” US attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. “He took advantage of his position of trust to take advantage of Mr. Ohtani and fuel a dangerous gambling habit.”
In a further bizarre twist, the alleged bookmaker at the center of the probe, Mathew Bowyer reportedly told Mizuhara to wire payments to an associate, whom ESPN revealed to be The Real Housewives of Orange County cast member Ryan Boyajian, a longtime friend and business connection of Bowyer’s.

Let’s see how this plays out: Major League Baseball is in no rush to conclude its own probe into the gambling scandal and is happy to let fed prosecutors take the lead, commissioner Rob Manfred said.

Manfred said the judicial matters would take precedent as law enforcement have more resources and power to get to the bottom of the matter.
“Rarely are we fortunate enough to find ourselves in a position where a criminal process plays out in a way that cannot be the need for us to do the investigation,” Manfred said on Monday during his annual meeting with the Associated Press Sports Editors. “This could be one of those.”

Behind the mask: When asked if the matter had damaged the sport, Manfred let slip he felt the MLB was “dragged into legalized sports betting” when it became a litigant in a Supreme Court case, before resuming on-message and explaining why that is absolutely fine.

“Having said that, I recognize – probably better today than when we were involved in that litigation – that one of the advantages of legalization is it’s a heck of a lot easier to monitor what’s going on than it is with an illegal operation,” he added.
Prop bets are an ongoing area of concern, he said, noting that the league would continue to push back on this form of wagering as several US states ban them outright.
“We’ve been on prop bets from the very beginning,” he said. “When we lobby in states, there’s always certain types of bets that we have lobbied against. I mean, the first pitch of the game, we really don’t want that available as a prop bet,” he said.

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Netherlands warning

Unexpected: The Netherlands’ national Advisory Board on Regulatory Burden has advised against the Ministry of Justice and Security’s player deposit limit and responsible gaming proposals.

The government advisory panel said justice ministers were creating needless red tape, and have said the new rules scheduled should not be introduced later this year as planned.
Instead, the board suggested low, non-increasable deposit limits and a total ban on all online gambling advertising as “less burdensome” alternatives.

UK ASA complaint

Jeff Bozos: Operator JeffBet has been chided by advertising regulators after a punter complained a free wager promotion was misleading. The site published an ad with a “new players only” offer, however it did not make clear the deal was only open to those new to the network of ProgressPlay, which is JeffBet’s white-label casino provider.

The firm said there was not enough space to highlight this point in the ad, but the Advertising Standards Authority upheld the complaint stating the firm should have made the distinction clearer.

Calendar

May 28-30: IAGA, Washington DC
June 6: Gaming in Holland

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