Month: April 2021

“Trust has to be earned and should come only after the passage of time.”

Arthur Ashe

It was in 1991 when I joined Lyle Berman’s Grand Casinos in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  At that time the company had not yet gone public and was being funded by a loan from the personal bankroll of Mr Berman. 

The company had a vision of working as a management company for tribal nations that wanted to enter the nascent Indian gaming market that was coming to life in the Midwest and Southern United States. I was one of two individuals initially hired out of Las Vegas who had casino and casino management experience, the majority of the rest of the company had actually come to Grand from other endeavours, mainly the retail leather business.

The basic relationship between the management company and the tribe involved the company providing the financing for a casino facility and the management expertise to operate the facility. The maximum term for these agreements by law was seven years and the maximum share of distributable profits was 40% going to the management company. The contract also had to be approved by the chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission. 

The underlying reality that brought about such a relationship was that the tribes had little history of understanding the challenges of running a casino facility and had serious issues in trying to raise money from traditional financial providers. Traditional capital markets were just not available to the vast majority of tribes at this time.

I believe the Grand Casinos story was a successful story both for the company and our tribal partners. During my tenure with Grand we managed four tribal facilities for three different tribal nations. 

After being directly involved in these operations for four years, I was invited to speak at an executive development program held at Lake Tahoe. The title of my speech was “Stupid college-educated white folks.” 

The whole point of the speech was to tell on myself for the myriad of realities that I did not understand about tribal history and culture, and, as mentioned, this was after four years of having been involved in the tribal world. While it seemed that while working with the tribes I learned something new every day – there was just a lot to learn.

One of the most fascinating people I met during my time with Grand was Marge Anderson, the Chief Executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, our first tribal partner. Ms Anderson was as impressive as any head of state who I had either known or studied. My respect for her was unbounded.  

Prior to the introduction of the casino, the Mille Lacs band was in trouble. More than 65% of the tribal population existed below federally established poverty levels. 

A whole gamut of social ills were plaguing the tribe with the usual suspects of alcohol and drugs taking too great a toll on the tribal population, especially the males. Un- and underemployment were rampant, many tribal members lacked access to reliable  transportation, and on it went.  

As a result of these challenges and the difficulty tribal members had in accessing quality healthcare, the tribe was struggling with survival every single day.

With the opening of the casino, however, things began to change. The tribe was able to employ every tribal member who wanted to work. The tribe was able to replace an antiquated water system on the reservation that was leeching lead into the water supply. The tribe was able to start construction on elder housing, offer childcare, introduce medical coverage, build a spiritual center – and of great importance, the tribe was able to reacquire tribal lands that had been stolen from them. 

One of the more touching conversations I had during this time was with a tribal woman who was a dealer standing at a dead “21” game in the casino. I asked her what the casino meant to her and her response was that for the first time in her life she could dream of her children getting a good education. That statement touched me in a profound way, and made me feel good that my gambling career had taken me into the tribal world.

As Grand Casinos grew, we made the decision that we wanted to diversify into commercial casino ventures as well as expanding our tribal footprint. At that time, much of the country was contemplating allowing new casino developments and we wanted to be a part of this.  

We needed to share this decision with our tribal partners, the Mille Lacs Band, and secure its support for our future endeavors. We did this by creating an equity position in Grand Casinos, Inc. for the Mille Lacs Band. It was this reality that led to the Mille Lacs Band’s chief executive, Ms. Marge Anderson, to accompany us on an investor road show to New York City.

During one of our presentations in New York City, one of the financial analysts at a session, dressed in the seemingly mandatory dark suit with the slicked-back over-moussed hair (that seemed so popular back then), and the obligatory black backpack, asked a most interesting question, and the question was “how do you know you can trust the Indians?”  

There was a bit of silence in the room, and then chief executive Marge Anderson stood up in her own most dignified way. For the next 10 minutes she continued standing and she talked about trust. She talked about the theft of land and lives that had been visited upon the Indian nations located in the area now called America.  

She talked of the lying, the death, and the deceit that became a way of life suffered upon the tribes. She talked of the murder of tribal children by whites as if it was for sport. She talked of treaty after treaty that represented nothing but lies. She talked of the destruction of tribal languages, tribal sacred sites, and she talked about the continuous efforts to destroy tribal religions and tribal cultures.

When Ms Anderson was done, the room was silent. There was not a follow-up question.

I will never forget that incredible moment. It changed everything.

During my time with the tribes during the 1990s, I never sensed that the tribes trusted me. It was nothing dramatic or explicit; it was just a feeling that was often there. I did not understand it and it made me feel uncomfortable at times. After listening to Marge Anderson, I understood.  I finally got it.

From that moment forward, when I walked on tribal land, I walked with respect for the land I was on. I clearly understood that when I was on the reservation, I was on a sacred space.

When I joined Grand I did it to make some money and help the Indians. What I learned was that the tribes gave me riches beyond my imagination – and  they were the ones helping me.

Many years later, while a commissioner for the California Gambling Control Commission, I was living and working in a state with over 100 federally recognised tribes. At that time, California also had in excess of 60 compacted tribal casinos, and I was often involved at some level or another with one of these tribal projects. 

One day I received a call from the attorney general from one of the tribes, a gentleman who was a tribal member. He was complaining to me about one thing or another that the California state government had done. After listening to him for a bit, I finally asked him why was he was bringing this issue up with me for it had nothing to do with the commission. 

His response was: “Hell, I had to talk to someone about this and I trust you.” That was such a nice thing to hear.

With the tribal nations, trust has to be earned and the process is slow.

Richard Schuetz is the owner of Schuetz LLC, a gaming and regulatory consulting entity. He has worked in the casino industry for close to 50 years and his previous roles include executive director of the Bermuda Casino Gaming Commission, commissioner of the California Gambling Control Commission and president and CEO of the Stratosphere Tower Hotel and Casino.

 In this video, Anika Howard, Foxwoods vice president of brand marketing and digital, talks about the operator’s investment in its online offering. She explains why this has paid off, and how growth has accelerated amid the Covid-19 pandemic.  

Howard discusses Foxwoods’ core aims for its free-to-play offering, and how it has been leveraged to increase or reactivate customer engagement, as well as bringing in new customers. 

The proposed site for an integrated resort in Nagasaki, Japan sites more than 7,000 miles from the Mohegan Indian Reservation. 

Incheon Airport in Seoul is a little under 7,000 miles from the reservation, while Athens is almost 5,000 miles away. 

Well outside the US, they may not appear to be obvious sites for tribal casinos, but Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment in recent years has sought to bring its operations to new sites off the reservation and often outside of the US entirely. 

To Mohegan international president Bobby Soper, that decision to spread out was rooted in a concept that was very important to the Tribe: ensuring sustainability in the extremely long term. 

“It was always the tribe’s strategy that, first, we wanted to focus with our core competency which is hospitality, entertainment and gaming, but we also wanted to diversify,” Soper says. “And it was important for the tribe, looking many generations ahead, we like to say 13 generations ahead, to ensure that our economic enterprises were sustainable over time.” 

First steps

That expansion started modestly enough, with Mohegan Sun Pocono in Pennsylvania.  

However, success of that site meant that not only did the operator expand the resort twice, bringing it from a typical regional casino to what Soper calls a “somewhat integrated resort”, but it also took steps to expand further. 

First, that meant within the US, with properties in Louisiana, Washington, Las Vegas and Atlantic City, all of which Soper says have shown impressive resilience amid Covid-19. 

From there, the operator has now made efforts to expand internationally.  

This too started methodically, with the Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort barely over the Canadian border. 

But Mohegan’s international expansion is now in full swing, with work underway for a resort at Incheon Airport in Seoul, South Korea, while Mohegan won the licence to operate a resort in Athens, Greece and is currently part of a bid for one of Japan’s first integrated resorts, in Nagasaki. 

“We were not mature enough as a caino company when Macau took off, when the licences were issued, but we wanted to participate in the largest global market and Korea presented an opportunity and Japan presents an opportunity,” Soper says. 

New customers 

Entering new markets means knowing new customers. Soper argues that tailoring the operator’s offering to each region has been an important part of the Mohegan international project. 

“Obviously, every jurisdiction is different,” Soper says. “You have different demographics, different tastes and it’s very important to do the necessary due diligence, necessary research, and you have to optimise the marketing plan around every jurisdiction. 

“You also have to be very aware of the unique cultures of every jurisdiction. And then you need to understand the government, the regulatory structure and the rules of operation in every jurisdiction.” 

For the $5bn Seoul resort set to open in H1 2023, that meant focusing on non-gaming amenities such as nightlife and meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE). 

“It is a foreign-only casino, but the focus is really on non-gaming amenities,” Soper says. “There is a tremendous opportunity in that market, a tremendous under-supply of many of these amenities.  

“Greater Seoul has a population of over 23m, and yet they don’t have so many of these amenities.” 

Meanwhile in Greece, the planned resort would take advantage of a lack of integrated resorts in Europe, and this combined with its location in a popular tourist destination, means Soper sees it as a possibility to attract customers across the continent. 

Regulatory challenges 

Alongside catering new customers, however, is the need to navigate new regulatory challenges. 

In Japan, the years-long process to open a series of integrated resorts could be complex, but the local partner making the bid can help ensure this journey is smoother. 

In Mohegan’s case, the operator is a part of Oshidori International Holdings’ bid. Soper says that with Oshidori – as with any partnership such as with GEK Terna in Greece – the most important factor was knowing that both partners bring something to the table. 

“There’s a number of things to determine,” he says. “The project, the location, does the partnership make sense, is there chemistry, but is there also a complementary relationship. In Japan, all of those boxes were ticked with Oshidori. 

“We really like what they’re putting together. We like the location, and their bid was consistent with our business model of the integrated resort and how we utilise all these assets: Oshidori gets all of that. We really felt like there was alignment.” 

“With any partner we work with, we want to know, is there alignment, and are there complementary contributions from each party.” 

But any move off of the reservation means a significant change legally, as the operator must work with new governments and authorities. In that sense, Mohegan’s ventures outside of Connecticut could look similar to the work of any commercial operator. 

“There’s necessarily a really clear distinction between how we, as a Native American operator, do business with regard to these sites and how a commercial operator might do so,” Soper explains. 

“We understood that when we went off the reservation back in 2006, that at the end of the day, one of the tradeoffs of growing outside of the existing assets is that ultimately you’re submitting yourself to the sovereignty of other jurisdictions, and for us it was worth the tradeoff.  

“But of course that means you have to operate like a commercial operator.” 

Yet he adds that Mohegan’s tribal background still plays an important part in everything Mohegan does, and says this is something that has helped the operator work with both partners and authorities, even in countries without tribal gaming. 

“But there are certain values that are central to this tribe and are reflected in our operations, perhaps how we interact with our partners locally, such as government or the private sector,” he continues. “And we’ve found that in Asia in particular, there’s been a lot of appreciation of our history. There’s a sort of profound respect.  

“From an operations standpoint it’s very similar, but the DNA of who we are, how we’ve evolved over hundreds of years, not just tens of years, that’s the greatest distinction.” 

Licensed to MGM Resorts by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, GameSense brings together responsible gambling resources and education into a customer service model, with users able to access a range of tools and support options.

BetMGM, the joint venture between MGM Resorts and Entain, expects to fully integrate the service into its platform later this year, marking the first time an online gambling operator in the US will use the program.

“As the mobile gaming industry in the US continues to grow, responsible gambling is a key focus for BetMGM and is critically important for the industry as a whole,” BetMGM chief executive Adam Greenblatt said.

“GameSense presents a forward-thinking approach to responsible gambling. We look forward to empowering our players with a proven program, designed to help support a positive gambling experience.”

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The merger was approved at a meeting of dMY II’s stockholders on April 16. Once the business combination is completed, the combined business will become Genius Sports Limited.

From April 21, Genius will begin trading on the NYSE under the ticker symbols GENI and its warrants as GENI WS. The business will go public with a valuation of $1.50bn (£1.08bn/€1.26bn).

“As Genius Sports enters an exciting new chapter in its history, we are uniquely positioned at the heart of the world’s sports, betting and media ecosystem,” said Mark Locke, chief executive officer and co-founder of Genius Sports.

“Our merger with dMY II and listing on the NYSE are a testament to the enormous opportunity ahead of us as we leverage our unique scale, drive innovation and deliver products that help our partners create new and immersive experiences for sports fans around the world.”

Genius cited its partnerships with over 400 sports organizations, including its recently agreed deal with the NFL, as an example of its successful long-term technology platform.

A new board of directors will take over for the combined company, which will include Genius chairman David Levy and dMY II CEO Niccolo de Masi.

The details of the merger were first announced in October.

In January it was revealed that GSG would form a new holding company, Galileo NewCo, as part of of the dMY II merger. GSG also announced that DMY II would become a subsidiary of Galileo.

Earlier this month, GSG discontinued its Genius Sports Media and BetGenius brands while moving its remaining solutions under the Genius Sports umbrella ahead of the dMY II merger.

The new Allwyn brand will group Sazka’s UK-facing operations under a single umbrella. In 2019, the operator generated more than €17.0bn (£14.7bn/$20.5bn), across a network of 63,000 points of sale and a number of digital platforms in the UK.

Allwyn will run alongside Sazka’s other businesses operating in the Czech Republic, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, and Austria. The new brand was created in collaboration with London based agency North.

“I’m extremely proud of our success across Europe and I’m hopeful of continuing this journey in the UK by supporting the creation of Allwyn for the UK market,” Sazka chief executive Robert Chvátal said. 

“Since 2013, our track record has spoken for itself: huge sales growth, more people playing, billions back to governments for good causes, and a robust approach to player protection. Allwyn can bring the same sort of innovative thinking and success to the UK.”

The launch of the brand comes at a time when Sazka is bidding for the fourth UK National Lottery licence, following the launch of the tender by the British Gambling Commission last August. 

Sazka announced its intention to bid in October last year and faces competition from Italian lottery operator Sisal and India’s Sugal & Damani. Incumbent Camelot also completed the Gambling Commission’s Selection Questionnaire, but has not yet announced if it is bidding for the tender.

As part of this process, Allwyn has also appointed Amanda Horton-Mastin to its bid advisory board. Horton-Mastin is the current chief executive of local community organisation Semble and previously spent more than 20 years with British charitable group Comic Relief.

Horton-Mastin joins Justin King, Brent Hoberman and Charles Garland on the board, under the leadership of Allwyn bid chair Sir Keith Mills.

“I am really excited about the role that Allwyn can play in helping the National Lottery support the UK to rebuild after the long-term effects of the pandemic,” Horton-Mastin said. 

“The National Lottery and its distributors have an excellent record of funding vital projects all across the UK both in communities and in the arts, sports and heritage sectors.”

Chair Mills added: “With innovative partners still to come on board, an experienced steward in Sazka Group – Europe’s leading lottery operator – and an impressive advisory board that includes Justin King and Brent Hoberman, Allwyn is building an exciting future proposition for the UK market.”

The review will look at how the so-called “football stock market” collapsed, and the lessons that can be learned from the case.

It will also examine the role, decisions and actions taken by the Gambling Commission in relation to Football Index.

The findings of the inquiry will be published in the summer and will help inform the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS) review of the Gambling Act, which commenced in December 2020 with a call for evidence.

“We know how difficult it has been for people affected by the collapse of Football Index with some losing significant sums of money,” Minister for Gambling and Lotteries John Whittingdale – who was appointed to the brief last month – said. “We are setting up an independent inquiry so that we can find out how this happened.  

“We are determined to ensure that regulators have the right tools to protect customers and to deal with novel products. The gambling landscape is evolving rapidly and so we are also taking action by reviewing the Gambling Act to make sure our laws are fit for the digital age.”

Football Index entered administration last month (March 2020), soon after a change to its dividend format that it said was necessary to keep the platform alive. The Gambling Commission then suspended the licence of parent company BetIndex, later announcing that it had been investigating the operator for months but had chosen not to take direct action earlier, partly due to concerns that doing so would itself cause the operator to collapse.

The government will appoint an independent expert to lead the review – which will examine the period from September 2015 to 11 March 2021 – in the near future. Specific terms of the review will also be announced soon.

Groups including the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Gambling Related Harm (APPG) had previously called for such a review.

“In a regulated sector, when people gamble, they should have the confidence they are doing so on the basis of the outcome of a wager – it should not be a gamble on the solvency or sustainability of the licensed operator,” the APPG said last month in a letter to DCMS.

The collapse of the operator has left many Football Index customers unable to access funds that had been deposited or spent on players within the platform.

When BetIndex entered administration, its announcement specified that Football Index account funds were held in a separate trading account from BetIndex’s accounts, and although arrangements were made to protect these funds, BetIndex stated there was “no guarantee that all funds will be repaid in the event of insolvency”.

The Gambling Commission later received a promise that these funds would be paid before other commitments, though it noted that this was not binding.

However, Football Index’s terms and conditions said that funds invested in players through bets on the platform have no such protection, as these were considered sums at risk.

Last week, administrators Adrian Hyde, Adrian Rabet and RH Toone of Begbies Traynor commenced the claims process for those who were owed money by the operator.

Law firm Leigh Day Solicitors is leading a group claim from customers who are owed funds, and has received support for this campaign from Clean Up Gambling chief executive Matt Zarb-Cousin.

After opening its 14 venues for just 71 days in the year without any restrictions related to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, visitor numbers were down 60.0% year-on-year to 2.5 million.

The average spend per visit increased by 13.7% however, from €117 in 2019 to €133, which Holland Casino said was due to a “different visitor mix”.

The majority of the operator’s €333.0m in revenue came from slot machines, at €185.9m, while table games brought in €124.7m, tips brought in €10.7m, food and beverage €10.3m, and other benefits amounted to €1.4m.

Gambling taxes also declined by 53.8%, to €94.5m, though the operator was able to defer €74.9m of this.

When combined with operating expenses – down from €442.5m in 2019 to €318.0m – this led to a loss before corporation tax of €80.7m. This compared to a net profit before tax of €86.9m in 2019.

Holland Casino then received a corporation tax benefit of €21.9m, resulting in a final loss of €58.8m.

However, Holland Casino said it has remained financially robust with a solid liquidity position and continues to invest strategically in its future.

“Despite the constantly changing circumstances and major challenges that this crisis year caused, I firmly believe that we will get through it well,” said Erwin van Lambaart, the operator’s chief executive.

“This is due to the resilience of our people, general government support measures, focus on cost control and a clear strategic investment vision for the future. Together, this has meant that we were always able to anticipate the consequences of this crisis.”

Having remained closed since December last year, Holland Casino announced earlier this month that its venues would be allowed to reopen gradually at the end of this week as part of a pilot programme.

The weekend of 24 and 25 April, 6 of the operator’s venues across the Netherlands will be allowed to open for one day. On Saturday 24 April, this applies to the casinos in Enschede, Venlo and Breda, while on Sunday 25 April the casinos in Amsterdam West, Utrecht and Leeuwarden will be allowed to open.

New restrictions mean that all visitors to the casinos must have made a reservation and bring a negative Covid-19 test certificate.

The operator plans to trial the new system to find out if Covid-19 testing will work to allow its venues to reopen more quickly.

As part of the agreement, the Tribe – which has two Class III gaming facilities on the Tulalip reservation in Marysville – may amend its Class III gaming compact to include sports wagering.

The news comes after a year-long negotiation with the Tribe after Governor Jay Inslee signed House Bill 2638, allowing sports wagering at tribal casinos. The initial agreement only allowed tribal betting activity at the Tribe’s Class III betting facilities.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Under the multi-year deal, agreed in partnership with the PokerGO over-the-top platform, CBS Sports will broadcast 15 hours of WSOP Main Event coverage and 36 hours of Gold Bracelet events during the 2021 season.

WSOP coverage will features across the CBS Sports Network, as well as on its ViacomCBS platforms, including Paramount +.

The deal rekindles a relationship between CBS Sports and the WSOP that began 40 years ago, when was CBS Sports broadcast coverage of the WSOP Main Event on its CBS Sports Spectacular program throughout the mid-1970s.

“CBS Sports has long been a pioneer in covering a broad range of championship sports,” WSOP executive director Ty Stewart said. “We couldn’t be more excited to see increased television coverage of the WSOP in the coming years and benefit from their growing media platforms.”

Read there full story on iGB North America.