#10 Weekly Digest – Latest News in US Gambling World
It is a new week and new year, means that we are here with a set of news from the gambling landscape of the USA. With the growing prominence of gambling and betting in the country, every state is looking to jump into this bandwagon. Without further ado, let’s delve into the trending news from the gambling industry of the United States.
Bally’s Corp Prepared To Launch Its First Casino In Pennsylvania
Bally’s Corp on January 11th, 2021 announced that the organization had signed a framework agreement in order to launch a $120 casino in the state of Pennsylvania. It is a joint venture with Ira Lubert, and the retail casino will be located in Nittany Mall in Centre County in Pennsylvania.
Recently, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board awarded Mr Lubert with a Category 4 casino license. These casinos are generally defined as satellite or mini-casinos and entail around 300 to 750 slot machine terminals. Additionally, these casinos can incorporate up to 30 tablets for poker or house-edge in the first year of launch. In the next year, this number is extended to 40. Bally’s casino worth $120 million is going to be the 13th casino in the state, joining leaders like Live! Casino Pittsburg and Hollywood Casino. Moreover, it will also be the company’s first casino in Pennsylvania. Presently, Bally’s functions in 11 other casinos spawned across seven states that include New Jersey and Atlantic City.
CEO of Bally’s, George Papanier said that the company has been planning to open a casino in Pennsylvania for a long time. He added that the state legalizing online gambling as well as sports betting in 2017, sealed the deal for the company. Pennsylvania has acquired a lot of traction from gambling as well as gaming scenario in 2020. Many big players launched online platforms such as Caesars, NetEnt, BetMGM, etc.George Papanier also states that the company is also looking forward to working alongside Mr Lubert, who possesses staunch association with the Centre County community.
Although the project will be constructed in a timely manner, there is no certainty as to when the company will be able to launch the casino duet to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the company plans to launch the casino in the first quarter of 2022, granted that the risk of the pandemic is under control.
Tennessee Congressman Proposes To Use Sports Betting Tax To Fund Schools
Tennessee Congressman, David Hawk, revealed that this year, his priority would be funding the state’s education. This announcement came before the state’s general assembly in Nashville. In an interview with Bianca Marais for News Channel, the congressman talked about his plan to take some of the funds that Tennessee receives from online sports betting tax and use them towards funding schools in the state.
Hawk states that additional funding will be invested in schools when the students will get back to in-person learning. The congressman said that he would try to take 80% of the betting tax and use them towards the local government for the development via 12 facility building. He estimated that if online gambling in the state collected $25 million, then this money can be split on a per-pupil basis. Mr Hawk estimates that with such an amount around $25 per student will go to the school districts.
Tennessee legalized sports betting in November 2020, and the response by the people has exceeded all expectations. In November alone, approximately $131.4 million were acquired through sports betting, and some $118.2 million were provided to gamblers in terms of payouts. Since the tax revenue for sports betting is 10% of the handle, it implies that in one month, this activity collected $2.4 million in the form of taxes. Moreover, from this amount, around 80% will be contributed to the lottery centring on educational purposes. An additional 15% will be allocated to the governments, whereas 5% will go towards solving gambling problems.
MGM Gives Clarification On the Takeover Proposal To Ladbrokes
MGM has confirmed that it has extended a proposal wherein offers 0.6 MGM shares for every Entain share, exhibiting a 22% premium to the share price of its joint venture. Additionally, the Board of Entain responded by saying that the proposal does not reflect the true value of Entail. However, It has asked MGM to offer additional data that reflect the organization’s strategic plan for merging both the companies.
After the announcement of Entain that the proposal made by MGM Resorts International by £8.1 billion undervalues the former, MGM issues an official statement confirming the takeover proposal and clarifying a few topics.The owner of Entain, Ladbrokes in a statement said that the company is offered a 22% premium against its closing price, which does not capture the true value of the company’s shares as well as prospects. Responding to this, MGM said that it is aware of the proposal made to the partner in the iGaming and U.S. sports betting market. The company also confirmed the value of the offer, which is 0.6 MGM shared for every Entain share based on the closing price on December 31st, 2020 valuing 1,3838 pence per Entain share.
As per the proposal, the shareholders of Entain will own around 41.5% of the merged company. MGM also suggested that a certain percentage of cash alternatives could also be offered to Entain shareholders. Moreover, IAC, the largest shareholder of the company, has suggested that it would potentially be funding a percentage of the partial cash alternative via an additional investment in MGM. The company asserts that its proposal as well as the strategic rationale for the merger are enticing and hopes to engage with Entail on this term.
There you have, gambling news that gained the most traction. For the U.S. gambling industry, it is the era of evolution, so there is a lot going on. And, we will be coming up with more news next week to keep you updated of this growing landscape.
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