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Global Gaming Business Magazine GGB August 2023 •Vol. 22 •No. 8 •$10 TRIBAL DIVERSIFICATION RESPONSIBLE GAMING TECH HARD ROCk’S MARk BIRTHA SLOTCYCLE.COM Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers iGaming in America Clearing the Smoke Operators grapple with the issue of smoking on gaming floorsVol. 22 • No. 8 COLUMNS CONTENTS 10 The Countdown to G2E 2023 is On 12 Recalibrate and Refocus 4The Agenda 6By the Numbers 85 Questions 13AGEM 34Emerging Leaders 36Company Profile 38Frankly Speaking 40New Game Review 48Cutting Edge 50Goods & Services 53People 54Casino Communications DEPARTMENTS aug ust 14 Casinos and Smoking With many states considering bans of smoking on casino floors, casinos weigh a potential drop in income from banning indoor smoking against the health of their employees. 18 Coming to America Online casino operators and plat- form suppliers in Europe and elsewhere are weighing the value of establishing operations in the growing U.S. iGaming market. 26 Beyond Tribal Casinos A growing number of gaming tribes in the U.S. are diversifying their businesses in a variety of non-gaming ventures, as well as operation of commercial casinos. 30 iGaming Crossover The rise of online gaming in the U.S. has expanded the overall gaming market while bringing new players to brick-and-mortar casinos. 42 Return of GameON The AGS GameON conference returned for its sixth installment at Reno’s Grand Sierra, providing networking for AGS customers and examination of critical industry issues. 44 Responsible Tech Efforts to promote responsible gaming and battle problem gambling are given a boost by a variety of new technology created to aid in the effort. AUGUST 2023 www.ggbmagazine.com 3 FEATURES COVER STORY Global Gaming Business Magazine Sports Town While professional sports teams only recently still avoided any association with Las Vegas and its main industry, the casinos, the gaming capital has gone from a town shunned by sports over alleged integrity issues to a vibrant sports town hosting four professional teams with more to come. Here’s how the relationship between gaming and sports has changed in the era of legal sports betting. By John Reger4 Vol. 22 • No. 8 • AUGUST 2023 Roger Gros, Publisher | rgros@ggbmagazine.com twitter: @GlobalGamingBiz Frank Legato, Editor |flegato@ggbmagazine.com twitter: @FranklySpeakn Jess Marquez, Managing Editor jmarquez@ggbmagazine.com Monica Cooley, Art Director mcooley@ggbmagazine.com Terri Brady, Sales & Marketing Director tbrady@ggbmagazine.com Becky Kingman-Gros, Chief Operating Officer bkingros@ggbmagazine.com Lisa Johnson, Communications Advisor lisa@lisajohnsoncommunications.com twitter: @LisaJohnsonPR Columnists Maureen Beddis |Frank Fantini Contributing Editors Rae Berkley Dave Bontempo twitter: @bontempomedia Alan Campbell |Chris Irwin |Marjorie Preston John Reger |Bill Sokolic twitter: @downbeachfilm _______________ • • • • • • • • • • • • • Official Publication L ast month, IGT declared that its Wheel of Fortune slot games in certain states will accu- mulate a jackpot by using play from both land- based and online casinos, meaning a player has a chance to win the top jackpot by playing in either a bricks-and-mortar casino or online. I say it’s about time that land-based casinos figured out ways to attract online players to their properties. We’ve not seen any major declines in land-based revenues in states that also allow legal online gaming, despite the fears. New Jersey was the first to try this experiment, and the results have been heartening. While in some months, the land-based revenue has declined, it has usually been made up by online gaming revenues. Now, would some of that online revenue come to the land-based casinos were online gambling to be banned? That’s unclear, but it seems to be that online revenues are dollars that casinos would not have got- ten should land-based gaming be the only choice. But should online gaming not be permitted, would those players opt for casino games offered by illegal offshore operators? There’s no concrete proof yet, but given the presence of illegal online gambling advertising on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and other platforms, and also given the fact that those who are able to play on those sites do so without any interference from the authorities, one can only assume that those illegal sites are going to grow and proliferate as long as that continues. Since the growth of legal online gaming has not spread as quickly as the industry would like, there’s going to be continued growth of illegal gaming. And that includes sports betting. In this issue, our Five Questions page with premier sports bettor Spanky shows that legal sportsbooks shy away from sharp bettors, who therefore look offshore for their action. That will continue to happen with sharps and squares when legal online casinos open, but with odds that are not attractive to the players. Meanwhile, in states where legal land-based and online casinos exist, we need to link the two so play- ers get rewarded for playing on any of their products. This is where land-based casinos that also offer online gaming can beat the betting sites that don’t have a land-based option. By offering rewards that can only be redeemed in person—free rooms, meals, cash back at real machines and contests—land-based casinos can gain an edge over the DraftKings and FanDuels of the world. BetMGM, Caesars and Hard Rock sportsbooks and online casinos will be able to cut into the mas- sive market shares enjoyed by online-only entities by showing players the two sides of the equation. Nothing can match the hands-on, face-to-face, per- sonal service that customers receive at the bricks- and-mortar casinos, and if that extends to the online reception, then casinos that can blend the two experiences in a seamless manner will have the leg up on any online-only gaming competition. So far, however, it seems as though land-based operators are just pleased to have another revenue stream that they stumbled upon. They were glad to give up large pieces of that stream to technology providers along with other “skins” that are online- only and don’t produce as effectively as they should. It took some of the technology companies like IGT to grasp the possibilities of how a dual approach to land-based and online players could increase their profitability. Operators are still lag- ging behind. And it’s not just a matter that the operators will lose out on a revenue stream—if they don’t respond soon, they will be left in the dust of the more sophisticated online-only sites, even if they don’t have a land-based alternative. But it isn’t just operators. Regulators also need to get up to speed quickly. There still is a lot of frustra- tion coming from both operators and suppliers that regulators are too slow to respond to innovative ideas. Both New Jersey and Nevada have programs where new technology can be recognized and utilized but other states and jurisdictions need to follow. And it’s not just the U.S. Online play is exploding in Asia with almost everyone playing some kind of game on their mobile devices. Yet the operators in Asia seem to have ceded that space to new and unique companies that come in under the radar. When is the last time you’ve seen any online gaming options from the big Asian conglomerates like Crown, Sands China, Galaxy, SJM or others? So everyone needs to realize that online gaming is going to be at least as big if not bigger than land- based gaming, and figure out how to blend the two so you not only get a loyal land-based player but one that you can follow home to create a full customer experience. The time to do it is now, not tomorrow. Come Together BY ROGER GROS, PUBLISHER Global Gaming Business AUGUST 2023 GGB THEAGENDA IT’S YOUR BRAND. GO BIG. Our agency brings unparalleled gaming experience to the table, with a passion for creating breakthrough brands that get real results . GOODGIANT.COM 6 Global Gaming Business AUGUST 2023 Fantastic Fantasy I n recent years, fantasy sports have emerged as yet another avenue for bettors and bookmakers to wager on their favorite players and teams, and a recent report from Grand View Research has predicted that the global fantasy market will balloon at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of just over 14 percent from 2023 to 2030, thanks to a number of factors, including the proliferation of high- speed internet and smartphones as well as increased sports viewership overall. The 140-page report, titled “Fantasy Sports Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Sports, By Sports Type, By Platform, By Gameplay, By Device, By Demographics, By Region, And Seg- ment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030,” also posited that the U.S. market specifically will grow at a healthy CAGR of 12 percent. In 2022, the global market was estimated to be worth US$20.3 billion, with the U.S. accounting for at least $6 billion of that total. Another key factor mentioned by Grand View is the legalization of traditional sports betting in a number of new jurisdictions and U.S. states in the last five years. Not only that, but the scope of bet- ting and data partnerships between operators and leagues themselves has accelerated the number of players and offerings. BYTHENUMBERS I n recent months, a new phenomenon known as skins gambling has grown tremendously. The process involves video game play- ers—some of whom are not of legal age to gamble offline—using in-game collectibles as currency to wager on games of chance; the most common example arose from the game CounterStrike: Global Offensive, in which skins refer to unique camouflages and orna- ments for players’ weapons. The trend has expanded to the point where the skins can be transferred or redeemed for use on other platforms than the original games. A recent study published in the Journal of Gambling Studiesby Nancy Greer and colleagues from Australia’s Central Queensland University sought to identify whether those who participate in esports cash betting, esports skin betting or third-party skins betting were more likely to develop problem gambling tendencies. Despite some limitations, the findings showed that of the three categories, only third-party skins betting resulted in higher rates of problem gam- bling or gambling harms. For every one-unit increase in third-party skins betting, the study said, respondents were 1.322 and 1.170 times more likely to experience an increase in problem gambling and gambling harms, respectively. 8 Global Gaming Business AUGUST 2023 CALENDAR G adoon “Spanky” Kyrollos, a sharp bettor based in New Jersey, has a team of analysts that look at all con- tests and decide which ones are beatable. Kyrollos’ clients get their recommendations and he decides on the bets he will place, but it’s mostly at offshore books that accept his action. Kyrollos also runs a conference on sports betting, this year being held at Circa in Las Vegas August 8-12, where the first inductees into the Sports Betting Hall of Fame will be announced. He spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros from his home in New Jersey in June. To hear a full version of this podcast, visit GGBMagazine.com. GGB: What is the most lucrative sport to bet on? Kyrollos: For us it’s college basketball, just because of the sheer number of games. The bookmaker can’t keep up. He has to make a line on every single college basketball game on a college basketball Saturday, anywhere from 100 to 130 games. And then you have a side, a total and a money line on all those games, so there’s a lot of betting options, and the bookmaker has to put up a number on every one of them. As the bet- tor, my disadvantage is having to lay 11 to 10, but my advantage is I get to choose with my sniper rifle, which is exactly what bet I’m going to place. How much has sports betting changed for you since it was legalized in the U.S.? In the regulated markets in the last several years, I’ve been pretty much been kicked out of every- where, unfortunately. So it really hasn’t changed much for me. Most of my action is still bet primarily off- shore. That being said, we still have a couple of U.S. sites we use. It’s just unfortunate that I have to rely on beards or guys that bet in disguise, pretending that they’re betting for themselves, but I’m their partner. There’s no such thing as me as Spanky going to a sportsbook anymore. They’ll show me the door. However, if you have somebody that just looks like a regular guy and they’re betting, that’s a different story. So it’s a cat- and-mouse game that you have to do. It’s a shame that’s the case, but that’s just the current environment as it stands. Some of the legal bookmakers have changed their lines and their limits for people like you. How do you feel about that? I’m in New Jersey, and some of the laws in New Jersey say you can’t completely kick out a customer, but by limiting him to a $1.36 bet you’re essentially showing him the door. Unlike all the other games in casinos, there is no minimum or maximum bet at legal sportsbooks—they don’t have those posted. Why? Because they don’t treat every customer the same way, and that’s sad. Circa Sports in Las Vegas is one of the few excep- tions to that rule where they actually have posted limits, and they’ll give those limits to everybody. What was the motivation for you to start Betbash? The first Betbash took place in Jersey City in 2021, at the tail end of the pandemic. It was kind of an itch I needed to scratch, and something that I wanted to do personally. So I didn’t have any intention of mak- ing Betbash profitable business. I just wanted to set up a sports betting conference because nobody else was doing it. This was like a proof of concept, and 220 people showed up from all over the country, (plus) Canada and overseas. Last year’s program was even more successful, and we have high hopes for the 2023 Betbash. Last year at Betbash, you made the statement that sports betting providers are not your enemy. They can be and often are your friends. How can that be? Some of my best friends are my bookmakers in the offshore world, and I beat them consistently. But they’re able to utilize my information to make more money. So if they pay me X, but they make X plus Y, why would they be upset? A lot of the legal bookmakers in North America, their goal is to beat each and every single player. They think that’s the idea. We have to beat and make money off every player directly. But they don’t understand that it’s OK for a certain number of players to beat you, to be able to make your line sharper, and then to be able to allow yourself to grow your handle, and write more business. You might hold less, but you’d make more money in the long run. “TheyIt” 5QUESTIONS 1 2 3 4 5 August 8-10: OIGA Conference & Tradeshow , Cox Business Convention Center, Tulsa, Okla- homa. Produced by the Oklahoma Indian Gam- ing Association. For more information, visit oiga.org/tradeshow. September 6-8: International Masters of Gaming Law (IMGL) Autumn 2023 Conference , Zurich Marriott, Zurich, Switzerland. Produced by IMGL. For more information, visit imgl.org. September 19-21: SBC Summit Barcelona , Fira Barcelona Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain. Produced by SBC. For more information, visit SBCEvents.com. October 9-12: Global Gaming Expo (G2E), The Venetian Expo, Las Vegas, Nevada. Produced by RX. For more information, visit globalgaming- expo.com. October 31- November 2: SBC Summit LatinoAmerica , Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Miami, Florida. Produced by SBC. For more information, visit SBCEvents.com. November 13-17: SiGMA Europe , MMH Malta LTD, Il-Marsa, Malta. Produced by SiGMA Group. For more information, visit sigma.world. November 22-23: Eastern European Gaming Summit (EEGS) , Inter Expo Center, Sofia, Bulgaria. Produced by AGIB. For more information, visit eegamingsummit.com. December 6-7: iGB L!VE North America, Javits Center, New York, New York. Produced by Clarion Events. For more information, visit igblivenorthamerica.com Gadoon “Spanky” Kyrollos PlayAGS.com ©2023 PlayAGS, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All ® notices signify marks regis- tered in the United States. All ™ and ℠ notices signify unregistered trademarks. Charming characters come alive in Triple Coin Treasures™️ as they dazzle and dance across AGS’ new, next-generation cabinet Spectra UR43™️. TRIPLE THE RICHES, TRIPLE THE FUN!Next >