Tropicana Atlantic City And William Hill Partner Up For Sports Betting
New Jersey operations get under way
Tropicana Atlantic City Casino & Resort has confirmed that it has entered a partnership with William Hill Sportsbook & Racebook to bring more gaming offerings to its New Jersey guests.
In an announcement Thursday Tropicana said: “We pride ourselves on creating unique and exciting experiences for our guests at Tropicana Atlantic City, and our sports betting offering will meet those expectations. A brand-new venue is being created to host sports betting in the North Tower Casino, with kiosks located throughout the property.
“We offer several sports bars to watch all the games while enjoying your favorite food and drinks, including A Dam Good Sports Bar, Hooters, Chickie’s & Pete’s and Ri Ra Irish Pub.”
Steve Callender, Tropicana’s general manager, said that more details on the partnership would be released in the coming weeks.
Joe Asher, CEO of William Hill U.S. added: “We are excited to partner with the Tropicana in Atlantic City to build a first-class sportsbook in the heart of the world-famous Boardwalk. The Tropicana has been a great property in Atlantic City for many years, and we can’t wait to be a part of it.”
Caesars Mobile Sports Betting App Launched In New Jersey
Sportsbetting content included in existing casino product
Thursday saw the New Jersey launch by Caesars Entertainment of its new mobile sports betting app, which has been integrated into the company’s existing casino app.
The app is available through the App Store and on CaesarsCasino.com for Android users. This move allows anyone in New Jersey who downloads the app to place bets on their favourite sporting events, including professional football – the season has just started.
They can also play over 400 casino games including slots, table games, and video poker.
“Since New Jersey decided to allow mobile sports betting, we have been working diligently to create the most engaging and fun mobile platform which provides users with the ability to place bets on their favorite sporting events,” said Mark Frissora, CEO and President of Caesars Entertainment.
“Players have the opportunity to earn and redeem rewards points through our Total Rewards loyalty program, which they can redeem for memorable experiences inside our world-class resorts. This launch further solidifies our investment into this exciting space.”
Scientific Games powers the Caesars Casinos & Sports mobile app. using Its OpenBet technology.
Following the Supreme Court’s PASPA ruling and receipt of regulatory approvals, Caesars began taking sports bets at two of its New Jersey properties as well as its two Mississippi properties.
As part of its sports betting growth strategy, Caesars plans to introduce retail locations and expand its mobile offerings in additional states when and if it becomes legal and economically attractive for Caesars to do so.
Fanduel Group To Operate Television Sports Betting Shows
More Ways to Win and The Barstool Sports Advisors will have relevant and varied content
The US-facing FanDuel Group (Paddy Power Betfair, FanDuel and TVG) continued to make waves on the nascent US sports betting scene this week, following its operational debut in the newly liberalised vertical with confirmation that it will be offering diverse and relevant content in television shows as well.
The first of these shows will be More Ways to Win and The Barstool Sports Advisors, the company confirmed this week, revealing that the former will be hosted by former ESPN anchor Lisa Kerney, and will also feature Dani Klupenger (currently a Seahawks’ reporter with NBC Sports Northwest and a college football reporter with Stadium), Jason McIntyre (currently of The Big Lead, FS1’s Speak For Yourself and Fox Sports Radio’s The Big Lead with Jason McIntyre), and fantasy expert Brandon Funston (now of The Athletic, formerly of Yahoo Sports and ESPN).
Long-time TVG host and reporter Dave Weaver will also add live reports from the FanDuel Sportsbook at the Meadowlands Racetrack.
The Barstool Sports Advisors will feature Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, Pardon My Take‘s Dan “Big Cat” Katz and PFT Commenter, and Stu “The Source” Feiner, with 30 minutes of that syndicated from Barstool’s site and then a 30-minute original-to-TVG show following.
The Barstool Sports Advisors will air Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. Eastern, with the two-hour More Ways to Win following at 11 a.m. Eastern. (The international racing programming previously on TVG in the 11 a.m. slot will now air on TVG2).
Kip Levin, CEO of TVG Network and COO of FanDuel Group, said in a company statement:
“The expansion of our Sunday morning programming, including our partnership with Barstool Sports, will bring a whole new audience to our network for a mix of sports betting, news and daily fantasy content that’s relevant to their interests.
“Our Sunday morning programming will now offer up-to-the-minute sports betting information, football news, and expert opinions and insights to complement our customary coverage of the best in live horse racing from around the world. The integration of fantasy and sports betting content into our television assets provides a unique, unmatched marketing platform for the FanDuel Group.”
888 Launches Sports Betting In New Jersey
Kambi powers sports betting operation
888 has announced the launch of its sports betting operations in New Jersey, powered by Kambi and offering a wide selection of sports markets across desktop, mobile and tablet devices.
The sports betting launch complements the already established 888 online casino and poker activity in the US market.
A 888 spokesman said that the launch paves the way for further activity across individual states when future legislation permits this.
Itai Frieberger, CEO of 888, said: “The launch of 888sport.com in New Jersey is a major milestone for the company in our ongoing expansion across the regulated US online gaming market and provides 888 with a unique and truly multi-product proposition in what is currently the largest regulated US state.
“888 has been committed to developing its position in the US since launching in Nevada, the first regulated US state, nearly six years ago and today we are the only operator with a presence in all three regulated US states. We now have our sport, casino and poker products all operational in the US and are continually developing our proposition, brands and technology to ensure that the group remains exceptionally well positioned to capture the potentially significant future growth opportunities as new regulation allows.”
MGM In Deal With New US Football League
Alliance of American Football (AAF) kicks off early next year
The publication ESPN reports that US land casino giant MGM Resorts International has penned an exclusive wagering agreement with the up-and-coming new football league Alliance of American Football (AAF), which plans to launch operations over a 12 week season early in 2019.
The AAF is reportedly developing an app which provides free streaming of its games, and in terms of the agreement MGM will offer its wagering product in conjunction with this, including an exclusive right to offer in-game wagering for the first three seasons.
The increasingly hi-tech nature of football will reportedly see AAF players wearing locater devices to enable their movements to be tracked for data purposes, which will help MGM set betting lines on the in-game action. The logical extension of that is a player reward system using the volume of wagers bet on a player as a measure
The AAF’s technological ability to create relevant data and quickly use it enables the league to provide this critical information to MGM faster than rivals, a AAF principal told reporters.
IGT In Three-Casino Sports Betting Deal With Tribal Group
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians signs for technology and services
IGT has clinched a 3-casino deal with the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians to provide sports betting technology and services.
Under the agreement, IGT will provide its PlayDigital sports betting solution, PlayShot, at Pearl River Resorts’ Golden Moon Hotel & Casino and Silver Star Hotel & Casino in Choctaw, MS., and at Bok Homa Casino in Sandersville, MS.
By leveraging IGT sports betting technology, Golden Moon Hotel & Casino made gaming history last month when it became the first non-Nevada tribal casino to open a sports book post-PASPA repeal.
IGT technology and services will enable casino patrons to place pre-match and in-play wagers over-the-counter at the three Mississippi casinos. The casinos agreed to add IGT kiosks and other essential sports betting peripherals to their offerings in the future.
“IGT’s entry into the tribal gaming sports betting space demonstrates how a wide variety of casino operators can benefit from our PlayShot sports betting solution, today,” said Enrico Drago, IGT Senior Vice President PlayDigital.
“With IGT PlayDigital’s technology and expertise, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians introduced sports betting to players with confidence, knowing that PlayShot is already active at more than 15 U.S. casinos across multiple states.”
Illegal Online Bookie Jailed In Texas
And forfeits $7 million in ill-gotten gains
Media reports from West Texas Thursday reveal that a 40-year-old illegal online bookmaker, Jose Abelardo Dominguez, has been convicted on illegal sports betting, money laundering and tax evasion charges and sentenced to three years imprisonment.
He forfeits $7 million in allegedly ill-gotten gains through the judge’s order that he pay $1.9 million to the IRS and $5.1 million as part of the court judgment.
Dominguez must also forfeit real estate in Ector and Midland County and about $515,000 in confiscated cash.
Dominguez in June pleaded guilty to money laundering and tax evasion after prosecutors charged that from 2011 to 2016, he offered illegal opportunities for online sports bets. Dominguez in 2014 earned more than $2.3 million through the online gambling operation but reported taxable income of only about $63,000.