Dear Readers,

It's been a busy week here for all of us, and based on my experiences with clients, partners and friends, it's been like that for almost all of us! We all know that the best way to work through, is to commit to showing up, every day, with a plan to manage the basics of blocking and tackling, so that our premium efforts are spent either:

Like all of us, I have my own cherished busywork. It's okay to make space for a little of that, in little chunks, so that we aren't fighting ourselves when we tackle the "must do's". All things in proportion, right?

Looking forward to the next week, and catching up with some of you in Manchester and Malta!

SCCG Management is traveling to Manchester for meetings with clients and partners, February 10-14, and then to Malta, February 14-22. If you are interested in scheduling time to meet, please contact Stephen Crystal directly via Mobile / WhatsApp at +1 702-427-9354.

In today's issue, our featured articles are:

Founder and CEO, SCCG Management

+1 702 427 9354 (Mobile/WhatsApp)

by Will Jenkofsky

For many, the metaverse is a foreign idea. However, that’s all the metaverse really is right now – just an idea. To compare where we are in terms of the metaverse, it’s almost comparable to the early stages of the internet era. There’s a ton of possibilities of what this can look like, but not all of these visions will come to fruition.

Marketing for the metaverse is in full swing, though. We already saw Justin Bieber hold a 30-minute concert in this VR relm; Snoop Dog purchased property inside the metaverse, and many project this to only be the beginning. NFT projects and crypto video games are being designed to hold real-life utility and brands are eying a way to insert themselves. Dana White isn’t turning a blind eye to this – and it appears he will be aggressively pursuing this opportunity.

White and the UFC have plans to hold a fight inside the metaverse. According to the UFC president, this has been in the works for a while, and he envisions this happening soon. Those who have tickets would put on their Oculas VR headsets and be right there at the fight. It’s still unclear what this will realistically look like, but Dana has never been afraid of trying to pull off the unthinkable - like when he held events on ‘Fight Island’ in Abu Dhabi during the early stages of COVID.

Dana White isn’t the only one associated with the UFC who has interest in being inside of the metaverse. Former fighter Mike Swick is a co-founder of an NFT project called Boxing Boyz. Those who hold this NFT will use it as a character in a boxing simulation game inside the metaverse. This project is backed by Team Fury and by Team AKA’s head coach and owner Javier Mendez, who is known for training Khabib Nurmagomedov and Daniel Cormier.

It’ll be interesting to see how Dana’s plans go as well as the implementation of a VR fight game inside this space. It’s hard to really conceptualize what all of this will look like as we are still in the very early stages. One thing seems imminent, though – this is just the beginning and can open the door for the entire world of sports and fans everywhere.

by Isaac Paglialunga

On January 8th legalized sports betting launched in New York. In the first nine days of operation the sports books generated a total $603.1 million in wagers. According to proposals received by the New York Gaming Commission, operators will be paying a 51% tax rate. According to GeoComply data nearly 880,000 New Yorkers signed up for a sports betting account during those first nine days of operation. According to the numbers Caesars sports book took in the highest handle with a total of $257.7 million in wagers, FanDuel came in second with a total handle of 200.3 million, and DraftKings came in third with a total handle of $134.4 million. According to AP News New York likely passed New Jersey for the top spot in mobile sports betting. While New York has caught fire, it is not the only state that has recently received legal sports betting.

On October 6th, 2021, the very first sports bet was taken in the state of Louisiana by Betfred Sports at the Paragon Casino Resort. Since then, the bayou has seen progress and has announced that mobile sports betting will be live as early as Friday. Louisiana may have not had the same immediate success as New York as only $67 million in handle was taken through November and December, with the NFL conference championships set to kick off this Sunday, the state has put itself in a great position to jumpstart mobile sports betting.

The growth of sports betting in the United States has been interesting to say the least. In 2021 a total of 11 states legalized sports betting in some form or another, bringing the number of legalized sports betting states all the way up to 30, with more states on the horizon in 2022. Mobile sports betting is often seen as the most convenient form of betting, and it is now currently legal in 18 states with more to be added. The sports betting industry is booming in the United States and one can only imagine it growing even more.

by Lucas Mondelo

Lucas Mondelo is an International Gambling Investment Consultant based in Brazil. Citizen of Brazil and Italy, fluent in English, Portuguese, Italian and Spanish, he has been at all sides of the gambling industry since 2008: Professional Gambler, both independent and syndicated, Latam Director and Brazil Country Manager of Several Bookmakers and Casinos, and most recently, Content Writer, Editor and Investor at Affiliate Marketing Projects within the Gambling Industry

There’s no other topic to start in 2022 than the political events that will mark the history of Brazil in 2022.

No breaking news happened during the first month of 2022, and 2023 may be more of an eventful year than this one, but the reasons behind why any kind of expectations of big changes may be wishful thinking need to be analyzed carefully.

Let’s understand why 2022 is a year of political paralysis in Brazil, with little legislative action and lots of political campaign action!

Brazil is a country where the elections have a big impact on all sorts of lobby activities, possibly more than in America. The closer the country gets to the October elections, the less likely the country is to see significant action in the legislative houses, especially regarding delicate agendas like our industry and the usual issues related to how gaming is perceived.

January is ending without any breaking news in terms of regulations, which was somewhat expected as part of the month had the vacation of the legislative house members. That said, Brazilians usually say nothing happens in the country before the carnival, which usually happens between February and March. However, the big parties were canceled due to covid, although the holiday won’t be affected.

It is fair to say March and April are the most relevant months in terms of potential changes in the legal scenario in Brazil, but in general, 2022 is not a great candidate to bring major legislation changes.

Brazil is a hard country to predict elections, but it’s fair to say the return to the power of Lula in an unprecedented alliance with Geraldo Alckmin as VP, or the victory of a moderate of the center of the political spectrum like former judge Sérgio Moro are the most likely scenarios.

Lula already has big numbers in early forecasts and polls, and Sérgio Moro has a lot of room to gain support.

Bolsonaro on the other hand is losing popularity bit by bit due to irresponsible actions related to the pandemic among many other unreasonable actions condemned in the international scenario. I never pick sides when analyzing the scenario of the Brazilian investment environment with the eyes of our industry, but some actions of Bolsonaro simply defy logic, and the nation is seeing this.

It is very unlikely to see a sudden growth of popularity of Bolsonaro unless his adversaries really do something incredibly wrong during the political campaign.

The most relevant kind of analysis for international protagonists of our industry is to analyze what 2023 and the coming federal government will bring to the table because any kind of legislation change can fall apart if a strong government arises from the coming election.

In summary, even if the expected regulations come in 2022, they may not last long before new regulations come. Our industry is subject to fluctuation of legislation scenarios, and that is a tendency in Brazil until a solid government rises to power in this country again, which has not been the situation in Brazil in the last decade.

Considering the 3 most likely possibilities of outcome in the coming election cycle, Bolsonaro is now perhaps the candidate with less interest in doing what needs to be done in Brazil.

Sérgio Moro is a former judge and there’s a chance he will see the value of a well-regulated space in comparison with a huge black market of land-based gaming, but he has identified himself with some conservative points of view. In the past, when he was a part of the Bolsonaro administration, there was no indication that he would be against a white market, but his opinions may be different now that he would be the President as he doesn’t need to meet halfway with Bolsonaro in any sort of topics anymore.

Lula tends to be receptive to lobbying activities of all kinds, as long as his political agenda resonates with the agenda in question.

Considering that Bolsonaro remaining in power in 2023 seems quite unlikely, it’s fair to say 2023 may bring the changes we need in this country in terms of gaming regulation. The country remains hard to predict in many ways and most experienced industry protagonists that know this country well agree this could take decades to happen. In other words, 2022 is unlikely to bring any kind of breaking news, and 2023 should bring us to the usual scenario.

THE GAMBLING INSIDER INTERNATIONAL NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Gambling Insider is the premier business-to-business publication for the gaming industry. Each issue brings you the inside track on the global gambling market, interviews with the field’s biggest movers and shakers, and in-depth analysis from some of the sharpest minds in the business.

Gambling Insider offers expert perspective on all the industry’s major talking points from online regulation in the US to the expansion of the European gaming market – all backed up by first-rate comment and astute debate from the people on the inside.

In the US, Oklahoma’s Chickasaw Nation will serve as a development partner on the Shiloh Casino & Resort.

The California property, announced by the Koi Nation Indian tribe in September 2021, will — upon completion — be managed and operated by Global Gaming Solutions (GGS).

GGS is a wholly owned business of the Chickasaw Nation and is responsible for the management of the tribe’s Golden Mesa Casino, the ownership and operation of the hotel towers at WinStar World Casino — the largest casino in the world — and the operation of Remington Park, Oklahoma City’s largest commercial racino.

In a joint statement, the Chickasaw Nation’s “broad range of commercial expertise” was cited as a reason for their partnership.

Across the Atlantic, the Parliamentary All-Party Betting & Gaming Group (APBGG) issued a severe, if subjective, set of findings from its investigation into the effectiveness of the Gambling Commission.

Its report, which demands a “significant change in the Gambling Commission’s culture, strategy and practices,” suggested that the regulator has “gone rogue” and is failing to understand the industry it serves.

Motivated by anecdotal feedback from concerned betting operators, the APBGG launched the inquiry last September, officially titled the ‘Investigation into the Competence and Effectiveness of the Gambling Commission.’

Heading northwards, the Danish Gambling Authority (DGA) rebuked Mr Green for breaching regulations laid down in Denmark’s Anti-Money Laundering Act.

The DGA’s reprimand stemmed from insufficient checks carried out by the online casino operator, with a young player allowed to deposit DKK 325,000 ($45,000) into an account without Mr Green “having sufficient knowledge about whether or not the player’s funds originated from criminal proceeds.”

As a result, the Authority argued that Mr Green failed in its obligations over Know Your Customer (KYC) checks and investigations.

Meanwhile, in the Middle East, Marjan, RAK Hospitality Holding and Wynn Resorts will begin work on a multi-billion-dollar integrated resort development on the man-made Al Marja Island in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) city of Ras Al Khaimah.

The opening is scheduled for 2026 and will be the first beach resort for Wynn Resorts. Al Marjan Island is already a leading tourism location and sits only 15 minutes from Ras Al Khaimah International Airport, as well as 45 minutes from Dubai International Airport.

Venturing further east, Macau’s GDP will not return to pre-Covid levels until 2025, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The financial institution expects Macau’s economy to grow by 15% this year, driven by the gradual return of foreign tourists and the recovery of domestic demand.

Going into 2023, the IMF anticipates an acceleration of GDP growth due to increased investment linked to the issuance of new gaming concessions.

However, Covid-19 has caused such significant harm to Macau’s economy, that the IMF does not expect its GDP to exceed pre-pandemic levels before 2025.

In other news, Lim Kok Thay stepped down as Chairman and CEO of Genting Hong Kong.

The announcement came several days after the Star Cruises operator had filed to wind up the company, as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to damage the tourism and travel industries.

Deputy CEO Fook Yew Au also resigned, with both executives suggesting they had no disagreement with the company’s board.

Finally, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) received a commendation from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) for its anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) efforts.

PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Andrea D. Domingo received the AMLC plaque of recognition on behalf of the authority duringan online ceremony. The virtual event was themed around “Resilience and Digital Transformation”.

SCCG Management curates a feed of news articles from over one hundred of the best industry news sources.

Keep up to date on the items in the news that interest and excite us!