In an unprecedented move, casino operators have begun shuttering their properties along the Las Vegas Strip, as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens.

Wynn Resorts & MGM Resorts close Strip properties

First to move was Wynn Resorts, which announced it will be closing its two luxury properties in on the Strip from Tuesday. MGM Resorts soon followed suit, confirming it will be ceasing casino operations today (Monday 16^th March), and closing all 13 Strip properties on Tuesday.

In a statement Chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts said:

“Despite our commitment to dedicating additional resources for cleaning and promoting good health, while making difficult decisions to close certain aspects of our operations, it is now apparent that this is a public health crisis that requires major collective action if we are to slow its progression.

“This is a time of uncertainty across our country and the globe and we must all do our part to curtail the spread of this virus. We will plan to reopen our resorts as soon as it safe to do so and we will continue to support our employees, guests, and communities in every way that we can during this period of closure.”

Boyd Gaming closes properties in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio

The news from Vegas was swiftly followed by Boyd Gaming announcing the closure of its Belterra Casino Resort and Blue Chip Casino Hotel and Spa in Indiana; Belterra Park in Ohio; and Par-A-Dice Casino Hotel in Illinois.

The company closed Belterra Park on Friday at midnight, in response to an order from the Ohio Department of Public Health prohibiting mass gatherings of 100 or more people.

Par-A-Dice closed Sunday at midnights, in compliance with a notice from the Illinois Gaming Board, which has ordered all casinos in the state to close until Monday, 30^th March.

Belterra Resort and Blue Chip will close today (16^th March) at 6am local time, in compliance with order from the Indiana Gaming Commission. Again, this order will last until at least Monday, 30^th March.

Valley Forge Casino Resort, Pennsylvania, will also remain closed, following an order from the Governor of Pennsylvania to close all entertainment venues in Montgomery County.

Maryland orders all casinos, racetracks and betting facilities closed

On Sunday, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan issued an emergency order, effective from midnight on 16^th March, to close all casinos, racetracks and betting facilities in the state, indefinitely.

The order affects, MGM National Harbor, Live! Casino & Hotel, Horseshoe Casino Baltimore, Hollywood Casino Perryville, Ocean Downs Casino, Rocky Gap Casino Resort, Pimlico Race Course, Timonium Race Course, Fair Hill Races, Rosecroft Raceway, Ocean Downs, and all simulcast betting facilities.

AYO.NEWS says:

Given global developments with the COVID-19 pandemic, we very much doubt any of these casinos or betting facilities will be reopening any time soon, and expect all to remain closed indefinitely.

Though the closure of casinos and retail betting facilities would, at first glance, seem likely to boost online and mobile sports betting, the fact that virtually all major sports in the US has also shutdown means this is unlikely. Though maybe virtual sports betting and esports betting could see a slight benefit in the short terms as bettors look for alternatives.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

German lawmakers have approved new regulations to legalise online poker and casino in the country from 1^st July 2021.

The Glücksspielneuregulierungstaatsvertrag (GlüNeuRStv) will now need to be ratified by each state parliament, and then submitted to the European Commission for approval, before the regulations can be introduced.

In a move that has taken some in the industry by surprise, it has been decided to establish a new regulatory authority, based in Sacshen-Anhalt. Most had expected any new authority to be based in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Schleswig-Holstein, Baden-Württemberg or Hesse (the state handling the sports betting licensing process).

Draconian restrictions on live betting and slots

Reports suggest the GlüNeuRStv was approved without any major changes, meaning sports betting, online poker and online casino games, including slots, will be permitted subject to significant restrictions.

Live sports betting will be limited to final result and next scorer markets only, while slots will be subject to a €1 per spin staking limit, autoplay functions banned and jackpots prohibited. Individual states will be able to decide whether or not to allow table games, and could make them the exclusive preserve of their lotteries.

All providers will be subject to a mandatory deposit limit of €1,000, and operators will not be allowed to advertise gambling between 6am and 9pm.

Enforcement action against unlicensed operators

Until the GlüNeuRStv comes into force, the third State Treaty, limiting the market to online sports betting, will remain in force until 30^th June 2021. Despite the third State Treaty coming into force in

January 2020, as of February, the processing body (Regional Council of Darmstadt, Hesse state) had not yet approved any of the 30 license applications it has received. Another 20 operators are thought to be interested in applying for a German license under the third State Treaty.

Authorities have vowed to take enforcement action against any operators who have not applied for a license but continue to offer services to Germans.

AYO.NEWS says:

While the introduction of clear, coherent national regulatory framework is to be welcomed in Germany, the draconian restrictions placed on slots and live betting, along with harsh advertising rules, will make Germany a very tough market to succeed in.

For some, especially gambling affiliates that are heavily exposed to Germany, the news could be particularly painful. Catena Media’s share price tumbled on the news, sinking as low as 11.17 SEK at the time of writing. As recently as 21 February, Catena’s shares had been trading at 33.68 SEK.  

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

US President Donald Trump has banned all travel from mainland Europe to the US for at least 30 days, and Denmark has followed Italy into lockdown, in response to the global COVID-19 virus crisis.

Europe-US travel shutdown

In an address to the nation from the Oval Office, Trump blamed European countries for not acting quickly enough to stop the COVID-19 (coronavirus) spread, and ordered a suspension of all flights from mainland Europe, effective from midnight on Friday, Eastern Standard Time.

Flights to and from the UK and Ireland are not affected at the moment. Although British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to make an important announcement later this morning, which could well include travel bans from the UK to Europe – cutting off European’s only realistic route into the US.

Denmark follows Italy into lockdown

Meanwhile, overnight Denmark became the second European country to go into nationwide lockdown, with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announcing the closure of all schools, universities and kindergartens, the banning of indoor events, sending non-critical public sector workers home, and asking private sector workers to work from home.

Borders start shutting within Europe

Elsewhere in Europe, on Wednesday Malta took the unprecedented step of suspending flights to and from Germany, France, Spain and Switzerland (travel to and from Italy was banned on Monday). Austria and Slovenia have all but closed their borders with Italy, only allowing travel to those with a medical certificate. Switzerland has also closed many border crossings with Italy.

Poland has closed all schools, museum and cinemas, and Ukraine has ordered all educational establishments to shut in the capital Kiev.

Meanwhile, Belgium, Bulgaria and Albania have reported their first COVID-19 deaths.

We will keep you up to date with developments…

AYO.NEWS says:

While these lockdowns are catching most people off guard, the writing was on the wall for Europe back in January, when the Chinese authorities took such extreme measures to stop the spread of the virus, despite it crippling their economy. In fact, here at AYO.NEWS, we speculated that a global travel shutdown was likely as long ago as 29^th January (see GLOBAL TRAVEL LOCKDOWN IMMINENT?).

While, over the last few weeks, we’ve been covering individual gaming, esports, sporting and blockchain industry events that have been postponed or cancelled, we must now surely assume EVERY event, at least in Europe, North America and Asia, is going to be affected.

Considering the virus is now spreading everywhere from Iceland to Qatar and everywhere in-between, we must now also accept that the onset of warm temperatures in summer is unlikely to stop it. Hence, those organisers who’ve merely postponed their events for a month or so, should very seriously consider indefinite postponement.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

SiGMA Group has postponed the iGathering event scheduled to be held in Malta on 25^th March 2020 due to the escalating COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis.

The group said that, following the WHO’s declaration of a pandemic, it saw delaying the event as the “only responsible course of action to ensure the health and safety of exhibitors, attendees, and SiGMA staff, as well as preventing any possible further spread of the virus.”

According to SiGMA, the event was expected to see more than 400 “friends and leaders” from the iGaming and blockchain sectors come together to “celebrate the global expansion of the SiGMA and AIBC Summits.”

Currently the group says it expects to reschedule the event for late June, and will send confirmations of new dates and invitations in coming days.

AYO.NEWS says:

Considering Malta has now suspended flights to and from Italy, Germany, France, Spain, and Switzerland, and the US has suspended all flights to mainland Europe, this hardly needed to be announced anyway.

Given the trajectory of the crisis, and the fact that the virus is spreading in cold countries like Iceland, temperate regions like Germany, and hot countries like Qatar, expecting this to abate in summer is probably very misguided. Probably as misguided as expecting authorities in Europe and North America to get control of the situation without introducing extreme Chinese-style measures. Besides, many experts now openly say, they expect that as China lifts restrictions, the virus will probably re-establish itself (see Joe Rogan’s interview with Michael Osterholm below). 

SiGMA should probably hold off sending out those new invitations!  

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

Online affiliate marketing company Raketech is acquiring gaming affiliate Lead Republik in a €1.6m deal.

Though registered in Malta, Lead Republik’s principal markets are Canada, New Zealand and Germany. The move is in line with Raketech’s aim of increasing non-Nordic revenue to around 20% of the group’s total.

In addition to the initial fee, the acquisition may result in further performance-based payments.

Discussing the news CEO of Raketech, Oskar Mühlbach, said:

“This acquisition is ticking a lot of strategic boxes, as it gives us further footprint in markets important for our key partners, at the same time as it contributes with technical know-how in the form of a high-qualitative technical platform, together with competence within conversion optimisation and paid media.

“I am furthermore really glad to have the brilliant Lead Republik team on board and to be able to conclude that the sellers will continue their involvement for the upcoming 12 months to secure a smooth handover and accelerate further expansion into new markets.”

In large part thanks to a  “particularly tough” Swedish market Raketech reported revenue of €5.8m for 2019, a fall of 23% year-on-year, while adjusted EBITDA came in at €2m, a plunge of 56%.

AYO.NEWS says:

While not exactly the biggest acquisition, it does demonstrate Raketech has learned that the Nordic markets, especially Sweden, aren’t what they used to be. We expect to see more non-Nordic acquisitions from affiliate company’s as they pivot towards North America, Asia, Oceania and other emerging markets.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

Malta, the iGaming and blockchain hub of Europe, has banned all flights to and from Germany, France, Spain and Switzerland with immediate effect.

Additionally, all people returning from affected countries will be required to self-quarantine of face a €1,000 fine.

The Mediterranean island nation had already banned all travel to and from neighbouring Italy, but now finds itself worryingly isolated from mainland Europe.

Needless to say, this latest move is probably too late to stop widespread infection in Malta itself, given that six cases have already been confirmed.

Earlier today, we reported SBC Events had postponed CasinoBeats Malta due to the crisis.

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.