Standing roughly a half-mile from where the concrete and steel structures of the former Tropicana hotel towers had been loaded with 1,700 pounds of explosives, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority CEO Steve Hill said he had never been this close to an implosion.
“In most places, building implosions don’t mean anything. We’re a little different,” said Hill, whose public-private agency promotes and advertises Las Vegas to a worldwide audience.
Roughly 75 minutes after Hill spoke, the 23-story Paradise and Club towers came crashing down following several loud explosions toward the conclusion of an eight-minute fireworks and aerial drone display.
As dust clouds rose above the Strip, the drones transformed the Tropicana trademark into logos of Bally’s Corp., which operated the resort, and the Oakland Athletics, which is planning a $1.5 billion, 33,000-seat baseball stadium for 9 acres of the 35-acre site.
Hello and welcome to this week’s Igaming Focus newsletter.
On the slate this week:
Sweeper system called into question
Sweepstakes gaming was the talk of G2E as debate and lobbying rage on.
Talk of the town: As the dust settles over G2E 2024 in Las Vegas, analyst takeaways were broadly positive on U.S. online gambling groups’ prospects, but one topic dominated – ‘swept the board’ might be more appropriate (sorry) – discussions and chit-chat during the expo. Indeed, sweepstakes gaming was the talk of Vegas last week.
NFL results hurt margins in Week 6…
… but things are looking up for sportsbooks lower down the order.
No upsets and no surprises: “Nothing goes right for books in Week 6 NFL,” noted the Macquarie team as it calculated NFL hold of just 4% from October 7-13. Results produced no “moneyline upsets or high-scoring games” and “10 out of 15 public favorites covering the spread” hurt bookmakers’ hold levels. With “64% of NFL games going over on the (points) total,” Macquarie said this would be “negative for SGP/prop bet hold rates this week.”
ESPN Bet’s good momentum, but product improvements needed
ESPN’s ecogains: The Jefferies team conducted a survey of ESPN Bet’s app and said the key takeaway was that the brand “continues to gain momentum as it successfully converts non-bettors from the ESPN ecosystem” but this will not cause a “significant impact to the current market leaders.”
French lottery’s giant M&A as European markets face tax hikes
Giant deal: The French lottery giant Française des Jeux has completed its €2.5bn ($2.7bn) acquisition of pan-European online gambling operator Kindred Group. The deal places FDJ among the top European igaming groups and consolidates its third-place position in online sports betting in its French home market.
Further reading: Steve Webb, the ex-gambling executive lobbying for tax rises.
DraftKings continued its betting tech acquisitions with the buyout of Mustard Golf, a B2B supplier of golf betting models and pricing, for an undisclosed amount. The group said the transaction enables it to bring its golf pricing capabilities in-house, giving it a differentiated golf product with expanded offerings and coverage.
Sportsbook provider Kambi will supply its new Odds Feed+ solution to Hard Rock Bet, the multi-state brand of the Hard Rock Digital group. Kambi will provide pre-match and live betting odds and include the risk management services provided by its AI trading division Tzeract.
Brazil has blocked more than 2,000 gambling websites targeting the market that it considers to be unregulated or illegal as part of the government’s preparations for the launch of the regulated market in January. The new regulations require licensed operators to pay a fee of $5.3m to operate legally in Latin America’s largest economy.
