Indy Gaming: Titus hopes 70-year-old sports betting tax is on the chopping block
Nevada's Rep. Dina Titus is pushing to repeal the 70-year-old federal excise tax on all sports wagers placed in Nevada. The American Gaming Association claims the tax disadvantages the legal operators. More than $73 billion has been wagered legally on sports betting nationwide through October. Nevada was the largest payer of the excise. tax for a couple of years, but now trails New York, New Jersey and Illinois in total annual sports bets. It was only Nevada before the 2018 repeal of Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. A study shows the illegal gaming market has grown.
Nevada is not a member of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States. Boyd Gaming operates an internet casino in Pennsylvania and owns the Valley Forge Casino in King of Prussia. The company bought Pala Interactive in November. It will migrate its online business to the PalA platform early next year. It is also hoping to expand online gaming to include the nine other regional states where Boyd operates commercial casinos. Nevada has confined internet gaming since 2013 to poker. Several smaller Nevada casino operators oppose the expansion of online gambling beyond the current model. They predict it could take up to eight years for Nevada to legalize online casino gaming.
Nevada regulators consider changes to beef up cybersecurity requirements. Las Vegas Sands made national headlines in 2014 when a cyberattack perpetrated by Iran infected the casino company's computer systems with malware. The company temporarily removed its individual casino websites and its corporate website from the Internet. Cyberattacks against MGM Resorts International and the company that oversees the chain of Dotty's slot machine parlors also occurred. The Nevada Gaming Commission will take up changes in regulations governing cybersecurity next week. It will require operators to conduct a risk assessment of their systems in the coming year.
Sightline Payments used the Resorts World Las Vegas casino as a live showroom to show off its cashless gaming technology. Sightline provides the systems for transferring funds with digital wallets used in roughly 50 gaming properties in seven states. The newest version of the technology includes biometric authentication and facial recognition. Cashless games have expanded its reach throughout the casino landscape in the past year. It was launched at Boyd Gaming's regional properties and its 10 casinos in Southern Nevada. Everi Holdings launched mobile wallets and digital payments at regional casinos operated by Penn Entertainment. International Game Technology announced a planned rollout of a casheless gaming system for the Las Nevada casinos.
Bally's Corp. entered into a labor neutrality agreement with the International Union of Operating Engineers. The agreement allows Strip resort's employees to make an informed decision regarding their union representation.
Full House Resorts is investing $700 million into two casino projects in two states. The company expects to open a temporary casino in Waukegan, Illinois in January, and a permanent casino will follow 18 months later. World Series of Poker will return to the Strip on May 30 through July 18, 2023. Last year’s WSOP drew nearly 198,000 entrants from more than 100 countries with a record-breaking $347.9 million total prize pool.
