Tribal gaming – Bookielink

August 19, 2024

Weekend Report: FBI takes action in DC and the “Drake Curse” strikes again

Welcome to the Weekend Report, where iGB covers the news that you may have missed over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This week, we look at an FBI arrest in DC, as well as a California bill that would allow tribes to sue cardrooms.
FBI takes DC Councilman Trayon White into custody
DC Councilman Trayon White was arrested by the FBI on Sunday (18 August) afternoon, according to the City Paper. White will be charged on Monday (19 August), although what the charges are have not yet been disclosed.

In 2019, the DC Council approved legal sports betting and gave lottery operator Intralot the sole-source contract. White was absent on the day of the 2019 vote. He voted to approve the FY2025 budget that opened the market earlier this year.

Bill that would allow tribes to sue CA cardrooms moves
A bill that would allow California’s tribes to directly sue cardrooms moved forward late last week. The assembly’s appropriations committee voted, 14-0, to send the bill to the floor for a full vote. It’..

July 10, 2024

Colorado tribe invokes federal Florida decision in suing state for right to offer statewide digital sports betting

On Monday (8 July) Colorado's Southern Ute tribe revealed during an American Indian Affairs interim study committee meeting that it has sued Colorado's governor, Jared Polis, and the state of Colorado. The tribe claims that the state has blocked its ability to offer digital sports betting.

Tribal chairman Melvin J Baker invoked the recent decision by the US Supreme Court not to hear the West Flagler vs the US Deptartment of the Interior case as clearing the way for the lawsuit. Baker said that because that case “held that the Seminole tribe was entitled to engage in statewide sports betting in Florida any legal objection to the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain from engaging in statewide sports betting is gone.”

The tribe filed suit in the US District Court for the District of Colorado on Monday. The court set a 10 October date for a scheduling and planning conference. From there, if the parties have not reached an agreement, the case would move forward in court.

Statewide d..

June 27, 2024

Would a 1988 Congress have included digital betting in IGRA? Without a doubt.

Two weeks ago, the US Supreme Court decided to let be the status quo with regard to Florida sports betting. Since then, many in and around the online gambling world are pointing to a sea change and the expectation that tribes across the US will fast and furiously expand or change their offerings. But the view from inside Indian Country? Not so fast.

The US Supreme Court met on 13 June to decide whether to hear West Flagler Associates v. Haaland. The justices decided to pass, meaning a lower-court decision to allow the 2021 Florida-Seminole tribe compact will stand. That compact allows for what could be considered an expansion of the reach of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).

It allows for bets to be considered placed where they are received. In simple terms, any bet placed in the state of Florida is considered to be a bet placed on tribal lands if the bet runs through a server on tribal lands.

IGRA changed life for many tribes

IGRA was passed in 1988 and, at its core, gav..

June 24, 2024

Weekend Report: MGM hacker arrested, Colorado tribes still shut out

Welcome to the Weekend Report, where iGB updates you with the stories you may have missed over the last few days.

Suspected MGM hacker arrested in Spain

In 2022, MGM confirmed that its loyalty programme had been hacked. On 14 June, the Spanish national police arrested a man they believe to be involved in the hack at Palma Airport. He was boarding a flight to Italy, reported Murcia Today.

The FBI’s Los Angeles field office issued the arrest warrant for the 22-year-old UK national, per CyberNews.

The group responsible for the cyberattack, Scattered Spider, allegedly hacked multiple major corporations. The man arrested is accused of hacking corporate accounts and allegedly controlled $27m worth of BitCoin. Caesars Entertainment was also hacked last autumn.

Colorado tribes still shut out of digital wagering

Nearly five years after Coloradans legalised digital sports betting and four-plus years after launch, the state’s tribes still aren’t live. Per the Colorado Sun, the state has ..

April 26, 2024

Kambi pens sportsbook deal with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

Kambi Group has entered into a multi-state sportsbook agreement with Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, one of the largest Indian Nations in the US.

Under the deal, Kambi will provide its sports betting technology and services to the Choctaw Nation’s gaming entities. This covers both online and retail sports betting.

The Choctaw Nation operates Choctaw Casinos & Resorts, which owns a network of gaming and hospitality destinations throughout south-eastern Oklahoma. Properties include its flagship casino location near to the Texas border.

The deal comes despite Oklahoma having not yet legalised sports betting and the placing of bets, either in person or online, remains illegal. This is despite the state having more than 130 Native American gaming and casino facilities.

Kambi, however, notes that the new agreement includes scope to expand into other states, both across online and retail, pending regulatory approvals.

“Landmark” sports betting deal for Kambi

Kambi’s CEO and co-founder Krist..

April 25, 2024

Time running short for Alabama gambling expansion

Alabama lawmakers told the media earlier this week that a conference committee brokering a deal for an expansion of gambling would meet on Wednesday (24 April) at 2pm local time. But as early as Wednesday morning, the meeting had fallen off the legislative calendar for the day.

A call to the Alabama house of representatives confirmed that the meeting was off for Wednesday (24 April) with no reschedule date. The legislature is now scheduled to close on 5 May. This will leave lawmakers a little more than a week to reach a deal for an Alabama gambling expansion. It will then require approval from the house and senate.

If approved, the decision to approve any gambling expansion would go to the voters. The house version of the bill would put the issue on the November ballot. The senate version would create a special election in September.

Historically with gambling, precious few bills that don’t have consensus relatively early in a session make it to a governor’s desk. Just this year, ..

April 10, 2024

Howe: California sports betting will be done “with and through” state tribes

FanDuel CEO Amy Howe extended an olive branch to California tribes in a panel discussion Tuesday (9 April ) morning at the Indian Gaming Tradeshow & Convention, acknowledging that any future of California sports betting will be done “with and through” tribal operators.

Howe was joined onstage by CNIGA chairman James Siva as well as Jacob Mejia, director of public affairs for Pechanga Development Corporation, both of whom lauded the CEO for being willing to engage in such discussion after the two sides’ previous vitriol.

FanDuel, DraftKings and other commercial operators burned hundreds of millions in 2022 by lobbying for and promoting Proposition 27, an initiative that would have legalised online sports betting in California but was soundly rejected by state voters.

Tribes did offer their own initiative – Proposition 26 – that was also rejected by voters, however tribal leaders have maintained that the overall goal was to oppose and defeat Proposition 27 rather than promote and p..

April 5, 2024

CNIGA’s Siva loves a good compromise; wants to expand role as tribal leader to IGA

James Siva just wants everyone to get along.

As the man who held together the disparate group of tribes that make up California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) when not one, but two commercial groups tried to take the lead on wagering in California, it seems he has a knack for negotiation.

“I think James has a unique ability for being in a leadership position and listening to the different sides of everything, giving tribal leadership a chance to hear both sides and come to a compromise,” Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians tribal council member Dennis Hendricks said.

Siva said Hendricks was a mentor when he first joined the CNIGA executive committee.

Siva, the current CNIGA chairman, is hoping that is the kind of leadership that the Indian Gaming Association (IGA), which meets beginning Monday (8 April) in Anaheim, is looking for. Siva announced his intent to run for vice-chairman at the Western Indian Gaming Conference in February. He’ll be running against incumbent Dav..

March 28, 2024

IGA executive director confident of California sports betting with tribal help

Jason Giles, executive director of the Indian Gaming Association (IGA), believes there could yet be online sports betting in California, although he also believes the help of tribes is vital to any legalisation.

Another attempt to legalise sports betting in California failed in January after two ballots aiming to grant tribes exclusive rights were scrapped following fierce tribal opposition in the state.

Eagle1 Acquisitions Corp, the group of backers for a proposition to legalise sports betting in California, had made several amendments to its ballot initiative in December in a bid to gain increased tribal support, however the efforts ultimately failed.

In response, the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) stated the failure should serve as a warning against future attempts to legalise sports betting in the state without tribal involvement.

Jason Giles, Executive director of the indian gaming association, sees operator engagement with the tribes as a positive

Howev..

March 8, 2024

Alabama advances scaled-back gambling bills with sports betting excluded

The Alabama senate has passed a pair of bills that would see lottery and state-regulated gambling legalised, although statewide sports betting has been excluded.

Alabama lawmakers passed HB151 and HB152 in February. In its original form, HB151 would have legalised retail and online sports betting, as well as a state lottery and casinos in areas of the state that have bingo-type games. HB152, meanwhile, was to create a state lottery and gaming commission to regulate gambling in the state.

However, HB151 stalled in the senate, with sports betting and casinos now removed from the bill. The amended HB151 passed by a vote of 22 to 11 on Thursday, reaching the 21 votes required to advance. Meanwhile, HB152 also passed.

The bills still include lottery. Additionally, the bills would authorise the governor to negotiate a compact with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians (PBCI) to regulate gaming activities on tribal lands. The PBCI operates the three existing casinos in Alabama.

Senator Greg Al..

March 4, 2024

Caesars first to launch sports betting in North Carolina with tribal partnership

Caesars Entertainment has become the first operator to launch legal online sports betting in North Carolina, rolling out its sportsbook in partnership with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

North Carolina is not due to launch full-scale legal sports betting until 11 March. However, Caesars’ deal with the tribe and the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act has made it possible for the operator to go live ahead of this date.

Players can place bets at two Cherokee-run casinos: Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort and Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel. Betting is also permitted on the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ tribal lands.

caesars’ tribal deal will see the operator first to go live

Caesars’ online sports betting offering will be extended across all North Carolina when the market fully launches next week. The operator has been running retail sportsbooks in the state for a number of years, with the online offering to complement these.

“We’re thankful to be able to offer wage..

January 17, 2024

Tiers and turbulence in US sports betting

The US sports betting sector has grown rapidly, but Paul Girvan sees trouble on the horizon for the early leaders.

The rapid development of US sports betting has been astounding. Currently some 32 states have legalised some form of sports betting and, of this number, 28 provide either mobile or online access.

Within the 32, there are five states where tribal operators provide the only betting option. To date the markets have been characterised by a hierarchy of operators that have gained access primarily via partnerships with land-based casino operators, both tribal and commercial.

A further eight states are considering the issue and could pass legislation in the coming year. Beyond these is a disparate group of states that have been resistant to passing sports betting legislation – although some have been actively considering the issue.

Among these are three powerhouses of tribal gaming; Minnesota, Oklahoma (with its proximity to Texas) and the behemoth of California. Trouble, ho..

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Tag: Tribal gaming