News and Analysis
New York Requests Applications from Mobile Sports Betting Providers
The NY Gaming Commission has opened applications for mobile sports betting platform providers. Licenses will cost a whopping $25mill in this state and will be bid for by candidates, with the most robust proposal winning. It’s been suggested and incentivized by the state that a 50% revenue sharing model would be readily accepted.
FanDuel Opts for SG’s OpenSports Platform
FanDuel is migrating their sportsbook to Scientific Games' OpenSports platform after successfully trialing the product in Iowa, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
PGCB to Hold Public Hearing on Proposed Mini-Casino
The PGCB will hold a public hearing on August 16th at PA’s municipality of College Township, Centre County, to consider and hear opinions on the proposed category four casino application from SC Gaming Op Co.
Category four casinos are satellite or mini-casinos that the state legalized in 2017. Pennsylvanian allows for ten mini-casinos, each of which can host 300 to 750 slot machines and up to 40 table games but cannot be within 25 miles of an existing category 1-3 establishment.
“Changing States: US iGaming On The March?”
This week we also tuned into the CasinoBeats Summit to catch a panel of iGaming experts discussing where things are headed with the US market and whether it's primed for a new iGaming gold rush as more states look to legalization.
Participants included Fintan Costello, Managing Director, BonusFinder.com; Adam Noble, Co-Founder and Chief Business Development Officer of Playstar Casino; and Benjamin Truman, Co-Founder & COO, MediaTroopers.
Here is the main question put to them:
!The regulation of sports betting continues to sweep across the US, with online casino riding on its coat-tails. It took years for Nevada, Delaware, and then New Jersey, most notably, to offer real-money igaming, moving political mountains on the way. Thanks largely to the success of the NJ model, Pennsylvania and Michigan are now live. Things are moving fast - is the US primed for a new gold rush?”
~ Panel moderator James Myles (Analyst, Eta Delta)
What did the experts have to say, is the US primed to explode with new gambling states and a gold rush?
Adam Noble: “I’m not sure if it’s primed for the next gold rush, or we’re right in the middle of it. You’ll see that you mentioned there New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. The two latter markets there have been live for a relatively short time in the online casino world, and two of the soon to be largest markets globally, so it’s just a couple of states were talking about, so by the time you add another 10, 15, 20 states to that equation absolutely, absolutely that will be a gold rush."
Fintan Costello: “The short answer is yes. Its automatic growth as more and more states pass iGaming laws. You know, a tiny fraction of the US population currently has access to legal online casino. It’s just natural organic growth. I think where the stumbling blocks could be things around how many licenses are going to be issued in a particular state, what kind of restrictions are going to be put in place, and what tax rates”.
Benjamin Truman: The US is so minor at the moment with iGaming experience; it’s going to take a while. The states are looking at it, and every single state sees what’s going on in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Even a state like WV, with only about one million people, has pretty strong numbers, but it’s going to take a while though [….] the US is very young with a long term to grow, it will take a while for this market to mature. […] Anybody who is small coming in with a good product will succeed in the USA, and that’s what we see now.”
Slot Game of the Week
Over the next two weeks, we’re celebrating award-winning games, and first up is Red Tiger's Gonzo’s Quest Megaways™, which has just been named Global Gaming Awards 2021 Casino Product of the Year.
Gonzo’s Quest Megaways: RTP 96%. Red Tiger Gaming.
This game is Gonzo’s Quest, but with a Megaways twist that adds a sixth reel and up to 117,649 ways to win. If you’ve played Gonzo’s Quest before (and if you haven't drop what you're doing and play a free edition now, as this is an iconic slot and a must-play), you’ll be familiar with the avalanche and multipliers set up (when you make a line win, the symbols explode causing new symbols to fall in their place, consecutive wins add multipliers) as well as the free fall feature (free spins), which can deliver up to 15x multipliers.
On top of this, this edition adds an unbreakable wilds symbol and earthquake feature where it all comes crashing down, and only high-paying symbols hit the reels. Plus, if you want to risk it all, you can gamble for extra free spins delivering a max win up to 21,000x your stake!
Sounds pretty epic, right? Then it should come as no surprise that this game just won GGA’s Casino Product of the Year. Set your bets from $0.20-4.00 and start hunting treasure in the lost city of El Dorado with the award-winning Red Tiger Gaming at these Red Tiger online casinos.
