Archives February 2024

Suffolk County in New York State could soon see its second Class II gaming facility after the Shinnecock Indian Nation announced Wednesday its plan to build and operate a casino on its 900-acre Southampton reservation along Shinnecock Bay on Long Island.

More than a decade in the making, construction on the 76,000 square foot Shinnecock Casino Hamptons (artist rendering, below-right) will reportedly start this summer and include 1,000 video lottery terminals (VLTs), 30 Texas Hold’em table games, a bingo parlor, dining establishments, and entertainment venues, and is expected to be completed within 14 months, according to The East Hampton Star.

Sovereign land:

In a statement in Wednesday’s formal announcement, the Shinnecock Council of Trustees said…

“As we have seen with members of Tribal Nations, casinos provide an opportunity to lift our members from adversity.

“Our ancestral lands were taken from us many years ago and New York State has refused to meet with us regarding stolen land claims that were filed over many decades. We have tried to resolve these issues over the last decade by proposing to find more suitable locations on Long Island, but were rebuffed. We have waited long enough and have decided to proceed here on our territory.”

Joint venture:

After last summer receiving the green light from the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) for a Class II casino, the Nation announced that it had formed a partnership with Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment and New York City investment firm Tri-State Partners in an effort to “reignite its decade-long plans to enter casino gaming in New York,” as reported by Newsday.

The partners said the joint venture has worked together for more than a year, with the Seminole Tribe and Tri-State helping the Shinnecock Nation secure the required approvals from the NIGC and the Department of Interior. And that the Seminole has “provided financial support and technical assistance to the Nation, including financial models and designs.”

According to Shinnecock Nation Chairman Bryan Polite, the tribe is waiting for the Gaming Commission’s environmental impact study (EIS) to be approved so it can begin construction. Polite said the EIS would be completed in 12 to 14 months after an expected summer start.

Local opposition:

Meanwhile, another source reports that Southhampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman is calling for an environmental review of noise, traffic, air, and water. In the live report, the town official said he’s “never supported gambling,” and I don’t think it’s the right use and particularly at this property.”

“It would be hard to find a worse property to locate a gaming facility,” added Schneiderman.

While according to Polite, the tribe and its partners are already conducting surveys, traffic studies, and other measures to deal with increased traffic, he said he expects some local residents may have “qualms” with the casino. He reasoned the tribe would “work in a way that’s not just beneficial for Shinnecock but also the outside community,” according to the news agency.

Class II gaming:

While “electronic or electromechanical facsimiles of any game of chance or slot machine of any kind” are prohibited, Class II casinos can offer bingo and games like it, as well as non-banking card games, such as Texas Hold’em, where players play against each other and do not wager against the house.

According to the New York State Gaming Commission, this class of gaming falls under “tribal jurisdiction, subject to the provisions of [the] Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and oversight of the National Indian Gaming Commission. States are not permitted to regulate any Class II gaming activity.” Meaning, the casino will not require a compact of any type of formal agreement with the state.

The tribal council said its research has shown that a Class II casino, which would be the second such facility after the May 2017 opening of Jake’s 58 Hotel & Casino in Islandia, “will be a boost for tourism here on the eastern end of Long Island. And while the summer months will be the busiest months of the year for us, working with Tri State we will attract visitors during the rest of the year as well,” as reported by The Easthampton Star.

Jack Morris, principal of Tri-State Partners, said that while phase one of the project will comprise Class II gaming exclusively, “there could be other phases of the project” in the future that include hotel rooms and as well as other economic drivers, according to Newsday.

Online casino software developer, Slotegrator Limited, has announced the signing of a deal that will see nine innovative live-dealer games from Lithuanian firm, Betgames.tv, added to its provider portfolio.

The Limassol-based developer premiered its Moneygrator unified iGaming payments solution a little over two months ago and used an official Tuesday press release to state that its business-to-business platform is now due to also feature a trio of dice games from Betgames.tv alongside an identical number of card titles in War of Bets, Bet on Baccarat and Bet on Poker.

The Cypriot company declared that it is ‘always open’ to new partnerships and ‘ready to collaborate’ with fellow iGaming firms before detailing that the latest deal is to see its platform feature the Lucky 7, Lucky 6 and Lucky 5 lottery games from Betgames.tv. It explained that its latest associate is responsible for ‘the largest network of studios broadcasting live games hosted by professional live dealers’ and has clients from over 40 nations on four continents.

“We seriously approach the selection of the companies for cooperation and prefer only trusted and reliable brands,” read a statement from Slotegrator Limited.

Slotegrator detailed that all of the new games from United Kingdom and Curacao-licensed, Betgames.tv, come complete with a ‘convenient interface’ and ‘reliable anti-fraud protection’ while furthermore offering a multi-table feature and around-the-clock play in multiple currencies and languages.

“This Lithuanian gaming supplier has been operating successfully in the business-to-business market since 2012 and offers only high-quality live games set up in response to the latest technology in the world of iGaming,” read the statement from Slotegrator Limited.

On the heels of successive slots launches, Yggdrasil Gaming has extended its partnership with Tipsport after rolling out its iGaming content with the operator in Slovakia‘s regulated market for the first time.

Courtesy of the agreement, Yggdrasil’s extensive games portfolio including the Swedish supplier’s own game engagement mechanics (GEM) as well as exclusive content from its successful YG Masters program, is now available to the operator’s customers.

Major achievement:

The deal further strengthens the business relationship between the two firms, after Yggdrasil inked a similar agreement with Tipsport in June 2019 which saw its content go live with the betting agency in the Czech Republic. In addition to demonstrating its commitment to regulated markets, the partnership also emphasizes the popularity of the iGaming company’s content with the operator’s customers.

Björn Krantz, Chief of Global Market Operations for Yggdrasil, lauded the launch in another key regulated market as a “huge achievement,” as they continue to implement their growth strategy in Europe and beyond, according to a source.

“We have had a very successful partnership with Tipsport in the Czech Republic and are thrilled to extend this collaboration to Slovakia. Our content has resonated well with Tipsport’s customers and we are confident it will also appeal to Slovakian players.”

Tipsport, the company:

Founded in 1991, Tipsport is the largest betting agency in the Czech Republic and has for many years offered both land-based and online sports wagering. After opening its first brick-and-mortar branch on May 31, 1991, the company launched online betting on January 5, 2009, after national gambling legislation allowed the lucrative vertical to be debuted by all license holders.

Now an international holding company, Tipsport boasts nearly 700 branches across the Central European country and has 3,000 employees. In the Czech Republic, the Beroun-based company operates under the Tipsport and Chance brand, while in Slovakia its operations fall under the Tipsport brand.

Market growth:

Also commenting on the new agreement, Tomas Chyle, Online Casino Manager for Tipsport, said…

“Yggdrasil’s portfolio offers a wide range of immersive, innovative and engaging games that have great appeal to our customer base.”

He went on to say that they are “very excited” to extend the partnership as they grow their brand in Slovakia. And that by offering Yggdrasil’s content, they “significantly strengthen” their “fledgling casino offering.”

New slots titles:

The deal follows consecutive releases of new online gaming content from the Cherry AB subsidiary, having launched its latest YG Masters title, Siren Song, in partnership with games developer True Lab. And more recently, rolling out the Boomerang Studios’ interactive new hit Wild Joker Stacks, complete with player selectable volatility, courtesy of its ReelPlay partnership.

Sports data intelligence specialist Sportradar AG has announced the signing of a ‘definitive agreement’ that is to see it acquire prominent cricket data and content provider InteractSport.

The Swiss firm used an official press release to declare that the purchase is expected to close before the end of June ‘subject to regulatory approvals’ and allow it to combine its own ‘leading commercialization and distribution framework’ with the ‘products, content creation capabilities and subject matter expertise’ of InteractSport.

Promising potential:

Sportradar AG stated that the arrangement will also present it with ‘the opportunity to unlock significant growth within regional and global markets’ by utilizing ‘a comprehensive suite of digital sports management platforms’ from InteractSport that feature ‘competition management capabilities, electronic scoring, registration management and fan-friendly web and mobile applications’. It proclaimed that the understanding is to moreover give it the ability to exploit ‘a world-class data collection tool for cricket’ in the hope of ‘revolutionizing’ how the sport is presented to fans while simultaneously utilizing the Australian acquisition’s FrogBox automated live-stream in-game production and management solution.

Global goal:

Carsten Koerl (pictured) serves as the Chief Executive Officer for St Gallen-headquartered Sportradar AG and he used the press release to pronounce that he has ‘tremendous admiration’ for InteractSport and now looks forward to working with its team so as to continue driving ‘value for our sports partners’ and delivering ‘great products and services to our customers around the world.’

Read a statement from Koerl…

“This acquisition will provide Sportradar AG with the opportunity to widen its data and content offering. With cricket being one of the most popular sports in the world, we see this as a growth opportunity for the company, especially given the significance of the sport in Asia.”

Previous procurements:

Sportradar AG explained that the inking of the deal to buy InteractSport comes a little over two months after it strengthened its AD:S digital marketing services platform via the purchase for an undisclosed amount of personalized messaging innovator Fresh Eight Limited. The company divulged that it has furthermore more recently signed an agreement to acquire collegiate American sports data and video analytics provider Synergy Sports while continuing ‘to expand its Asian presence’ courtesy of partnerships with the Asian Football Confederation and South Korea’s K League.

Admirable aims:

For his part and Sam Taylor, Chief Executive Officer for Melbourne-headquartered InteractSport, asserted that his enterprise ‘has always been driven by innovation and delivering cutting-edge solutions that benefit sports organizations and their fans’ and is viewing its acquisition by Sportradar AG as ‘a natural step in achieving our company vision’. He avowed that the alliance will enable his firm ‘to scale our operation to develop exciting new products’ while concurrently allowing it to ‘reach new markets and deliver even greater benefit to our current and future customers.’

Taylor’s statement read…

“We are excited by the opportunity to combine our digital and data capture solutions with Sportradar AG’s market-leading capabilities in commercialization and distribution and the value this can bring to our platform partners, its digital and high-performance teams and the billions of fans the sports we work with have around the world. Our team is thrilled to be joining the Sportradar AG family and we can’t wait to get cracking.”

Sweden keeps granting its B2B licenses to operate in the country to the biggest names in the industry. After Relax Gaming and Yggdrasil, the licenses have been issued to Play’n GO, Nolimit City, EveryMatrix, and Thunderkick.

As it was recently announced, a B2B license would be mandatory in Sweden from July 1st, 2023. The companies that get the license can operate under it for five years. 

Play’n GO and Nolimit City continue their Swedish journey:

Play’n GO is already on the Swedish market, and this renewal of its license is proof of how satisfied the players and operators are with the company and its impressive portfolio, which consists of hit slot games such as Book of Dead, Legion Gold, Reactoonz, and more than 300 other titles. 

Since the Swedish market is among the most important in Europe, this step allows Play’n GO to further strengthen its position in the European market.

However, the European market isn’t the only one the company concentrates on this year. The Swedish license follows the US iGaming license for Connecticut, so Play’n GO is expanding across the North American market as well. It is already present in Ontario, New Jersey, Michigan, and West Virginia, along with Connecticut.

Swedish Gaming Authority (Spelinspektionen) also granted a B2B license for Nolimit City Limited. Nolimit City will have the right to design, create, install, and change the gaming software, allowing the company to collaborate with a range of Swedish brands. 

The company keeps expanding across many regulated markets worldwide, and the Swedish players will be happy to play some of Nolimit’s famous releases.

B2B License for EveryMatrix and Thunderkick:

EveryMatrix also received a license for operating in the Swedish market. It will enable the company to offer its popular modular and API-driven solutions for the online gaming industry. Swedish players will also be able to enjoy famous EveryMatrix titles and services.

Ebbe Groes, the CEO of EveryMatrix, said: “I’m delighted EveryMatrix has become one of the first providers to be licensed in Sweden under new requirements and well ahead of the deadline. This will further safeguard brands and their players with regulated products and services and enable us to offer our game-changing technology that is proven to significantly boost player experience and operator revenues.”

Thunderkick is among the companies that recently got licensed in Sweden. Since Thunderick is based in Stockholm, it’s no surprise that the company got the license among the first ones: the players from Sweden love Thunderkick’s titles, and the company has been present on the market from its beginning. 

The players will be able to continue playing popular games such as Dionysus Golden Feast and The Wildos.

Online gaming and betting have been allowed in Sweden since 2019, and this market rapidly became one of the fastest-growing and most important in Europe.

For example, only in 2022, the online gaming GGR revenue in the Swedish market was worth about SEK17.1bn (€1.5bn).

The state of Texas has reportedly filed a federal lawsuit against the Tigua Indians amid allegations that the tribe’s Speaking Rock Entertainment Center near the city of El Paso violates local gaming laws and the provisions of the Restoration Act of 1987.

According to a report from the El Paso Times newspaper, the federally-recognized tribe has been locked in a legal battle with the state for almost 20 years over its right to operate gaming facilities while a first lawsuit filed in 1999 led to a series of court decisions that forced the Tigua Indians to shutter its Speaking Rock Casino three years later.

The newspaper reported that the tribe subsequently went on to modify its approach several times and currently offers sweepstakes and electronic bingo games at its Speaking Rock Entertainment Center that resemble slot machines. Unhappy with this enterprise, the state filed its latest lawsuit with the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas on Wednesday after earlier being told that its original 1999 legal action had been closed by federal Judge Kathleen Cardone.

After obtaining special permission to inspect the on-reservation Speaking Rock Entertainment Center on May 17, Texas officials reportedly explained that they had discovered that the El Paso County venue was offering paper-based bingo games alongside electronic “card minders” for up to 90 cards as well as pull-tabs and what the state referred to as “thousands of slot machines operating electronic bingo”, all of which allegedly contravene the federal Restoration Act, which gave the tribe federal recognition, and local laws that forbid gambling.

“Both the tribe’s slot machines purporting to offer “electronic bingo” and its paper and card minder-based bingo involve the elements of an illegal lottery in Texas; chance, prize and consideration,” read the lawsuit, which was filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The newspaper reported that Texas is eager to end all gaming on tribal lands and that its latest case against the Tigua Indians has been assigned to federal Judge Philip Martinez of El Paso although no hearings have yet been scheduled.