Digital Wager Wire highlights the most important events impacting the domestic and international sports betting and gaming industry each week throughout the year.
Ohio Gov Says No to Online Casino Gambling
Mobile sports betting has generated millions of dollars for the Buckeye State since its inception in January 2023. Taxes doubled from 10% to 20% within six months of the launch, courtesy of Governor Mike DeWine, who was looking for further increases this year, but the legislature derailed those efforts.
Nevertheless, the licensed sportsbooks in Ohio are augmenting the state’s budget through its taxes on revenues, generating $359 million for the government in the 2 ½ years since it began. But that number would easily be eclipsed by the more lucrative iGaming, or online casino gambling. Only seven states, including New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, have launched it, and the numbers are staggering.
However, while all states would welcome the influx of tax revenue generated by iGaming, most believe the societal impacts outweigh the money generated because of it. Politicians are fearful that addictive gambling rates would spike as everyone with a mobile device or a PC would essentially have unfettered access to a 24-hour casino, and those land-based casinos are concerned their foot traffic would diminish, thus hurting their bottom lines.
While Governor DeWine stated he was reticent about using his veto power should an iGaming bill cross his desk, he has discouraged it. “Basically, to put a casino in everybody’s hands, 24/7, I think is probably not a great idea,” DeWine said. “And I think it will cause more pain and suffering …as far as gaming addiction.”
However, there is plenty of support for iGaming as well. Republican Representatives Jay Edwards, Jeff LaRe, and Cindy Abrams issued a joint statement that read, “While the state should proceed with caution and care with any expansion of this magnitude, with the right regulatory framework, these types of gaming can thrive with a nominal impact on our current system.”
Nevada Approves Boomer’s Sportsbook
An old-school bookmaker is making its way into Las Vegas, and there are plenty of sports bettors happy to see it happen. Although those associated with Boomer’s Sportsbook are industry legends, the name of the sportsbook allegedly doesn’t have anything to do with their generation but rather the name of a dog who was named, appropriately enough, after a racehorse.
Joe Asher, formerly an executive with William Hill US and IGT, is the man in charge, but he will be ably assisted by Nick Bogdanovich, an SBC Sports Betting Hall of Fame inductee, who will be the head of trading; Dave Grolman, serving as senior vice president of sportsbook and customer support operations; and A.G. Burnett, former chair of the GCB and current gaming attorney with the McDonald Carano law firm, who is now Boomer’s chief of compliance.
Boomer’s will be focusing its efforts on its three retail locations at the Commercial Casino in Elko, Ellis Island in Las Vegas, and Casino Valle Verde in Henderson. The launch has been scheduled for August 1st.
