Digital Wager Wire highlights the most significant events affecting the domestic and international sports betting and gaming industries each week throughout the year.
Residents Protest Billionaire’s Playground
The Metropolitan Park casino megaplex in Queens, New York, has overcome numerous political obstacles to secure one of the three downstate casino licenses. Mets owner Steve Cohen, in collaboration with Hard Rock International, is behind Queens Future LLC and the proposed $8 billion project.
The plan is to repurpose 50 acres near Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, into a mixed-use complex featuring a casino, hotel, entertainment venues, and several acres of public space.
However, some residents are unhappy with the commercial leviathan and have already filed a lawsuit to prohibit its construction. However, last month, Judge Nicholas W. Moyne tossed the lawsuit, declaring that it was filed in the wrong county. However, Judge Moyne has since recused himself, noting “a tangential social relationship with a member of the respondent” that could “create the appearance of partiality.”
The residents have vowed to appeal and refile in Queens, but chief among their complaints is that residents were not allowed to speak at the hearings and voice their disapproval. Many of those who did speak favorably were in line early, implying that they may have been acting on behalf of the developers.
Furthermore, many argued that the developers failed to disseminate information regarding hearings in languages other than English.
A survey conducted last year found that 83.5% of Asian American respondents in Flushing said they either didn’t know about or couldn’t take part in the advisory process.
Bernadette McCrann, a Flushing resident leading the lawsuit, said she saw issues firsthand during a September 16th hearing and stated, “This is a working-class, immigrant community, and people are concerned about what a casino could mean for the neighborhood.”
Another petitioner, Jack Hu, said, “We just want a fair public hearing process. The process was manipulated through power, money, and influence. We obviously have our opinion, and the vast majority of the people in our communities, if you look at the polling numbers, are against the casino.”
Maine Says No to Sweeps & Bans Credit Card Sportsbook Funding
Maine Gambling Control Unit Executive Director Milton Champion previously stated that approximately 60 sweepstakes companies are operating in his state and that they are taking advantage of its citizens.
Champion issued the following statement in June of last year:
These operations, based out of state and often out of the country, include sites that may appear legitimate but lack any regulatory oversight in Maine. Examples of such unlicensed platforms may include, but are not limited to, certain “sweepstakes” or “social casino” sites that offer real-money payouts, coin-titled substitutes, dual-currency systems, material prizes, or gift cards.
Last week, Governor Janet Mills signed Senator Craig Hickman’s SB 2007 into law, which will ban online sweepstakes in the Pine Tree State. Governor Mills also signed Representative Marc Malon’s Legislative Document 2080, which bans the use of credit cards to fund online sportsbook and iGaming accounts, into law.
“Since coming online, sports betting has become a pervasive part of American culture,” said Malon. “Although it has been economically successful, we want to make sure that we establish reasonable safeguards so that Mainers can participate without falling prey to addiction.”
