Fall Out Boy
The announced resignation of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leaves two important pieces of gambling legislation in limbo.
The Bulletin Board
THE LEDE: Fate of two Canadian gambling bills uncertain after PM resignation.
ICYMI: VSiN returns to SiriusXM; New racino in IL; NH bill would up the sports betting age; Quote of the Week.
NEWS: Looming deficit has Maryland lawmakers eyeing online casinos in 2025.
AROUND the WATERCOOLER: Mobile betting detractors are winning in the court of public opinion.
STRAY THOUGHTS: A bill is just a bill.
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The Lede: Trudeau Resignation Leaves Gambling Bills in Limbo
The announced resignation of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has sent shockwaves through the Canadian political world, but it also has some significant implications for gambling.
After nine years as PM and 11 years heading the Liberal Party, Trudeau said he plans to resign and let new leadership take over the Party. Trudeau also informed the governor general that a new session of Parliament is needed, which is where the gambling component of this story comes in.
As Covers.com’s Geoff Zochodne reports, Trudeau said the Governor General “granted this request, and the [House of Commons] will now be prorogued until March 24.”
Per Zochodne:
“Prorogation kills any bill that has yet to receive Royal Assent.
“That will include Ontario Sen. Marty Deacon's S-269, legislation that would require the federal government to develop a national framework for advertising sports betting in Canada.”
Mark Harper, head of emerging markets at BVGroup, told Mark Keast of CDC Gaming Reports:
“I don’t think this changes the pathway for the igaming-advertising bill, just delays it, obviously. Certainly doesn’t change any of the strategies that BVG had planned.”
It also threatens S-268, a bill that “would amend Canada's Criminal Code to make it clear that the governing body of a First Nation can "conduct and manage" gambling operations on its reserve,” Zochodne reports.
The big questions are what the new government will look like when elections are held (likely in March-May), with the Conservative Party well ahead in polling, and where will gambling fall on its priority list.
ICYMI: VSiN Returns to SiriusXM; New Racino in IL; NH Sports Betting Age; Quote of the Week
VSiN will return to SiriusXM: VSiN has announced it will return to SiriusXM Radio (channel 158) and will partner with SiriusXM on a separate project for Mad Dog Sports Radio (channel 82) “VSiN Live on Mad Dog Sports Radio,” hosted by Patrick Meagher and Dustin Swedelson. VSiN has had an interesting few years. the company was started by Musburger Media in 2017. The Musburgers sold to DraftKings for a reported $70 million in 2021. Unable to make it fit with its other pieces, DraftKings handed the reins back to the Musburgers in 2024 for an undisclosed amount, believed to be around $1.
Is a new racino coming to Illinois?: A yet-to-be-filed bill in Illinois would authorize a new horseracing track and casino in Decatur. Details are scant, with Tim Gleason, Decatur’s City Manager, telling local press he’s familiar with plans, and “the City awaits to discuss potential next steps after necessary action is taken in Springfield.” Per Casino.org, the proposal has one candidate in mind, “Virginia-based Revolutionary Racing has pledged to invest $150 million in the Decatur project, which it estimates would create 300 permanent jobs and generate up to $27 million in taxes.”
New Hampshire bill would raise betting age to 21: A prefiled bill, HB 83, in New Hampshire, would raise the minimum age to bet sports from 18 to 21. New Hampshire is one of six locales (by my count) that allow under-21s to place sports wagers — Washington DC, Wyoming, Montana, Rhode Island, and Kentucky are the others.
Quote of the Week: “A lot of Minnesotans are already betting on sports on their telephones, on their mobile devices, and they’re doing it illegally and through offshore platforms. What this would do is bring that activity into the legal sphere. It would have protections around problem gambling and underage gambling. If you legalize it and bring it in-house, then we’re able to make it safer and trustworthy for Minnesotans.” ~ Minnesota State Sen. Matt Klein.
STTP is planning a future feature column on the situation in Minnesota.
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News: Maryland Lawmakers Consider a 2025 iCasino Push
A push to legalize online casinos in Maryland is already underway.
As Straight to the Point has reported in its The Forecast premium subscription service, even though the state has charted a course requiring a voter referendum, online casino efforts are on the table in Maryland in 2025.
Del. Vanessa Atterbeary has prefiled a bill, HB 0017, to legalize online casinos. The legislation would chart a similar course via voter referendum as her 2024 bill.
But there is growing evidence that 2025 might on the table. As I noted in The Forecast:
“MD is in regroup mode in 2025, as the preferred path is a ballot referendum, which will have to wait until 2026. Del. Vanessa Atterbeary recently said a “significant budget deficit” could spur efforts in 2025 and is leaning towards reintroducing a bill this year.”
Further, Maryland State Sen. Ron Watson recently told Matthew Kredell that he and Atterbeary could shift their efforts to target 2025.
“The reason I changed my mind is because the revenue picture has worsened, and the governor stated that all options are on the table,” Watson said. “This is an option. Prudence dictates that this is available should the need arise as an alternative to raising taxes.”
Still, the most likely path forward is a voter referendum, which would need to wait until 2026, although the groundwork could be passed in 2025.
A full 2025 effort would require supporters to convince a majority of the legislature that there is an alternative to Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown's previous opinion that iCasino is an expansion of gambling that requires a referendum.
“I don’t think his mind is made up,” Watson told Kredell. “He’s very open-minded. If there was a new or different type of evidence to present to him, he would weigh it objectively and render his decision.”
Further, the same roadblocks—labor unions, casino stakeholders like Cordish Companies, and social harm advocates—are still in place and seemingly immovable.
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Around the Watercooler
Social media conversations, rumors, and gossip.
Saagar Enjeti is back with more thoughts on the scourge of legal sports betting:
You may recall my previous posts about Enjeti et al. going scorched earth on mobile betting — If not, you can find them here and here, as well as his anti-sports betting monologue (with over 200k views on YouTube alone) here:
Bonus: I was one of the people Michael Lewis spoke to for the series Enjeti referenced in his tweet.
Stray Thoughts
It’s the time of year when there is a flurry of legislative news. It’s important to remember that hundreds and often thousands of bills are filed in every state every legislative session.
Some have legs, and some are interesting, but most gambling expansion bills are simply pieces of paper filed by rank-and-file members that are destined for the waste bin.