RubinBrown Gaming Stats 2014

COMMERCIAL GAMING HEADLINES

Nevada Nevada is first to the online (interactive) gaming market. In April 2013, Ultimate Poker became the first website to legally offer online gaming in the United States. While the debate around the legalization of online gaming has captured headlines, the impact of online gaming remains limited. Between April 30, 2013, and February 28, 2014, the Nevada online (interactive) gaming market has only generated $8.52 million in gaming revenues. MGM and Play Studios launch free mobile casino game. On November 6, 2013, MyVegas Slots was released for iOS and Android platforms. This app offers free online slots and is expected to increase MGM’s market reach by 200%. While MGM enters the free online gaming market, Jim Murren, CEO of MGM, continues to state MGM will not pursue online gaming until a “business opportunity exists.”

New Jersey Atlantic City’s Atlantic Club Casino has been shut down. The casino closed in January 2014. Tropicana and Caesars purchased the casino for $23.4 million. Tropicana acquired the gaming machines and table games, while Caesars acquired the 800-plus room hotel. This marks the first time an Atlantic City casino has closed since the arrival of competing casinos in Pennsylvania seven years ago. Online gaming is legal in New Jersey. Representing the most significant gambling expansion since the first casino opened in 1978, websites run by seven Atlantic City casinos in conjunction with online gaming companies have seen nearly 110,000 online gambling accounts created in the four weeks following the state’s legalization of online gaming. Recent estimates predict that online gaming will produce between $200 million to $500 million in gaming revenue during the next year.

New Mexico Albuquerque Downs opens new gaming facility. In July 2013, the Downs opened a new facility with over 65,000 square feet and 750 gaming machines. The facility is nearly double the size of the old facility. The new facility brings new competition to the surrounding tribal gaming casinos. New York The passing of a New York casino referendum paves the way for gaming expansion in the state. The state constitutional amendment, which was passed on November 5, 2013, allows an initial four casinos to be built in upstate New York and existing racetrack gaming houses to transition into full scale casinos. At the end of April 2014, there were more than twenty groups expressing interest in the new casino licenses.

12 | 2014 Commercial & Tribal Gaming Stats