Chapter Thirty: The Land of Ten Thousand Lakes, The District of Columbia, The First State, and The Prairie State – Rules and Regulations – iGB
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Chapter Thirty: The Land of Ten Thousand Lakes, The District of Columbia, The First State, and The Prairie State
The major event in the political world is back after some technical issues, and we have a lot to cover.
We begin with The Land of Ten Thousand Lakes. The state was hoping to make sports betting legal before the legislative session concluded, but in the end, it did not even consider sports betting. The Land of Ten Thousand Lakes was one of four states where interested parties thought legislation would be approved, the other three being The Yellowhammer State, The Peach State, and The Show-Me State. But none of them were approved.
Bussmann points out that there were several reasons why The Land of Ten Thousand Lakes failed at the last moment, one of which was the arrest of state Senator Nicole Mitchell for breaking and entering.
“In the end, one of the reasons it failed was, you know, there were a lot of people, some of them Democrats, who just didn’t want to come to an agreement at the end,” he said. While they had reached an agreement, a bipartisan and bicameral compromise in the legislature, the agreement did not move forward because it did not make it onto the agenda.
“We were harmed by the process this year.”
The District of Columbia market is getting hotter
We move quickly to The District of Columbia, which has begun its budget process.
Iden guided us through the proposed law put forward by Councilmember Kenyan R McDuffie, which would permit a mobile marketplace in the district.
“The wording McDuffie drafted concerning the establishment of an open sports wagering market in the area has been incorporated into the financial plan,” Iden clarified. “This procedure will take approximately three weeks, during which the City Council will deliberate on the financial plan.
“By that time, the financial plan will be adopted, including this wording.”
The subsequent step is for Congress to endorse the financial plan within 30 days. It’s uncertain if the wording will remain in the financial plan or be removed and transformed into a separate statute.
Iden also mentioned that commissioners and council members disapprove of the scheme proposed by Intralot. In March, Intralot selected FanDuel as its new partner after GamBetDC underperformed.
“This lottery agreement, which is the sole one the District possesses, has let down the region,” he stated. “Merely altering the operator, allowing them to enter the market and assume Intralot’s errors… does not resolve the issue.”
Ultimately, Delaware and Illinois are encountering comparable situations. Delaware is facing a similar scenario.
Similar to the nation’s capital, Delaware has a solitary entity overseeing its lottery, which is striving for a competitive environment. However, Delaware also permits online wagering, unlike Washington D.C.
Bussmann highlights that Delaware’s system has been imperfect. But House Bill 365 aims to rectify this.
In the end, an open and competitive marketplace will effectively challenge the illicit market.
Speaking of the illicit market, we’ll conclude our journey in Illinois, a state that has everyone on edge. Last week, the state legislature passed a contentious bill that increases taxes. The new rates will push some operators to a 40% tax rate, significantly higher than the initial 15%.
“We shouldn’t adopt poor tax policies,” Bussmann urged. “As we discussed earlier, that’s one of the challenges I observed from the report in Maryland, they added more poor tax policies, and what it ultimately leads to.
“Let’s examine the economics of the market, let’s examine the economics of the operators.”
But our journey isn’t over yet. Iden supports his home state of Michigan and the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB)’s prohibition on Curacao-based gambling company Bovada. The MGCB alleges that Harp Media BV (which operates Bovada) allowed Bovada.com and Bovada.lv to be accessible to Michigan residents. Despite Harp Media BV lacking the appropriate license.
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