Atlanta Casino Push Gains Powerful Lobbyist, Golden Nugget Owner Willing to Bet on Georgia

Two identical Atlanta casino bills have been introduced to both chambers of this state’s General Assembly, and gambling companies over the nation are readying for the legislative fight by employing high-profile lobbyists.

It’s tough to find fertile non-gaming areas in the US, particularly in major metropolises. An Atlanta casino bill seeks to create land-based gambling to Georgia, much to the delight of billionaire Tilman Fertitta.

The most recent name to join the push for casinos in Georgia is former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour. The Republican whom served two terms leading The Magnolia State has filed lobbyist paperwork in Atlanta to represent the interests of Las Wynn that is vegas-based Resorts.

Barbour joining the discussion is important as a result of his friendship that is long with Georgia Governor Nathan contract (R). State lawmakers have been pressing to legalize gambling that is commercial Georgia for more than a year in an effort to increase tax revenue.

Deal has opposed such legislation in yesteryear, but recently hinted he’d be open for a discussion should the casino law mandate that most the proceeds help education, and the effect wouldn’t directly hurt hawaii’s lottery system.

The Peach State sold $4.556 billion worth of lottery tickets in 2016 though Georgia doesn’t currently have land-based tribal or commercial gambling, nor pari-mutuel wagering. That generated a bounty that is net of $1 billion for state training programs.

Devil Went Down to Georgia

Georgia, like much of the southeast, is usually a conservative suggest that is predominantly opposed to the expansion of any kind of gambling.

Pew Research found year that is last 66 percent of Georgians classify themselves as ‘highly religious.’ Nonetheless, perhaps surprising to some, is that the poll that is recent by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution found 56 % of likely voters support land-based gambling enterprises.

The present legislation in Atlanta would authorize two commercial gambling enterprises, one into the money, and another in a smaller city. The two licenses would each cost $1 million upfront, with renewals set at $5 million yearly. Gross gaming revenue would be taxed at 20 percent.

All Aboard Atlanta

It’s the Atlanta venue that the major casino players want. Senate Bill 79 requires the recipient of the destination that is coveted permit to invest in an investment of at least $2 billion.

In addition to Wynn Resorts, Sheldon Adelson’s nevada Sands, Penn National Gaming, Boyd Gaming, yet others have all filed lobbyist workers registrations with Georgia.

Some 40 video gaming lobbyists are now accredited by the state, according to public records.

Billionaire Tilman Fertitta, owner of Landry’s and the Golden Nugget, and also the host of CNBC’s ‘Billion Dollar Buyer,’ is additionally looking at Atlanta. He believes limiting the total quantity of gambling licenses is in the best interest of the state.

Atlanta is regarded as a goldmine for casino operators. The closest commercial casino resort is Harrah’s Cherokee, some 170 kilometers away in new york.

The possible Atlanta casino offering is attractive for obvious reasons with over 5.7 million residents in the city’s metro, and not a slot machine or table game within a couple hours’ drive.

Osaka’s Ambitions of Casino Resort on Landfill Island Might End online pokies australia free bonus no deposit Up Trashed

The Japanese city of Osaka is pushing ahead with an ambitious project to build an integrated casino resort on a synthetic island in Osaka Bay.

Casinos have become likely visiting Japan and Osaka desires to be in the mix, but its plans for the casino that is multi-billion-dollar on Yumeshima area could be a bit of a gamble. (Image: Port and Harbor Bureau, Osaka)

Yumeshima is a reclaimed landfill island, which the city hopes will be changed into a gleaming new casino, with hotels, shopping, arcades, galleries and a convention center, to be finished by 2024.

Another portion of the island are reserved for the World Exposition in 2025, bringing construction that is total to over $7 billion.

The Japanese parliament passed its Integrated Resorts Promotion bill in December, paving the method for complete scale casino resorts in the nation for the very first time. Japan has been called the ‘sleeping giant’ of casino video gaming, with a possible market worth, depending on which consultant you keep in touch with, up to $40 billion per year.

Osaka would like to function as first player in the market. The snag that is only its plan? Well, there are always a few, actually.

Built It and They may Not Come

First, it has yet to convince a worldwide casino developer not only to partner along with it, but also that Yumeshima Island is the area to build. To begin with, the city could have to extend its subway system out towards the area, a procedure that will cost an estimated $600 million, and no one’s quite sure who will pick up that bill.

Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura has assured any future casino partner that the town will pick the tab up for a ‘large portion’ with this cost, but it’s most likely that this hypothetical partner might prefer to take into account a website that doesn’t come with this extra meteoric spending.

There’s also the suggestion that the Chinese high rollers Osaka dreams of attracting may not wish to take the hour’s subway ride from the airport to Yumeshima, having just appeared on board their private jets. Maybe it would be more advantageous and economical to construct a casino closer to the airport, recommend cynics.

Support for Casinos Low

And of course, while the parliament that is japanese passed an act authorizing the regulation of casino gaming, it hasn’t yet developed a framework of regulation. And without such a framework, the country can’t make a claim to have legalized casinos at all, yet.

There is no suggestion, either, of how licenses that are many be produced available, or whether Osaka is even in the running, although it is stated become on the list of favorites.

But the polls reveal there is little support among the Japanese populace for casinos (just 12 percent, in accordance with one), which could cause lawmakers to temper their enthusiasm for creating licenses, at least to begin with.

Similarly, there is certainlyn’t much public support in Osaka for the city’s own casino plan. And meanwhile, the city faces competition that is strong Paris while the host of the 2025 Expo and may well lose the bid, although it won’t find out until November 2018.

Osaka is gambling on too many eventualities, say critics. And what’s going to the city do with Yumeshima, which is earmarked for commercial expansion because it is made, if the casino and Expo plans fall through?

Yoshimura told the Japanese press recently that he was not considering a ‘Plan B’ or ‘Plan C.’

‘It will just make putting in a bid more difficult,’ he reasoned.

Jeff Sessions Verified as US Attorney General, Online Gambling at Stake

Jeff Sessions was verified as the 84th attorney general associated with the United States, and for those who support online gambling, that may well not end up being the best news.

Newly sworn in US Attorney General Jeff Sessions could provide problems for online gambling, though the odds would seem to favor inaction on this new AG’s part. (Image: Andrew Harnik/Associated Press)

Following 20 years in the US Senate, the Alabama congressman assumes on their new position in Washington, DC, in the same way multiple states from coast to coast are considering gambling legislation that is internet. Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware remain the sole three jurisdictions with some form of online betting already set up.

Very conservative people regarding the Senate during his tenure, Sessions often governs by his United Methodist faith. The religion is adamantly against gambling, the church’s website labeling the practice as ‘a menace to culture, deadly to the best passions of ethical, social, economic, and life that is spiritual and destructive of good government.’

‘Christians should abstain from gambling and may strive to minister to those victimized by the practice,’ the United Methodist doctrine concludes.

Court is in Sessions

As US attorney general, Sessions will head the Department of Justice (DOJ) and serve as the country’s main law enforcement officer and lawyer. That poses a potential problem for states like Pennsylvania, ny, California, among others that are currently nevertheless mulling expanding internet gambling expansion to enhance their coffers.

Last year, the DOJ issued an impression on the Wire Act. The division said in a memorandum that ‘interstate transmissions of wire communications that do not relate to a ‘sporting event or contest’ fall not in the reach of the Wire Act.’ It was that move which opened the hinged door to the prospect of state-by-state legalized and regulated gambling.

Passed in 1961, the Wire Act had long been believed to block states from enabling citizens to place wagers or wagers through wire transmissions. As technology evolved plus the internet became commonplace, the law ended up being extended to encompass online gambling.

During his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last month, Sessions was asked by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), a devout opponent to online gambling, about his views associated with 2011 judgment. Sessions replied which he was ‘shocked’ when the DOJ effectively rewrote that interpretation associated with Wire Act.

‘I did oppose (the DOJ opinion) when it happened, and it seemed to me to be unusual,’ Sessions replied. ‘ I would revisit it and I shall make a decision on it according to careful research. I haven’t gone that far to give you a viewpoint today.’

Though it would seem not likely that Sessions would focus much time on internet gambling when more pressing issues are unquestionably abundant, his comments final month will nevertheless cause plenty of unrest among the online video gaming community.

Senate Split

Sessions obtained his law degree from the University of Alabama in 1973, and served as his state’s attorney general from 1995 to 1997.

While Republicans are thrilled after eight years to finally have a back that is conservative the strongest legal workplace in the usa, Sessions’ appointment is obviously not without controversy.

The Senate’s confirmation had been largely along party lines, with the tally that is final in at 52-47. Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) was the lone Democrat who lent his help for the inbound attorney general.

Britney Spears Does It Again, as Vegas Residency Eclipses $100 Million in Revenue

Britney Spears wasn’t lying when she said everyone wants a ‘Piece of Me.’ Her appropriately named Las Vegas residency show, according to revenue numbers given by Caesars and first reported by Billboard, has now passed the $100 million market in total solution sales.

Britney Spears’ Las Vegas residency show has drawn in over $100 million in gross sales. (Image: Denise Truscello/Getty Images)

Dating back again to her residency that is first performance Planet Hollywood in December of 2013, more than 700,000 tickets have actually been sold to eager fans. More specifically, Caesars claims that through to January with this year, 710,418 seats have been offered, creating revenue of $103,399,634. That means a ticket that is average of $145.54.

Spears’ vegas show is dark for now, until the lights come right back on in late March. Thirty shows are already scheduled, with an increase of likely on the means.

But the pop icon nevertheless has a ways to go before she can phone herself Las vegas, nevada’ biggest headliner. Celine Dion remains the undisputed champ in Sin City. She’s performed over 1,000 shows dating back to 2002, and has generated over $650 million in residency revenue.

Profit for Caesars

Very little was going right throughout the last years that are few Caesars Entertainment. The gaming that is vegas-based filed for bankruptcy in January of 2015, and just recently emerged from liquidation after reorganizing and splitting its holdings into various entities.

Planet Hollywood is underneath the Caesars umbrella, and represents a spot that is bright the company’s balance sheet.

The gaming mecca happens to be within the midst of undergoing an unofficial fresh marketing push to attract a fresh demographic to Sin City: the millennial. Throughout her three years at Planet Hollywood, thousands of fans have descended on nevada who probably would have otherwise stayed away without the draw of Spears.

Names like Dion and Elton John continue to draw crowds that are huge but it is an older audience that has long been coming to the Strip.

Caesars is targeting the 20 and 30-something crowd by hosting more youthful residency acts. When Spears took time removed from her show, Planet Hollywood welcomed Jennifer Lopez in her place.