Take The Money

About Take The Money

During the lawmaking process, Full House’s exclusivity was stripped in favor of welcoming any company currently licensed as a commercial casino in the US to bid on the possible license. Lawmakers also threw in a one-time $150 million fee for the concession and a mandatory investment minimum of $500 million, all but ending Full House’s interest.

“The bill changed many times. We make money in Rising Sun. We always have, not a lot of money, but we make money. We continue to make money in Rising Sun. And we will continue to do that for our shareholders, as well as for the good of the state,” Full House CEO Daniel Lee said in March.

If any county approves its local casino referendum, the county government would be required to conduct a request for proposals and submit a winning project to the IGC.

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“These two markets have been growing and will continue to grow very nicely [for] online, Spain even more than Italy,” he commented.

“Cirsa has incredible knowledge of the market, the consumers in general, also of the business. You will see a company with a huge understanding of the market, of the consumers, with an incredible retail platform, which can be leveraged for online.

Cirsa also holds a presence in Italy, and Angelozzi was asked whether this could cause any regulatory discomfort or revenue attrition.

About Take The Money

The factor that led some operators to drop out of the licensing race could be the “uncertainty” created by regulations that “didn’t seem set in stone”, says Leckert.

“Some of them [investors] that were looking at Japan were looking at a big IR licence or nothing. With Tokyo and Yokohama being out of the mix, maybe some weren’t as interested anymore and decided to sit back, and wait and see how regulation and licensing shake out.”

One concern for operators is “the short duration of licences and renewal of licences”, notes Leckert. For operators, the casino business licence is renewable every three years, while the IR development-plan authorisation runs for 10 years, in contrast to the 18-year IR licence term in the Philippines, for instance.