This week’s news starts off in the United States where the casino industry is roaring back. Hopefully the COVID-19 pandemic fades away in the near future.
U.S. Casinos Primed To Have Best Year In History
U.S. casinos have been bouncing back better than expected in 2021. The industry was heavily impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year and many questioned how long it would take for them to start reaping the benefits of their recovery period. It seems as though it hasn’t taken long for that to happen. The casino industry is currently on track to surpass $44 billion in 2021.
As it stands right now, the gambling markets have attained a total of $13.6 billion throughout the second quarter of the year. Compare that to the previous quarterly record set all the way back in 2019 and it was two billion higher. It is insane how far this industry has come ever since they hit record lows in 2020.
The state of Nevada has been leading this charge with four straight months of topping $1 billion in revenue. That includes May, when they broke their all-time record with $1.2 billion.
DraftKings Purchases Online Gambling Company
It looks like one of the biggest sports betting operators is expanding even further than before with their latest purchase. DraftKings has reached an agreement with Golden Nugget Online Gaming to purchase the company for an estimated $1.56 billion. DraftKings will have now access to the massive five million plus player pool that the company already has.
This deal works out for either side though. The owner of Golden Nugget Online Gaming, Tilman Fertitta, will now be joining the DraftKings Board of Directors. Fertitta also has one of the largest stakes in the company now. He already owns the Houston Rockets in the NBA, so this only furthers his success in the sports world.
Both sides have already approved the deal, though, it won’t be finalized and official until early 2022. Anybody who uses Golden Nugget Online Gaming should be prepared to switch over to DraftKings in the near future.
Twitch Bans Casino Game Links To Improve Regulation Of Gambling Content
The largest video game streaming platform on the internet has just created a new rule to crack down on the distribution of gambling content. Twitch has now banned the sharing of any links or referral codes to any website that happens to offer an array of casino games. This is in response of a new wave of streams on Twitch focused on gambling, including streamers players online slots to show off the games.
A multitude of Twitch streamers have already partnered up with sponsors who wanted gambling related streams or tap into their following to advertise gambling. Those streamers ended up earning quite a large sum but the quick development of these gambling streams wasn’t that clean for the platform. There was a lot of concern over the fact that the majority of streamers viewer bases are between the ages of 13 and 17, who would be under the legal age of gambling. The last thing that Twitch wants is to get caught up encouraging underage betting.
Sponsors may just start looking for partnerships elsewhere as Twitch continues to make it clear that they aren’t welcome.