SBC News

The Illinois House Gaming Committee is taking legislative action in response to Dave & Buster’s recent decision to begin offering social wagering through its rewards app.

The committee has approved Amendment 1 to House Bill 394, which aims to make changes to the Illinois Horse Racing Act of 1975. The proposed amendment, sponsored by Rep. Daniel Didech, establishes the Family Amusement Wagering Prohibition Act.

“The state of Illinois closely regulates our robust gaming industry to ensure that businesses are operating in a manner that is fair for players and safe for families,” said Didech. “We do not need gambling to irresponsibly expand into family-friendly environments.”

Earlier this month, Didech introduced House Bill 5832, which aims to ban “family amusement establishments” from offering or promoting real-money wagering on their games. The measure explicitly states that video gaming terminals are not included.

Illinois allows brick-and-mortar establishments to offer VGTs but onl..

Although she could not attend in person, Congresswoman Dina Titus still made her presence felt at last week’s SBC Summit North America.

In a 15-minute video message played at the event, Titus reiterated her support for repealing the federal excise tax on sports betting and also laid out five recommendations for sports organizations to combat sports betting issues within professional sports.

Federal excise tax on betting handle

Titus, who co-chairs the Congressional Gaming Caucus, has been an opponent of the federal excise tax on sports wagers for over a decade. Currently, a sports betting operator is required to pay a 0.25% tax on its total sports betting handle.

In her video message, she said that the tax “serves no dedicated purpose” and instead “penalizes” the regulated industry. She added the tax “empowers illegal operators” as they can attract customers by offering better odds due to not paying the tax.

Titus has put forth numerous bills over the past decade to repeal the fe..

Optimove has added Enteractive’s outbound calling to its CRM marketing platform’s Multichannel Marketing Hub.

The feature will sit alongside its existing suite of marketing channels such as email, mobile, and SMS, and can be used to aid player retention and identify problematic gambling issues.

“Sometimes you need a bit of human touch,” said Dan De Souza, director of igaming partnerships at Optimove. “We’re thrilled to kick off this strategic partnership with Enteractive. This new marketing channel represents a significant addition, offering operators an impactful avenue to rekindle connections with inactive players and bolster their efforts in addressing problematic gambling issues more effectively.”

According to Enteractive, the personalization of outbound calls can help to reengage with previous players but also identify signs of problematic gambling behavior.

“Addressing player churn is a pivotal marketing challenge within the iGaming industry, and this partnership marks a sign..

Investors in Boyd Gaming have voted against commissioning a study to evaluate the implementation of a smoke-free policy at the company’s gaming facilities.

Boyd shareholders voted on Monday to reject a proposal that required company management to generate a report on potential cost savings from implementing a smoke-free policy. Boyd, which operates 28 properties in 10 states, reported more than 63.6 million votes against the study with 18.5 million in favor, according to a filing with the SEC.

“The proposal asks for a report on implementing a smoke-free policy, but we believe this proposal is the first step toward forcing our company to unilaterally adopt such a policy, regardless of the actions of our competitors,” said Boyd in an April letter to shareholders.

Boyd shareholders have rejected the proposal despite efforts to ban smoking by nonprofit healthcare system Trinity Health and Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR).

The Nevada Tobacco Control and Smoke-free Coalition has al..