Public Gaming July/August 2014 - page 47

Madrid’s Charles III University. The
report, Social Perception on Gambling in
Spain in 2014, relates that
“Spain is still
home to a very large community of online
gamblers … However, the financial crisis
led people to play less often than before
and to invest the money on [online] games
… The results of the research indicate that
that online gaming seems to have reached
a degree of maturity.”
Taiwan Sports Lottery May Earn
NT$500 Million more than expected
from World Cup
The lottery also attributed the increase
in revenue to a new diversity of betting
offerings, from NBA basketball games
and Major League Baseball games in
North America, to ATP tennis games in
Taiwan. Live betting has also been an
important new offering.
“Taiwan Sports Lottery Co president Ted
Lin said that its sales revenue last month
topped NT$2.57 billion, adding that the
company made NT$1.06 billion within 18
days after the World Cup began.”
Macau is Now the World’s Fourth-
Richest Territorial Entity
Recently released World Bank statistics
show that the former Portuguese colony
has overtaken Switzerland in gross domes-
tic product per capita, at £53,000. Luxem-
bourg, Norway and Qatar are in the top
three slots. Tourists and gamblers from
mainland China have helped drive this
increase in GDP. The region is benefit-
ing from the newly flush middle class of
China. Macau is the only place in China
where gambling is legal. Casino bosses
in Macau are actively investing in re-
sorts, shopping malls, and elaborate stage
shows as the region is trying to re-position
itself as a family-friendly tourist spot. The
average bet is estimated to be £60. Macau
has over 30 casinos, including the world’s
largest, the Venetian Macau. 
New Mexico Lottery CEO Seeks
Change in Scholarship Funding
The head of New Mexico’s lottery
system, David Barden, wants the state
Legislature to cut the 30 percent minimum
it is required to provide in revenues to the
college scholarship program, arguing that
such a move could increase lottery sales
and create a larger revenue stream. The
Legislative Lottery Scholarship program
provides tuition money at state-funded
institutions. The New Mexico lottery
system says it has raised more than $610
million for education. The Santa Fe think
tank, Think New Mexico, argues that the
lottery could increase its sales by reducing
overheard, but lottery officials reply that
they have nowhere left to cut.
Singapore to Cease Issuing $10,000
Banknote in Money Laundering 
Prevention Move
High denomination notes are popular
with criminals as they are a lighter, more
efficient way of transporting large amounts
of cash. Ong Chong Tee, a deputy manag-
ing director of the Monetary Authority of
Singapore (MAS), said that ending the
$10,000 note was unlikely to cause any
major issues:
“The development of more
advanced and secured electronic payment
systems has reduced the need for large
value cash-based transactions,”
he said at a
recent financial crime seminar.  This speaks
to the fact of just how big a problem that
money-laundering has become. Casinos are
being required to strengthen their systems
for monitoring transactions in order to
prevent money-laundering.
Casino Revenues Down: Moody’s
Reports Declining Outlook for U.S.
Gaming; Effect on Connecticut
Gaming revenues are down at ca-
sinos across the U.S., including Con-
necticut.
“We now estimate that total US
gaming revenues reported by state gaming
authorities will decrease between 3.0%
and 5.0% during the next 12 to 18 months,
causing overall industry [earnings before
interest and tax] to decline between 4.5%
and 7.5%,”
Moody’s analyst and Senior
Vice President Keith Foley wrote. Con-
necticut was among the states with the
biggest percentage decline.
“In Connecti-
cut, total gaming revenue was down 10.9
percent in March to $96.5 million; down
11 percent in April to $86.5 million; down
7.6 percent in May to $95.4 million.”
Moody’s report argues that the market
has becoming
“diluted with new and ex-
panded gaming facilities in the Northeast
and elsewhere.”
“Connecticut had the second biggest
drop in gaming revenue for March after In-
diana, and the largest drop in April. Many
other states also had declines in gaming
revenue for at least two of the three months
that Moody’s looked at: Colorado, Dela-
ware, New Jersey, Illinois, Kansas, Indi-
ana, Iowa, Michigan, Louisiana, New York,
Missouri and Pennsylvania, for example.”  
Iowa Lottery: Strong Results
this Year
The Iowa Lottery will have solid results
this year, CEO Terry Rich stated,
“but
the brutal winter definitely had an impact
on the sale of many consumer products,
including lottery tickets … Repeated bliz-
zards and frigid temperatures often made
it impossible for folks to get out and about
this winter in Iowa, and when people
aren’t in their normal routines, they often
don’t make their usual purchases, includ-
ing lottery tickets,”
he said.  The Iowa
Lottery reported that  it had $174.2 million
in lottery sales, down from $186.6 million
the previous year.
Hoosier Lottery’s New Private
Operator Attains Record Sales
—Over $1B
The Hoosier Lottery’s new private oper-
ator GTECH Corp, brought in record sales
revenue of more than $1 billion. However
state lottery officials also reported that they
will likely fall short of the $256 million
promised to the state when it won the con-
tract to operate the state lottery in October
of 2012.
“The state’s contract requires
the company to make up the difference if it
falls short of its income commitment.”
 Delaware House Passes $9.9
Million Casino Relief Bill
Dover
—Delaware’s three casinos will
get $9.9 million taxpayer dollars in a
casino relief proposal passed by the state
House. Senate Bill 220 was passed by a
vote of 27-10.
“SB 220 was contingent
upon a companion bill’s passage, that
reauthorizes unused funds for the first
year. The bill mandates that $3.2 million
in funding earmarked for the Kent County
Sports Complex and $1.1 million in un-
spent new jobs infrastructure fund as well
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July/August 2014 • Public Gaming International
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