News In Brief: June 30-July 4, 2025

Louisiana’s attorney general has ruled that online sweepstakes casinos constitute illegal gambling and threatened criminal enforcement against those that continue to operate in the state.

In a seven-page legal opinion dated July 2, attorney general Liz Murrill wrote that platforms offering games like poker, roulette and blackjack  using “Gold Coins” and “Sweep Coins” constitute illegal gambling under state law. 

“Louisiana law does not distinguish games of skill versus games of chance,” Murrill wrote. “They are not licensed or regulated in Louisiana … and are not permissible under Louisiana gaming statutes and regulations.”

The opinion was issued in response to a request from Republican state senator Rick Edmonds, following Governor Jeff Landry’s veto of Senate Bill 181, which would have banned sweepstakes casinos. In Landry’s veto message, the Republican governor said the underlying conduct was already prohibited. 

Murrill also took aim at the often used argument made by sweepstakes operators that their online casinos are just like promotions offered by McDonald’s or Starbucks. 

“Legitimate sweepstakes and rewards programs … operate with clear rules, offer entries without purchase and offer non-monetary or time-limited promotions designed to market a good or service.”

Murrill added that illegal sweepstakes casinos are not offered in furtherance of a legitimate business of goods, operate persistently, target vulnerable populations, require purchase to engage and allow conversion of winnings into cash.

Intralot has agreed to acquire Bally’s Corp’s legacy Gamesys business in a cash and stock transaction valued at $3.18bn, or €2.7bn. 

The deal announced on Tuesday (July 1) has been approved by both boards of directors. Upon closing in the fourth quarter of 2025, Bally’s will remain the majority shareholder in Intralot with its stake rising from 26.8 percent to 33.3 percent.

In connection with the deal, Bally’s has secured commitment for $500m in secured debt which, together with the cash process from the sale, will be used to repay secured debt. The company has secured an additional $100m debt facility to be used after the deal closes for corporate purposes, including the development of the Bally’s Chicago casino-resort.

Current Bally's CEO Robeson Reeves will become Intralot CEO upon the deal's completion, with founder and chairman Sokratis Kokkalis maintaining a significant stake in the company. 

Bally’s acquired UK-based Gamesys in a 2021 deal valuing the online gaming operator and supplier at around $2.7bn. The transaction comes more than four months after Bally’s completed its merger with Queen Casino & Entertainment and acquisition by Standard General. As part of that transaction, Bally’s divested its Asian online gaming business to members of its management team of that business for an undisclosed amount. 

“On the face of it, there is not much to bring Intralot and Bally’s International Interactive together other than Bally’s need for cash to fund its land-based casino developments in the U.S. and Australia, while Bally’s Interactive is now over-exposed to the UK from a risk perspective after the loss of Asia and limited expansion elsewhere,” Regulus Partners said in a research note. 

Representative Ed Neilson, a Democrat, has introduced a bill to legalize esports betting in Pennsylvania. 

House Bill 1636 would add esports to the list of “sports events” that gamblers could wager on. Currently, sports betting in Pennsylvania is limited to professional and college sports, and motor racing.

The bill would also provide the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) with the ability to expand the state’s sports betting catalog to include other competitions or events. 

“It is time we expand our sports wagering laws,” Neilson said. 

Neilson tried to legalize esports wagering in 2023 with the introduction of an earlier bill that failed to gain traction.

HB 1636 defines esports as “an organized competitive involving video games in which players compete against each other, individually or as teams, and the dominant element in determining the results is the relative skill of the players”.  

Neilson’s bill has been referred to the House Gaming Oversight Committee but as of Tuesday (July 1) no hearing had been scheduled. 

Currently, most states with online sports betting, including Nevada, New Jersey and West Virginia, allow wagering on esports competitions, with Indiana and Pennsylvania among those that prohibit betting on competitive video games.

New Hampshire’s network of charitable casinos is set to undergo a major expansion thanks to provisions included in a state budget bill passed by lawmakers and signed into law on Friday (June 27).

There are currently 14 charitable gaming locations in New Hampshire eligible to offer limited-stakes table games and historical horseracing (HHR) machines.

Under House Bill 2, charitable casinos would be eligible to upgrade their gaming offerings to include video lottery terminals (VLTs), or de facto slot machines, as well as high-stakes poker tournaments with a buy-in of up to $2,500.

The current $50 maximum wager cap is also set to be eliminated, clearing charitable gaming facilities to offer a full range of casino games similar to commercial casinos in neighboring states.

The budget bill will specifically allow charitable gaming operators to obtain a license from the newly renamed New Hampshire Lottery and Gaming Commission in order to operate an undefined number of VLTs in existing charitable casinos eligible to offer HHR machines.

The operator would retain 31 percent of gross VLT revenues, with the same amount split between partnering charitable organizations and the state.

Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte signed HB2 into law on Friday evening, having already included projected revenues from VLTs in her executive budget proposal for the 2026 fiscal year.
 

The New York Gaming Facility Location Board announced Friday (June 27) that it has received eight applications for casino licenses in the downstate region, which includes New York City.

The bidders are MGM Resorts International, Genting Group, The Chickasaw Nation, Hard Rock International, Mohegan, Caesars Entertainment, Rush Street Gaming and Bally’s Corp.

Application materials for each proposal are expected to be published over the course of the next week, according to the board. The NYGFLB will now assign each bid a Community Advisory Committee (CAC), which will review the bids.

The board will evaluate each final bid and is expected to announce three winners by December 1. The New York State Gaming Commission would then issue the licenses before the end of the year. 

Each license will cost a minimum of $500m, with a minimum tax rate of 25 percent for slots revenue and 10 percent for table games, but the actual rates will be determined through the license bidding process.

The Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) has granted final approval to Apollo Global Management’s acquisition of International Game Technology’s (IGT) gaming and digital businesses and Everi Holdings in a combined deal valued at $6.3bn.

The deal, described as a two-step transaction, will see Apollo’s newly formed holding company, Voyager, acquire from IGT all of its gaming and digital assets. Immediately thereafter, Voyager will merge with publicly traded Everi Holdings.

The deal is expected to close on Tuesday (July 1).

The new privately held company will take on the IGT name and be headquartered in Las Vegas. IGT will have three divisions: digital, gaming, and fintech. 

Apollo said the company will consider an initial public offering (IPO) with the new IGT, possibly in the next three to five years.

The combination of IGT and Everi creates a gaming supplier company larger than its two main competitors, Light & Wonder and Aristocrat, with combined revenues last year of $2.5bn.