Peak season worries

Three of Atlantic City’s northernmost seafront casinos are bracing for a hit during peak tourism season.

desperately need their beaches replenished

Ocean Casino Resort, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, and Resorts Casino Hotel desperately need their beaches replenished, but the US Army Corps of Engineers only expects to deliver the sand in the late summer or fall.  

According to The Independent, prolonged winter storms have gobbled up beaches in the north of Atlantic City, leaving “little if any sand on which to play during all but the lowest tides.”

The beaches are a major summer season draw for Ocean, Hard Rock, and Resorts. So much so that executives from the three casinos are urging the federal and state governments to fast-track a beach replenishment project meant to have happened in 2023.

But the overseer of the project, the Army Corps, stated it will only put out a contract for the work in April or May.

Casino execs raise alarm

Alarm bells are ringing for the three casinos after Army Corps spokesman Stephen Rochette stated the work on replenishing the beaches will only start “sometime this summer or in the fall.”

Atlantic City has long marketed its beaches as a unique selling point over other gambling destinations in the region. Therefore, the three casino resorts most reliant on beaches to attract gamblers and tourists face a hard sell summer.  

Hard Rock casino’s General Manager Mike Sampson stated: “It’s going to be a challenge.”

“One of the highlights of coming to Atlantic City has always been the beaches and the Boardwalk.” Sampson added that Hard Rock’s beach “was totally destroyed” by the winter storms.

By the end of summer, all that sand was gone.”

It’s the same story over at Ocean. Despite spending $600,000 to truck in sand for its beach in 2023, Project Director for the effort Ian Jerome stated: “By the end of summer, all that sand was gone.”

Jerome added that winter storms have left only two out of the 12 casino resorts beach entrances still accessible. The Independent reported the remaining entrances were “just dead-end in mid-air, with treacherous drop-offs that could cause serious injury — or worse.”

Oceans General Manager Bill Callahan summed up the dilemma with: “How do you run a beach resort without a beach?”

Sense of urgency

President of Resorts casino Mark Giannantonio is hoping for at least some of beach replenishment project to happen early summer, what he dubbed a “beach-like” option.

Atlantic City was due for additional sand in the summer of 2023, but Congress failed to green light funding. This year, however, $25m in federal funding is available to offset the $30m beach replenishment price tag, of which the state will pony up a smaller percentage. Despite the funds, time is not on the beach resorts’ side this summer.

Giannantonio, who is also Casino Association of New Jersey President said: “Everyone realizes the importance of getting this sand,” adding, “The sense of urgency is real.”

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A prominent online gambling company, Betsson.sport produces casino, poker, bingo, and sports betting entertainment content. Its increasingly popular operations have recently resulted in the company’s decision to launch its unique information and entertainment platform in Italy. As Italy is the home of one of the most exciting football leagues in the world, Betsson.sport collaborates with the undisputable football legend Francesco Totti to make the Italian market debut of the operator’s infotainment platform even stronger.

Partnering with Legendary Football Player

In addition to his legendary football achievements, Francesco Totti will be remembered as the player faithful to the Roma club throughout his brilliant career. Betsson.sport’s choice of corporate ambassador is therefore set to benefit from Totti’s knowledge and authority, but also his proven loyal personality capable of making the promotion deal a long-term partnership commitment.

Exclusive Market Debut Offerings

At the same time, Betsson.sport will use the stunning opportunity to make a strong launch with a wide variety of its exclusive content. For this reason, the operator’s so called ‘’infotainment platform’’ will bring an exhaustive streak of interviews, news, and highlights across a wide range of sports competitions and leagues. One may expect that the Italian Calcio will be extensively covered as Betsson.sport seems determined to attract as many Italian sports enthusiasts as possible immediately upon the market debut.

Betsson Sport Club Feature

The reputable operator brings an outstanding content to Italians, but also couples the offering with the initiative ‘Betsson Sport Club’ to invite teams from all sports disciplines to join the club and take advantage of the increased visibility from the national audience. Betsson.sport opens the club for both the participants in the renowned leagues and those from the leagues less exposed to public insight to capitalize on the operator’s unique feature now available across the Italian jurisdiction.

National football hero Francesco Totti said:“I am thrilled to be part of this project, which aligns perfectly with my daily commitment to sharing my passion for sports. Betsson.sport presents a wonderful opportunity to unite various sports clubs and helping them to realize their full potential.”

Ronni Hartvig, Chief Commercial Officer of Betsson Group, added: “Italy holds significant importance for Betsson, and we are delighted to partner with Francesco Totti, a figure synonymous with excellence in Italian football. We think his story and experiences will help us make the Betsson Sports Club even better, promoting our values of fair play, inclusion, and passion.”

Targeting Leading Market Position

Betsson.sport commences its Italian story with full confidence in the powerful impact of its innovative offerings and strategic partnerships on the market situation. The inclusion of Totti and the Roma football club in the company’s promotional activities testifies about Betsson’s commitment to starting the Italian journey at a full speed. Such a start announces the exciting journey likely to take the company to a leading position in the lucrative Italian online sports betting market.

Source: “Betsson.Sport Debuts In Italy With Francesco Totti As Ambassador”. European Gaming. March 18, 2024.

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The upcoming March Madness basketball tournament will reportedly feature 136 NCAA teams and 134 games to represent a huge opportunity for bettors and operators to further boost the sports betting handle across 38 states with legalized sports wagering operations. As Associated Press reports, the sports betting handle and the number of states allowing either retail, online, or both forms of betting have been rapidly growing since 2018, when the US Supreme Court ruled to legalize gambling operations in the country.

Post-PASPA Sports Betting Expansion:

The proliferation of sports betting legalization measures in the US has reportedly started from a single state that allowed gambling operations before the 2018 court decision. You could bet it was Nevada, with the ”entertainment capital of the world” tailoring the gambling environment according to the state preferences. Other states seemingly followed the US Supreme Court decision and the Nevada approach to launch sports betting operations according to the state-specific NCAA sports betting environment.

Since 2018, 38 states have launched some form of sports wagering, with 30 states and the Washington D.C. allowing online betting, according to AP. The same source reports that the upcoming March Madness tournament will feature an expanded number of states with legal wagering than the 2023 tournament. North Carolina has recently launched online sports betting operations to facilitate legal bets on the 2024 NCAA games but also to continue the constant wagering expansion across the States.

Actually, since the University of Connecticut won the 2023 men’s March Madness competition, more than 10 states have launched sports betting or expanded the existing wagering operations. As reported by AP, North Carolina was followed by Nebraska, Kentucky, and Florida, where the Seminole Tribe launched online sports betting in December 2023.

NCAA Sports Betting Rules Vary Among the States:

However, the rules for sports betting differ from state to state. As reported by AP, some states do not allow bets on home college teams – such as Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont  – or individual player’s performance, or so-called proposition bets -such as Maryland and Ohio. As reported, state authorities consider that such a practice could put an extensive pressure on players and affect their mental health. Also, AP reports that the bets on player’s performance including a number of points, rebounds, or assists are allowed in some states, while other states ban these wagers to prevent players from aligning their game performance with some specific bet requirements.

 2024 March Madness Expected to Handle $2.7 billion in Bets:

As reported by AP, the 2024 edition of the NCAA March Madness tournament starts on March 19 with the men’s games, while the women’s competition starts on March 20. The fans are counting hours to hear referee’s whistle blowing the start of the first game and the mind of the college basketball fans for the next two weeks. The operators reasonably expect that the revenue levels will be not less mad than the whole rush and haste around the tournament; The American Gaming Association estimates $2.7 billion in bets will be placed on the NCAA competition through legal sports books, according to AP.

David Forman, the American Gaming Association vice president of research, reportedly commented: “March Madness is the biggest kind of individual event of the year for sports betting.” Indeed, AP reports that 134 games of March Madness tournament are likely to draw much more bets than the Super Bowl being the most important – but a single – sporting event of the year.

Let the madness begin

March Madness is upon us, as the conference tournaments have concluded and the brackets for both the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball national championships tournaments have been revealed. I was sweating it out, as my school, the University of Virginia, was the second-to-last one in the field, but for loads of other schools, it was just an evening of looking forward to finding out who they were playing.

And with March Madness comes betting. The American Gaming Association estimates that people will wager $2.7bn on legal betting platforms and much, much more when one takes into account bracket pools and illegal sportsbooks.

So who are the favorites this year? Let’s take a look at who the bookmakers have installed as the ones to beat. We won’t be offering up any betting advice, as this writer is a terrible bettor – lucky for me it’s not legal in my state…yet – but just examining which schools are the favorites and if it’s all just chalk down the board.

Top four seeds aren’t the top four favorites

It probably comes as no surprise that the top seeds are also the favorites to win the whole kit and kaboodle. While the selection committee sometimes throws some curveballs, they didn’t bounce one in the dirt here (baseball reference in a basketball article). Defending champ Connecticut is both the top overall seed and easily the favorite to cut down the nets at +375, according to ESPN BET.

UConn’s East Region includes 2-seed Iowa State, 3-seed Illinois, and 4-seed Auburn

And that’s even with what experts consider to be the toughest region. UConn’s East Region includes 2-seed Iowa State, 3-seed Illinois, and 4-seed Auburn, all of whom are not just really good, but also won their conference tournaments.

After Connecticut, South Region top seed Houston comes in at +550 and Midwest Region 1-seed Purdue is +700 in what many think is the weakest region.

The other 1-seed, North Carolina, is interestingly NOT the fourth-favorite on ESPN Bet. That slot goes to Arizona, who is the 2-seed in the West, North Carolina’s region. Arizona is at +1,110, while UNC is +1,300. Why is that? Could be a combination of oddsmakers thinking Arizona is better, the regional being out west and therefore favoring Arizona geographically, and perhaps (though I’m not saying this is the case) that Arizona’s side of the bracket is perceived as easier.

Best of the rest

Arizona, though having better odds than North Carolina, was not the selection committee’s top 2-seed. That was Tennessee, which is in Purdue’s bracket and looks to have a favorable path to the Elite Eight, with 3-seed Creighton being the only real threat (of course, anything can happen, just look at Purdue falling to a 16-seed last year).

sportsbooks really like Auburn’s metrics

Tennessee is +1,600 to win the national championship. That ties them with the first real eyebrow raiser in Auburn, which is just a 4-seed in the East and was just 15th on the selection committee’s overall seeding list. Sportsbooks really like Auburn’s metrics, which have them in the top ten in many computer rankings. The committee may have looked at their weak nonconference schedule, favorable conference schedule, and lack of marquee wins to knock them down the bracket a bit.

Iowa State, another 2-seed, is next at +1,700. Kentucky, a 3-seed, is at +2,000, as is 2-seed Marquette. Kentucky has two possible top-five NBA draft picks and crushed some really good teams this year, while Marquette’s star Tyler Kolek is battling an injury, which could explain the parity in odds. They are also in the same region, so if things go to par, they will meet in the Elite Eight.

Rounding out the teams on the four-line or better are 4-seed Alabama and 3-seeds Illinois and Creighton at +2,500, 4-seed Duke at +3,000, and 3-seed Baylor and 4-seed Kansas at +4,000. Kansas is the most intriguing one of the group, as when healthy, they can beat anyone, but the Jayhawks are really banged up going into the tourney. Leading scorer Kevin McCullar Jr. and leading rebounder Hunter Dickinson are both hurt – Coach Bill Self says they will be good for the tournament, but who knows?

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