American Gaming Association Sports Betting Summit to Gather at MGM National Harbor, Just As March Madness Unfolds

Posted on: March 25, 2019, 08:02h. 

Last updated on: March 25, 2019, 08:02h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More

Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

The American Gaming Association (AGA) will hold a Sports Betting Executive Summit later this week as an estimated 47 million Americans have placed wagers on the NCAA college basketball tournament, and legal betting on pro athletics is already enacted in eight states.

The high-level meeting will be held at Maryland’s MGM National Harbor on Wednesday and Thursday. It is open only to invited participants.

One highlighted speaker — Jason Robins, CEO of fantasy sports provider DraftKings — will take part in a future-looking summit panel called Five Years Post-PASPA — Industry Leaders Share Their Visions of the Expansion of Sports Betting — as he focuses on the current sports betting landscape, future trends, and the need for an open, competitive sports betting market.

NHL, MGM Resorts Officials To Address Summit

Other key presenters are National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman and MGM Resorts International Chairman and CEO Jim Murren. Last October, MGM Resorts became the NHL’s first official sports betting partner, when it got access to the league’s proprietary game data that will be generated by tracking systems currently under development.

Other speakers will present from gaming operators, suppliers, leagues, teams, regulators, broadcasters, financial institutions, and sports agencies.

They include Ted Leonsis, chairman, majority owner and CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment; Joe Asher, CEO of William Hill; Lou Jacobs, Co-CEO of Delaware North; and Greg Carlin, co-founder and CEO of Rush Street Gaming.

Technology, the betting consumer, the market, and the future of payments are all on the agenda.

Online Sports Wagering

An additional topic that could be discussed is sports betting’s current move to online formats — which is being debated now in several states.

On Monday, Rhode Island officials approved a bill to allow sports bets to be placed through a mobile phone or computer in the state.

Beyond Rhode Island and Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Mississippi and New Mexico now offer legal sports betting. Lawmakers in 30 other states have seen sports betting legislation introduced in their capitals.

The AGA summit takes place as the one-year mark of last May’s ruling by the US Supreme Court to overturn the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA).

With dozens of states actively considering bills to legalize sports betting and 47 million Americans wagering on this month’s March Madness tournament, there is no better time to convene top executives from the sports and gaming industries to discuss the future of legal, regulated sports betting at AGA’s first-ever Sports Betting Executive Summit,” the AGA’s vice president of strategic communications, Casey Clark, told Casino.org.

A lucrative field, collectively, sports betting took in more than $1.2 billion in bets through the end of 2018, and won nearly $72.1 million on a 5.8 percent hold.

The sports betting environment is ripe for corporate transactions, too. AGA Senior Vice President of Public Affairs Sara Slane told CDC Gaming Reports “We expect to see more alignment and more deals.”