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Welcome to iGB’s State of the Union, a look at the biggest North American sports betting stories we’ve covered over the week and briefs on others we found interesting.

Ohio casinos now take mobile driver’s licences

The Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) 18 December announced a first. The state’s land-based casinos are now accepting mobile driver’s licences for age and identity verification. Hard Rock Casino Cincinnati, Hollywood Casino Columbus, Hollywood Casino Toledo and JACK Casino Cleveland will take the licences, which Ohioans can add to their Apple wallets. Patrons can show the mobile licence on a phone or Apple watch.

“From a regulatory perspective, accurate, safe and secure identification for entry into Ohio’s casinos is foundational to ensuring the integrity of casino gaming,” Tom Stickrath, OCCC chair, said via press release. “The Ohio Mobile ID leverages cutting-edge technology to provide a simple and secure method for verifying age and identity.”

Ohio casinos will accept mobile licences and IDs from nine other US jurisdictions, including Arizona, California, Colorado and Puerto Rico. Patrons can hold their Apple device up to a reader to scan the licence or ID card. Customers authorise the reader to scan the information using Face ID or Touch ID.

Maverick fails in attempt to bust WA compacts

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower-court decision that keeps the Washington state gaming compacts in place, per Casino Reports on 19 December. Washington lawmakers in 2020 gave the state’s tribes exclusivity for in-person sports betting. Indian country already had a monopoly on land-based gaming. At the time, card-room owner Maverick Gaming pushed for a more open marketplace.

Ninth-circuit judges wrote that invalidating the compacts would disrupt the state’s gaming policy. They also wrote that Maverick failed to name tribes in the lawsuit, which would have meant that a decision about their future would have been made without their input.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of Maverick Gaming LLC’s lawsuit in Maverick Gaming LLC v. United States, which sought to challenge Washington State’s tribal-state compacts that allowed sports betting on tribal lands. https://t.co/0D0OVfS9KG pic.twitter.com/dEluxXmOnV

— Snell & Wilmer (@SWLawNews) December 17, 2024

“Washington tribes are sovereign nations,” Washington Indian Gaming Association executive director Rebecca George said in a statement. “The gaming compacts are carefully negotiated, government to government agreements that are fully valid and legally binding. The Washington state legislature’s bipartisan supermajority decision to limit sports betting to the premises of tribal casinos is not only legally sound, it also strikes exactly the right balance, allowing responsible adults to participate in safe and well-regulated gaming activities while minimising the negative social consequences that can sometimes result from gambling.”

Maverick Gaming has been fighting tribal exclusivity in Washington for more than four years.

Bally Bet live in Ontario

On 16 December Bally’s announced the launch of Bally Bet Sportsbook & Casino in Ontario. Bally Bet is live in 11 US jurisdictions, including New Jersey and New York.

In Ontario, the company launched its new combined app, bringing digital sports betting and casino onto a single platform. As the company continues to roll out its redesigned app, consumers will be instructed on how to migrate current accounts to the new platform.

“This integrated platform merges the features of our previous apps, providing players in Ontario with a seamless experience for both sports and casino betting,” Bally’s Corp CEO Robeson Reeves said via press release. “Our commitment to enhancing the player experience remains at the forefront as we strive to personalise the enjoyment of playing Bally Bet.”

Bettors opting to fund their gambling accounts in states where it is legal to do so might be in for a surprise, writes Yahoo! Finance. A new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report found that some credit card companies treat funding a gambling account like a cash advance and subsequently charge fees. It can cost gamblers $10 per credit card swipe or 5% of the advance, whichever is more.

According to the report, such credit card fees rose in Kansas and Ohio after wagering went live in those states. Some states, including Massachusetts and Tennessee, ban funding gambling accounts with credit cards.

Michigan tribe appeals to SCOTUS

The Sault St Marie Band of Chippewa Indians in northern Michigan is taking its case to the Supreme Court. The tribe purchased land near Detroit to build a new casino, but the US department of the interior (DOI) denied the tribe’s request to have the land put into a trust so it would be appropriately designated to build a casino, per PlayMichigan.

At issue from the DOI perspective is that the tribe purchased the land using its Self-Sufficiency Fund. Money from that fund can only be used for projects around education, health, culture and charitable pursuits. The tribe argues that the land purchase fits the parameters of using the fund because it plans to dedicate some revenue for basic services, including “vital services for cultural activities, elder meal programmes, education programmes, day care and food assistance for low income families.”

The tribe already operates five Kewadin Casinos on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

See you in January

State of the Union will take a two-week hiatus as we head into the holiday season. Wishing everyone happiness and health – and maybe a few new legal gambling states and provinces – in 2025.

In other news…

Ho-Chunk Inc has plans for another Nebraska casino, KTIV reported on 16 December, this one in South Sioux City at the Atokad race track. The tribe, which is also building out casinos in Lincoln and Omaha, plans to break ground on its latest project in the spring of 2025.

Governor Bryan Kemp cut the ribbon on 13 December when PrizePicks debuted its expanded Atlanta offices. The Georgia-based company doesn’t offer legal sports betting but it is among the top fantasy providers in the US. Sports betting remains illegal in Georgia, but PrizePicks operates fantasy contests, which are not regulated or taxed in the state.

Oklahoma’s Choctaw Casinos & Resorts announced a new partnership with the ATP-Dallas Open on 11 December. Through the partnership, the tribe will get branding rights inside the venue as well as naming rights in areas like VIP boxes and player entrances, according to a press release.