Top gambling stories from around the world in 2024

For over a decade i have been breaking down the year in gambling that was with my Top gambling stories around the world. Here are the top 5 stories from around the globe in the year that was 2024!

5. Casino Resort approved for Jamaica

For those who wagered regularly at The Greek or Bet Jamaica they would likely be surprised to learn that gambling in Jamaica has always been illegal. The Greek offered betting to the world from the Free Trade Zone in Montego Bay starting in the late 90s, but Jamaican citizens could not gamble. In 2010 the Jamaican government agreed to allow casino gambling via an Approved Integrated Resort Development (AIRD), after many businesses said that they needed something to lure tourists, especially after Jamaica had been suffering from a public relations issue due to the growing crime rate and travel warnings from other governments to their citizens considering travel to Jamaica. Two companies applied to build an AIRD, one at Rose Hall in Montego Bay and the other at Harmony Grove in Trelawny. The  initiator of the Rose Hall bid died before he could raise the necessary investment for the casino, while the Harmony Grove bid, a joint venture project of the Jamaican government and Tavistock Group, has been in limbo.

In 2013, when rules were passed for AIRD submissions, the requirement included an investment of at least $1.2 billion USD and at a commitment to build at least 2,000 hotel rooms. The government seemed a bit surprised by lack of interest from some larger casino companies and the rules were blamed for making the requirements to get an AIRD far too hard to achieve. So, in March of 2024 the requirements were cut to a $500 million investment and a commitment to 1,000 hotel rooms. Finance Minister Nigel Clarke said that should bring renewed interest and reopened the AIRD process. He also suggested the Harmony Grove bid still had legs.

One company has been anxious to get on board and in 2021 committed to several hotels, including at least one with a large casino. Princess Hotel and Resorts Limited, a hotel developer based in Spain, bought over 180 acres of land near Negril and has started a 2-phase project that will add over 2,000 rooms from three or four hotels and will be located on Green Island. Phase one included two hotels which just opened this year. One hotel is an adults-only hotel called Princess Senses the Mangrove and the other is a family hotel called Princess Grand Jamaica. The adults-only hotel is all-inclusive and has an overwater villa, and all the usual amenities associated with an adults-only hotel. The family-based hotel offers a children’s club, four children’s pools and a nanny service, which would be useful for parents who want to partake in more adult activities while someone watches the kids. It too is all-inclusive. Between the two hotels there are just over 1,000 rooms. The second phase will have fourteen over water villas and a casino. That hotel, yet to be completed or named will be adults-only and will have 1,025 rooms. Like the others, it will be all-inclusive. When completed it will be the first legal casino in Jamaica.

"If all goes according to plan, we expect that the casino at Princess Grand Jamaica will be open mid to late 2025," said Delano Seiveright, senior adviser and strategist in the Ministry of Tourism.

Seiveright said that hotels are being built throughout Jamaica and when completed the total hotel space in the country will increase from about 32,000 to 50,000 rooms. Seiveright also feels the ability to develop casinos may entice some larger operators, possibly even a company like MGM or LVSC, who until now saw no benefit to building in Jamaica.

4. Australia preparing to introduce more restrictive gambling rules

A recent report from the Grattan Institute, an independent public policy group, revealed that Australians have the highest gambling losses of any country in the world. According to the report the average Australian loses $1,105 USD per year compared to the average American bettor who loses $547 per year. The report stated that the majority of losses were on electronic gambling machines, called pokies, as well as sports betting. Although the report looked at 2022 figures, the institute claims that the numbers will be comparable today. In total Australians lost over $16 billion from the machines and sports betting in 2022, with sports betting accounting for almost $4 billion of those losses.

As a result of the gambling problem in the country, the Grattan Institute suggested several changes to the federal laws to help alleviate problem gambling including:

- Banning all advertising and promotions
- Putting warning labels similar to cigarette warnings on all machines- Reducing the number of pokies
- Requiring mandatory loss limits for all bets
- Improving gambling support services

The issue with problem gambling has become so rampant that one Australian state, Victoria, put in betting limits on pokies, slashing the amount allowed for deposit in the machines from AU$1,000 per day to AU$100 per day. To ensure that this is followed, all Victorian gamblers are required to put a player card in the machine to play and when they reach the $100 limit they will have to wait for 24 hours before they can put more money into the machines. New South Wales Premier, Dominic Perrotet, has called for major gambling reforms and has made it a mandate to get rid of pokies altogether in his state.

In July, the Australian government also began enforcing a law that was passed in January making it illegal to use a credit card for internet betting. Any companies who fail to enforce the ban, which also covers credit-related products and digital currencies, could be fined up to $234,750. There have also been motions made by concerned Australian legislators that the credit card ban should be expanded to lottery sales as well, although that will be tougher to pass, since the lottery is not viewed in the same light as casino gambling, pokies or sports betting.

Furthermore, a concern about the amount of advertising on gambling, particularly during sporting events, also led more than 70 prominent Australians, including former prime ministers, state premiers, and union leaders along with those in the medical field to sign a letter calling on the federal government to ban gambling advertising. The group sending the letter called The Alliance for Gambling Reform, said "we have to treat gambling and the ads just like we treated tobacco ads."

Former Prime Minister John Howard, who was the first Australian Prime Minster to try and cut down on gambling, also signed the letter stating:

"As an unapologetic sports fan I am troubled by how advertising is now linked with all our major sporting codes and what message this is sending to our children," he said.

"Many Australians are alarmed about the proliferation of gambling advertising on our screens and the mounting losses through gambling. Our political leaders should follow the courageous example of the former New South Wales Premier, Dominic Perrottet.”

So, like many other countries that are relying on gambling revenues to boost government coffers, they are also trying  to reel in the concerns about problem gambling by putting in rules to protect gamblers from themselves. In 2025 it is expected that a law on promotions will be introduced in the country as well.

3. MGM waives its right to retreat from Osaka Casino

In 2018 when Japan announced it was preparing to allow up to three integrated resort casinos, all the major casino companies were salivating. Casinos were expected to be built in Osaka, Yokohama, and Nagasaki, but the Osaka casino was the crown jewel. After a long bidding process that saw almost every bid withdrawn, MGM was left standing agreeing to a $12 billion commitment. Then COVID-19 hit. The hope of both Osaka and MGM was that the casino could be built in time for Expo 2025, but the delay, which was necessary as the country closed down for almost 2 years combined with uncertainty of how long the pandemic would last had MGM wavering. To make matters worse China announced it was putting in a travel ban to casino areas for its citizens, making the project even less appealing. Yokohama withdrew interest in a casino after one of its most lucrative citizens said he would kill himself if a casino was built there and in 2024 Nagasaki announced it no longer had interest.

Eventually MGM re-committed to build a 1.27 trillion-yen casino (about $10 billion at the time) and partnered with Orix Corporation, a financial services company based in Japan, each getting 45% of the project with the other 10% being divvied up among some other Japanese businesses. Because of weakness in the yen and strength of the U.S. dollar, 1.27 trillion yen has reduced the cost to about $8 billion USD. The 52-acre resort is to be built on a man-made island called Yumeshima, which will be accessible by ferry or helicopter. MGM broke ground in December of 2023 and the casino itself finally started construction in 2024. The hope is to have the resort casino completely developed by 2030 and it will have 2,500 hotel rooms, a 400,000 square foot convention center and a large gaming space.

As part of the agreement, MGM put an escape clause into the contract, which would have allowed them to pull out without penalty up to September 2026 if any of the following conditions occurred:

- Tourism failed to return to pre-covid levels
- Financing terms became impossible to achieve
- The investment would exceed 1.27 trillion yen.

While tourism is still down from pre-pandemic levels, MGM announced that it was surrendering its right to withdraw from the project, thereby ensuring Osaka that it was going all in on the project and were prepared to forego the additional 2 years they had to decide whether to continue with the integrated casino plan.

"We are in the ground as we speak," said MGM president and CEO Bill Hornbuckle during a 31 July earnings call. "We hope to start piling by May or June of next year, with a target date still middle of 2030 for opening."

According to reports, while the casino will not be ready for Expo 2025, there will be a booth set up by MGM as well as a large model of the expected final product for everyone at the Expo to see.

2. Brazil introduces law for resort casinos and enacts rules for iGaming and sports betting

To the surprise of many, gambling has always been illegal in Brazil, possibly due to its large Catholic population and concerns that poor people will lose money they don’t have. But in December 2023, the Brazil legislators passed a bill legalizing online casinos and sports betting and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed the bill on December 30th. The legislation charges a 12% tax rate on gross gaming revenues and citizens must pay 15% of all winnings to the Brazilian government. Online gambling companies must apply for an online sports betting license, casino license or both. Licensees must also set up a physical headquarters or have a partnership with a local company in Brazil to operate. Realizing the great opportunity given Brazil has a population more than half of the United States, almost every large sports betting operator including DraftKings, MGM, Caesars, LVSC, and Flutter Entertainment pre-registered to get a license in the country. Online gambling is set to go live this Saturday, January 5th.

Senator Sérgio Petecão in October called for a ban on online gambling saying it is bad for mental health and causes financial hardship. It appears that Da Silva has already made up his mind, however, and online sites will go live on January 5th.

To make way for the launch of online casino and sports betting MGM partnered with Grupo Globo to get its physical presence in Brazil while Flutter bought a majority stake in NSX Group. By all accounts, DraftKings and Caesars are also looking for partners.

In June of 2024 Brazil wowed the gambling operators even more after lawmakers passed a bill to allow integrated resorts in the country. The last land-based casino in Brazil was closed in 1946 and religious groups along with other anti-gambling groups ensured that they never reopened. The bill had been in the works for 2 years and in 2024 the Chamber of Deputies and Senate affirmed the bill and President da Silva is expected to sign it at any time. One of the senators who introduced the bill stated:

"We can no longer lose this great opportunity that other competing countries have already understood and is seen to generate jobs, income, and taxes, which will obviously be reversed into benefits for the Brazilian people in the most essential areas, such as health, education, social, and infrastructure."

The rules for a resort casino license requires operators to pay approximately $110,000 USD every three months to the government to keep its license and also pay a tax rate of 17% of gross gaming revenue.

President da Silva has yet to sign the bill since the Senate withdrew it from voting in late 2024 due to large protests surrounding concerns for crime and gambling addiction, and the country will take a vote in 2025 instead once they can assure protestors that resort casinos are in the best interest of Brazil.

1. The closing of POGOS in the Philippines

Although gambling had occurred in the Philippines for centuries it was only really legalized in the 1970s when President Ferdinand Marcos created the Philippines Entertainment and Gambling Corporation (PAGCOR) and made them the regulator of all gambling in the country. Along with legalizing smaller casinos in the Philippines, PAGCOR was also an operator and was tasked with developing relationships with bigger gambling companies like Resorts World and Genting to develop large resort casinos to help increase tourism.

In 2016 Rodrigo Duterte took over as President and decided to try and increase revenues by promoting offshore gaming in the Philippines as well. Duterte issued a decree to PAGCOR to start licensing these companies, giving them a clear set of guidelines they must follow, including a tax on winnings payable to the Philippine government. Duterte believed these operations called Philippines Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), would not only help provide revenue to the country but would also employ thousands of Filipinos at a time when unemployment was high. Unfortunately, that never happened. Less than 20% of POGO workers were from the Philippines, and instead were hired from China since gamblers from China were the main focus of POGOs, and these Chinese workers knew the language and customs that would appeal to Chinese bettors.

In 2019, the Chinese government expressed concern to Duterte that these companies were illegally targeting Chinese citizens since gambling in China proper is illegal. Obviously, Macau and Hong Kong were special protectorates where Chinese citizens can gamble with certain rules. Faced with the risk of being on China’s bad side, in 2020 PAGCOR shut down 200 POGOs which PAGCOR called illegal, fly-by-night operations, and the country deported thousands of Chinese workers who were hired by those POGOs. That left 60 legal POGOs, but many of these "companies" were believed to be involved in illegal activities, including human trafficking and exploitation, kidnapping, money laundering, tax evasion, running scam operations, prostitution, bribery, robbery and in at least one case, murder. There was also some belief that some of the POGOs had the police in their back pocket.

Consequently, when Duterte was defeated in 2022 by Ferdinand Marcos Jr., known as Bongbong, he issued an edict which called for stricter regulation of POGOs, including strengthening tax collection rules and also phasing out remaining POGOS that were deemed to be tied to organized crime. This led some POGOS to close voluntarily and the number of licensed POGOs went down to less than 40. But it was clear Bongbong wanted offshore gambling gone completely and at a government session in mid-2024 he announced that at the end of December he wanted all POGOs to be closed saying that they were spying for China. While there was no proof of spying occurring, on December 16th all licenses for POGOs were revoked and by New Year’s Eve all POGO workers were forced to leave the country.

The move was quite shocking since PAGCOR estimated that in 2018, before China’s meeting with Duterte, POGOs were contributing close to $400 million USD to the Philippine economy. Bongbong made it clear he only wanted POGOs closed  and was completely on board with the continued development of land-based resort casinos.

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