This week’s casino news starts off with a big betting scandal in the UFC. They continue to get to the bottom of the match fixing scandal but, in the meantime, a couple of big names have been banned.
UFC Bans Fighters Amid Betting Scandal
A very large UFC betting scandal is bubbling to the top of the headlines. It was announced this week that the UFC is going to be banning every single fighter that is currently training under MMA coach James Krause. This will remain in place until the investigation involving Krause finally comes to a conclusion as there are some suspicions – along with what looks like evidence – that Krause has been part of a match-fixing effort.
Much of this came to light after a fight between Darrick Minner and Shayilan
Nuerdanbieke wound up ending very fast in the first round. Minner was coached by Krause.
One of the things that brought attention to a rather obscure bout was that the fight saw an odd betting shift shortly before the fight. People started to swing towards Nuerdanbieke to win the fight out of the blue as sportsbooks saw an odd pattern. He wound up winning in less than one minute, making it all the more unusual and suspicious.
Krause, in particular, is one of the biggest names in the investigation because the major allegation is that he knew Minner had an injury yet forced him to compete regardless. It’s either that or he suggested that he go down very easily to fake an injury to end the fight.
In the meantime, the provinces of Alberta and Ontario banned betting on UFC until further investigation. The UFC will continue to try and get to the bottom of this, and time will tell what really happened here. Following the Krause news, Alberta has again permitted betting on UFC but Ontario is still waiting to hear more.
Americans Bet Billions Illegally Annually
A recent study illuminated just how much illegal gambling actually goes on in the United States. The American Gaming Association just reported that Americans illegally gamble approximately $511 billion every single year. This is based on online casino websites, unregulated sportsbooks and “skill games” from what the report states.
The AGA also mentioned that $63.8 billion is spent on illegal bookies. This illegal gambling usually costs each state some revenue that they would have gotten from gambling revenue had the players simply played at regulated sportsbook. It’s reported that illegal sportsbooks are stealing roughly 40 percent of the sports betting market in the United States today.
The Innovation Group conducted this study and was based off of a survey including over 5,000 adults in the country. They were taking their time to examine their gambling habits from the previous year from both legal and illegal gambling outlets. The onshore market still has a lot of issues and challenges in terms of competing with the offshore market. As their product improves over time, more players will likely stick to onshore.
VICI, Blackstone Reach Deal
A big real estate deal just went down in Las Vegas. It’s been announced that both Blackstone Real Estate and VICI Properties have come to a conclusion on a deal that will see both Mandalay Bay and the MGM Grand Las Vegas be sold over to VICI. VICI had owned about 50.1 percent of both MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay Resort but will be acquiring Blackstone’s 49.9 percent interest for cash consideration of $1.27 billion.
Both of these properties are going to be under lease for quite a significant amount of time. The lease isn’t going to be up for at least the next 27 years. It’s set to expire in 2050 with additional renewal options on top of that.
VICI fully intends to fill this bill on the transaction through a few different outlets. The cash on hand will be used on top of their equity sale agreements and other areas. Both sides have made it clear that they are happy with the returns that they are getting as a part of this agreement. They look forward to what the future can hold for both Blackstone and VICI.
