United States
United Kingdom
Entain Plc. which is one of the biggest gaming operators in the UK applied for a permanent gaming license in Nevada.
Entain partnered with MGM Resorts International’s BetMGM sportsbook and was very keen on gaining full license approval to establish itself as one of the premier sportsbooks in America.
However, Entain received a unanimous recommendation for only a temporary betting license.
This decision is expected to be reviewed by the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) on May 22.
Entain is the parent company to a number of popular brands which include partypoker – the second biggest online poker site in the world, Gala Casino, Foxy Bingo, Gala Spins, Party Casino. On the sports betting side, Coral, Ladbrokes, bwin and SportingBet are just some of the big name brands that Entain owns.
Entain went before the NGC in 2019 and was granted a temporary gaming license. The NGC was not keen on giving the British gambling operator a permanent license mainly due to its ties to unlicensed gaming operations in different countries. The NGC gave Entain time till 2024 to clean up these operations.
Has Entain Done Enough?
Barry Gibson, chairman of Entain Plc. said he and his team have worked really hard to make changes throughout the company in order to be more compliant and get a permanent gaming license in Nevada. Entain was keen on turning itself into the most reliable and exciting betting operator in North America.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) said they were impressed with the changes that Entain had made since their last review in 2019. Some of those changes saw the appointment of a new CEO in Jette Nygaard-Andersen who came on board in Jan 2021. The board of directors were also changed and you now have a truly international board with members from multiple countries including India, France, America and Denmark.
Multiple technological changes were also made that will help Entain and its brands to analyse wagering patterns and determine which player has a tendency to be a compulsive gambler. Board members discussed this predictive technology at length and rolled it out across multiple mobile apps to see its effectiveness.
Entain also pulled out from multiple unregulated markets which includes Turkey and Russia. Close to 99 percent of its entire operations are now in legalized markets. However, this still wasn’t good enough to convince the NGCB to grant Entain a permanent license. We will have to wait for the final ruling on May 22.
