Casino patrons must mandatory wear masks and each operator must conduct screening upon entry. Michigan Reveals Updated COVID-19 Health and Safety Rules. Michigan government and health officials revealed new rules for employers aiming at ensuring a safe work process in the COVID-19 environment. MGM Grand Detroit Casino, MotorCity Casino and Greektown Casino Hotel will receive a commercial casino license issued for a one-year period in Michigan. Read more Big numbers in September for Detroit casinos.
Michigan Puts on Brakes: Online Poker & Casino Games Not Likely Until Next Year
The new year began excitedly in Michigan after Governor Gretchen Witmer ended 2019 by signing into law the state's new Lawful Internet Gaming Act that made online poker, other online casino gambling, and internet sports betting legal.
The news this week, however, was more tempered as state regulators made clear there won't be any games happening online soon. In fact, don't look for any launches of online poker rooms or online casinos until 2021 at the earliest.
Speaking for the Michigan Gaming Control Board, spokesperson Mary Kay Bean made it clear this week that regulators will need until next year to complete the online rules, an estimate 'based on the time it took develop other rule sets in the past,' reports The Detroit Free Press.
Meanwhile sports betting in casinos should begin much sooner, perhaps by this spring says Bean while 'noting the date will depend on applications, internal control reviews and the licensing process.'
When it comes to sports betting, the casinos are eager and ready, hopeful to begin taking bets in time for the men's college basketball tournament, a.k.a. March Madness.
The MGM Grand Detroit has already opened a sports lounge that will serve as its sportsbook, while Penn National has agreements in place to launch its sportsbook the moment the all clear is delivered. The FireKeepers Hotel and Casino in Battle Creek is also ready to open a sportsbook, having been planning for the last 15 months per WWMT.
So-called 'emergency rules' could have been issued to accelerate the process, although Bean notes how there would be a need for a 'threat to health, safety and welfare' to implement those, something regulators do not feel to be the case.
'The MGCB is following the regular rules process, which provides opportunities for stakeholder and public input — holding a public hearing and offering a public comment period — and to file a regulatory impact statement,' explained Bean. 'All of these elements are missed when emergency rules are approved.'
Given the likelihood of other online casino games being launched before online poker rooms open, online poker players in Michigan will probably have to be even more patient before their games begin. Even so, when that moment does arrive PokerStars will be ready as The Stars Group has already partnered with the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Gaming Authority for market access in the state.
MGM Partners With Las Vegas Raiders in Time for 2020 Debut
It was nearly three years ago in this space we were sharing the news that National Football League owners had approved the Oakland Raiders' proposal to relocate the franchise to Las Vegas.
Today, with the $1.8 billion domed Allegiant Stadium still under construction with a completion target of July, football fans in Sin City are readying for the 2020 debut of the Las Vegas Raiders this fall. On Wednesday the team officially changed its name, an occasion marked in part by the rebranding of the @Raiders Twitter handle.
In other LVR news, yesterday MGM Resorts International announced a new partnership with the franchise to become the team's official gaming partner. MGM Resorts will also be a 'Founding Partner of Allegiant Stadium' as well as an 'Official Home of the Raiders Pre- and Post-Game Party,' meaning fans can expect to see plenty of MGM-related signage in and around the new stadium.
'The Raiders are thrilled to welcome MGM Resorts International as our newest Founding Partner,' said Raiders President Marc Badain as reported by KXNT. 'MGM Resorts is an institution in the gaming and hospitality industry and the activations they have planned for Raider games and all events at Allegiant Stadium will bring their best-in-class expertise to the entertainment experience.'
It's the latest in a series of moves by MGM in response to the ever-expanding sports betting landscape in the United States. The company has partnerships with the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, and Major League Soccer.
Meanwhile early last year Caesars Entertainment Corporationinked a similar partnership with the NFL.
New Jersey Lawmakers Refile Resolutions to Allow Casinos Outside AC
Finally, while the latest numbers out of New Jersey revealed how last year the state earned its highest total gaming revenue since 2012, some observers were responding to those totals last week in less than optimistic ways, citing concerns about whether or not Atlantic City can continue to support nine casinos.
Meanwhile lawmakers in the state are set to have the discussion once again about whether or not to allow casinos somewhere other than Atlantic City, as resolutions were reintroduced in both the Assembly and Senate to support allowing casino gaming elsewhere in the Garden State.
A total of six different resolutions have been introduced, reports the Press of Atlantic City, five in the Assembly and one in the Senate.
Similar resolutions were introduced last year, but none were able to progress out of the committee stage. Back in 2016, a proposal made it all of the way to the November ballot before New Jersey residents roundly rejected the idea of allowing two casinos to be built outside of AC, with 78% voting against.
Even one of the sponsors of one of the new resolutions, Assemblyman Ralph Caputo, is expressing caution about the idea, saying 'the refiled resolutions are there for lawmakers 'to look at and consider in the event things change.'
'At this point, we want to make sure Atlantic City is successful,' said Caputo who also chairs the Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee in the Assembly.
Map Of All Michigan Casinos
'I don't encourage (casino gaming expansion) at this point,' he added. 'To be perfectly honest, the timing is not good. We have to see whether or not there's going to be the rebound that we're looking for (in Atlantic City).'
The big difference between now and 2016, of course, is the addition of sports betting in the state. 7 reels casino online. It remains to be seen, however, whether that change will have any effect on any renewed push to allow casinos elsewhere in the state.
The Stars Group is a majority shareholder in iBus Media.
Photo: 'Downtown Detroit, Michigan from Windsor, Ontario,' Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0.
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The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians took another step in the hopes of bringing a tribal casino to western Michigan.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) will announce plans to publish a Notice Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on Friday, detailing the tribe’s request for the federal government to take into trust 60 acres of land at the old Great Lakes Downs horse track in Muskegon.
CHECK OUT: All About Michigan Online Casinos
Muskegon is located on the shores of Lake Michigan, about 40 miles northwest of Grand Rapids.
New Casinos In Battle Creek Michigan
In the FEIS, the BIA took into account the Little River Band’s proposed casino project and other economic alternatives. In the end, the BIA found the casino to be the preferred option of the federal government.
'This is an incredible step forward in our process to build the Muskegon County Casino Project,” Larry Romanelli, Ogema of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, said, according to Grand Rapids ABC-TV affiliate WZZM.
What’s Next In The Process?
A public comment period will take place. The comment period will run for 30 days and permits anyone to send hand-deliver or mail-written comments.
Once the comment period is completed, the federal government will issue its final decision on the application. Then, the tribe will be tasked with negotiating a gaming agreement with Michigan, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the legislature.
RELATED: Current Overview of Michigan Casino Gaming
In 2019, Michigan’s 12 federally recognized tribes contributed $30.5 million in casino gaming revenue to local government and schools, according to a report published by the Michigan Gaming Control Board.
The casino is expected to bring in 3,000 new jobs into Muskegon, with 1,500 full-time positions and 1,500 construction and ancillary jobs. The proposed gaming and economic development includes:
Approximately 69,000 square feet of gaming floor space
1,700 slot machines
35 table games
220-room hotel
Event and meeting room space
Dining and entertainment options
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians
The new casino in Muskegon would be the second for the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians. The tribe already has a facility in Manistee, the Little River Casino Resort.
In July, Little River Casino introduced its sportsbook through a partnership with Rush Street Interactive. Rush Street will also have access to the online market in Michigan and plans to launch a co-branded online sports betting and online casino statewide as soon as Michigan online gaming is launched.
'The successful track record of Rush Street Interactive as a provider of in-casino sportsbooks in Pennsylvania, New York and Illinois, was very significant to us when we chose them as our partner,' Andrew Gentile, general manager of Little River Casino Resort, said in a media release in July. 'Rush Street's ability to provide a road map of how they've enabled other land-based casinos to operate market-leading sportsbooks kept us from having to reinvent the wheel.'
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New Casinos In Michigan Tribes
Link copied!WRITTEN BY@B_DEROUINBryce joined TopUSCasinos.com after spending the last nine years covering high school and college sports throughout Michigan. He’s served as the primary Division II beat writer for Grand Valley State and Michigan Tech. Along with his newspaper background, he's worked in marketing and recently co-founded Upbeat — the Upper Peninsula of Michigan’s first subscription-based prep sports website. His favorite sports to gamble on are football, basketball, baseball and Formula 1.. Read MoreBryce joined TopUSCasinos.com after spending the last nine years covering high school and college sports throughout Michigan. He’s served as the primary Division II beat writer for Grand Valley State and Michigan Tech. Along with his newspaper background, he's worked in marketing and recently co-founded Upbeat — the Upper Peninsula of Michigan’s first subscription-based prep sports website. His favorite sports to gamble on are football, basketball, baseball and Formula 1.. Read More
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