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Entain stands its ground
Entain has released its FY24 EBITDA guidance ahead of its full-year results. The operator reiterated its previous guidance of -$250m for the year, despite competitors like Flutter adjusting their annual guidance in response to “customer-friendly US sports results” towards the end of the year.
The full-year guidance follows the operator’s H2 guidance published alongside its H1 report from July. In the first half of the year, H1 EBITDA totalled -$123m, with Entain expecting similar results from the second half of the year.
Thai casinos pass go
Local press has reported that Thailand’s Prime Minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, has confirmed the Cabinet’s approval of a legal land-based casino law draft, following its previous proposal. Shinawatra told the Bangkok Post: “Legalisation will protect the public and would also generate more state revenue.”
Currently, only state-run lottery and horseracing are legal in Thailand. However, competition has arisen from developing legalisation in Korea, Japan and other Asian nations, challenging the former domination of the market by Macau and Singapore. The UAE is also expected to cause significant change to the market, with the nation’s first land-based casino, Wynn Al Marjan, expected to open at the start of 2027.
Sands gets the green flag
Speaking of Singapore, Las Vegas Sands has announced a $1bn expansion plan for its Marina Bay Sands resort, following an agreement with the Singapore Tourism Board.
The expansion, which is set to commence later this year, on 8 July, will run until 8 July 2029. Improvements will be made to the property’s gaming, hospitality, retail and entertainment facilities, as well as to the guest experience. The project aims to bolster the nation’s position as a casino resort and tourism location.
Sands has also expressed its intention to adhere to local regulation, sustainability goals and community standards as part of the expansion plan.
Sports betting soars in NY
The New York State Gaming Commission has revealed the state’s fiscal year-to-date sports wagering results. For the period between April 2024 to March 2025, handle has reached $17.05bn, with a gross gaming revenue (GGR) of $1.55bn. With three months still to go, there is a sizeable chance this period will outperform the results seen in the 2023/ 24 period, which totalled $19.64bn in handle and $1.76bn in GGR. It has already outperformed 2022/ 23 results, which totalled $16.4bn.
For the full-year 2024, handle totalled $22.6bn. This was aided by particularly high-yielding months towards the end of the year, such as November and December, where handle reached $2.27bn and $2.28bn respectively.
VSC gets caught in the act
Finally, Intralot and Veterans Services Corporation (VSC) have been fined $6.5m by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) in Washington DC, after it was found that the businesses had deceived District officials to acquire a sports betting and lottery contract.
The fine relates to a 2019 incident where the businesses had conspired to acquire the contract on a sole-source basis, with Intralot to provide the majority of the resources for the contract, despite a promise that VSC would perform 51% of the work with its own resources while the remaining 49% would go to small businesses.
Washington DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb said: “This is a warning to any company that tries to manipulate and exploit District contracting laws, especially laws intended to build the capacity of the local businesses vital to our economy.”
