Gaming Control Board recommends licensing for sports-betting company
The Nevada Gaming Control Board on Wednesday recommended approval of licenses for a Malta-based sportsbook company that will support Nevada’s Bally’s Corp. properties on a business-to-business basis.
In unanimous votes, board members backed Kambi Group PLC after a nearly two-hour hearing.
Final licensing approval will be considered by the Nevada Gaming Commission on Jan. 30.
If licensed, Kambi would provide software and set up and maintain the sports-betting platform for its regulated clients. It has no immediate plans for business-to-consumer operations.
Kambi’s top customer in the state is Bally’s, which operates a casino at Lake Tahoe. A company representative said there are no immediate plans for future Bally’s developments in Las Vegas. The company has discussed developing a resort at the former site of the Tropicana in connection with the construction of a Major League Baseball stadium for the Athletics on the southeast corner of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South.
“We view Nevada as a great business opportunity,” Erik Logdberg, managing director of Kambi, told the board.
The company, established in 2010, serves more than 40 operators in more than 50 jurisdictions. As a global sports-betting company, executives said it supports businesses that mostly take wagers on soccer and tennis matches, basketball and eSports. They said their U.S. outlets, mostly in markets in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, capitalize on betting on American football. Kambi has around 50 U.S.-based employees. The company processes more than 1 billion wagers each year.
Most of the company’s executive team is based in Sweden.
During the hearing, board members interviewed several of the company’s key executives and found all of them to be suitable for licensing. The board also focused on Kambi’s regulatory compliance program overseen by top executives and managers.
Executives also explained the Kambi business model providing tools necessary for operators to set lines and assess risk. The company handles all customer funds, settles bets and pays winners, resolves queries and pays taxes on revenue on behalf of its business customers.
In other business Wednesday, the board recommended key executive licensing approval to Frank Cassella, senior vice president of finance for HR Las Vegas LLC, which will operate the Hard Rock Las Vegas on the Strip.
Cassella gave board members a progress report on the transition of The Mirage to the Hard Rock.
Cassella said work on the project continues to be in a demolition phase with the famed Mirage volcano already torn out.
“If you drive by, you can see that most of the front drive is the construction zone,” Cassella said. “Some of the pylons have gone up for the new guitar tower, which is going to be over 700 feet tall with 650 suites. It’s going to be a full redesign of the 3,000-room Mirage Tower, a full redesign of the casino, a redesign of the pool, and there will be an additional pool for the guitar tower,” he said.
“Currently, my responsibilities include a lot of budgeting and forecasting for the pre-opening efforts, developing staffing compendiums, purchasing compendiums, and task compendiums for the opening. And when we open in 2027, my responsibilities will be for the entire finance operations, similar to what they were for The Mirage.”
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.