GVC Secures Nevada Betting, Gaming License

GVC Holdings was given the nod by the Nevada Gaming Commission to enter the state’s gambling market through a partnership with US casino and hospitality powerhouse MGM Resorts International.

During a scheduled Thursday meeting, the four members of the state gambling regulator voted unanimously in favor of GVC’s licensing in Nevada. The overwhelmingly positive vote came several weeks after the Nevada Gaming Control Board recommended the gambling operator’s licensing by a 2-1 vote. Board member Terry Johnson cast the vote against the approval of GVC’s license, arguing that the operator had failed to supervise online gaming transactions conducted by one of its brands in Turkey.

GVC acquired last year major British bookmaker Ladbrokes Coral in a £3-billion-plus deal that created one of the world’s largest gambling powerhouses. However, the transaction involved GVC inheriting Ladbrokes Coral’s Turkey operations. The operator disposed of the Turkish business a few months after the deal was originally announced to secure smooth passage through all the required regulatory hurdles.

License Comes with a Condition

Thursday’s approval came with an important condition attached to it. GVC will have to return to Nevada’s regulator after two years and brief its four members on how it has re-assessed its operations. The condition had to do with GVC and Ladbrokes Coral’s presence in Turkey, a jurisdiction where gambling is illegal.

GVC will also have to contribute $100,000 to the Nevada Gaming Control Board for future compliance investigations. The company’s Chairman Lee Feldman told gaming commissioners on Thursday that they are committed to legal and regulatory compliance and that they have adopted the necessary approach to secure that they are compliant in all jurisdictions they do or do not operate.

GVC is the latest British operator to have secured entry into the Nevada gambling market as the state is looking to up its game amid overwhelming expansion of sports betting across the United States, following last year’s strikedown of a federal ban on the practice. Prior to the landmark SCOTUS ruling that was issued last May, Nevada was the only state where sports betting was legal.

Last summer, GVC formed a joint venture with Las Vegas-headquartered casino operator MGM Resorts International to tap into the newly liberalized US sports betting market. While MGM, which is one of the operators with the largest number of Las Vegas Strip casino resorts, has a number of sports betting partners to power its operations in the city, the JV with GVC aims to provide the two parties with numerous opportunities to cement themselves together in the field as sports betting gets regulated in more and more states around the country.

GVC’s licensing in Nevada will also enable the operator to bring its partypoker online poker brand to the state. The WSOP practically holds an online poker monopoly in the state and penetrating the local market could prove a difficult task for GVC and its poker operation, but if it succeeds in that endeavor the company would gain important competitive edge over its archrival PokerStars, which is banned from Nevada for continuing to service US players after the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.