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Atlantic City Information

Atlantic City Council awards $4.5 million contract for Phase 1 improvements to Atlantic Avenue - As reported by , on December 29, Atlantic City's City Council awarded a $4.5 million contract to Charles Marandino LLC of Milmay for work to be done to Atlantic Avenue between  Maine Avenue in the Inlet and Tennessee Avenue at the public library. The "road diet" plan aims to make Atlantic Avenue safer for drivers and pedestrians, and to make it easier to park and use bikes for transport. The four lane road will be reduced to two lanes with a bike lane and parking added. The road would also be repaved and new curbing and lighting installed. Phases 2 and 3 of the project, which would extend the work to Albany Avenue near the ÒùÐÔÊÓƵ campus, is still under debate. 

Atlantic City's Chelsea neighborhood drops ordinance to limit short-term rentals - As reported by an ordinance passed in January 2021 limiting the number of short-term rentals in an area from Annapolis to Jackson avenues, and Albany to Raleigh avenues has been dropped. The state had already prohibited the ordinance from going into effect. 

Atlantic City to get another professional basketball team in March - As reported by , The Basketball League (TBL) will bring the Atlantic City Gambits to the resort in March 2022. TBL includes 43 teams nationwide with each playing 24 games during a March through May season with playoffs in June. The Gambits join the Atlantic City Seagulls, who competed from 1996-2001 and recently reformed to play as part of the American Basketball Association. 

Restaurant Week to remain in the fall for 2022 - As reported by , event organizers have decided to keep in fall for 2022 after holding the event in October for the first time in 2021. Restaurant Week 2022 will run from October 2 through 7. 

New Jersey Gaming News

Casino content studio Design Works Gaming (DWG) goes live in New Jersey via SG Digital’s content distribution platform, OpenGaming - As reported by , in December ,Golden Nugget Online Gaming (GNOG) players were able to access DWG content for the first time through ’s content distribution platform, . DWG content is also available to Resorts Casino players via the same SG Digital platform.

Esports Entertainment Group partners with Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City for in-person Esports event - According to a December 14 shared by , on January 22 and 23 Esports Entertainment Group planned a first of its kind event at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City. The 256-person double elimination Madden NFL 22 esports skill-based wagering tournament would be "the first, state sanctioned, in-person, peer to peer wagering event in esports."  However, as reported by on January 12, the tournament has been postponed to March 19 and 20. 

Governor Phil Murphy signs two bills amending PILOT expanding tax deductions for Atlantic City's casinos - As reported by and , on December 21, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed and into law. S4007 amends the 2016 payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement for Atlantic City's casinos and S3994 extends temporary tax credits and permanently redefines promotional gaming credits.  

Lottery courier, Jackpocket, partners with Caesers Interactive Entertainment New Jersey LLC to bring online casino product to New Jersey -  According to a press release shared via , Jackpocket which operates a lottery app in 10 U.S. states, including New Jersey and New York, will be the "first third-party lottery service to enter the online casino space in the Garden State." Pending approval from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, the online gaming product will include slots, bingo and table games. Further reporting from . 

National Gaming News

Connecticut sportsbooks generate $4.8 million in gross sports betting revenue in first month of operation - According to , Connecticut's three casinos generated $54.1 million in handle and $4.8 million in revenue in the Month of October 2021, averaging an 8.9% hold. The state's three sportsbooks launched on October 19 following a soft launch on October 12. . 

Hard Rock International to buy Las Vegas Mirage - As reported by the , on December 13, MGM Resorts International announced that operations of Las Vegas would be sold to Hard Rock International in an almost $1.1 billion cash deal expected to close in the second half of 2022. Hard Rock International intends to build a guitar-shaped hotel on the 80-acre property off the Las Vegas Strip. The Mirage real estate is owned by MGM Growth properties which is being bought by VICI Properties in a $17.2 billion deal expected to close in 2022. 

Maryland opens first retail sportsbooks - According to , three of 17 properties granted Maryland sports betting licenses launched the state's first retail sportsbooks on December 9. 

Ohio passes sports betting legislation, sportsbooks to open no later than January 1, 2023 - According to , Ohio legislators passed a bill regulating sports betting in the state. Sports betting must start in the stat by January 1, 2023 and provisional gaming licences can be awarded through June 30, 2023. Lottery kiosks can accept sports bets on the spread, moneyline and the over/under as well as parlays of two-to-four bets. Sportsbooks will not be able to offer betting on horse races, however betting on professional esports was included. 

Sientific Games Corporation acquires European games developer ELK Studios -  According to, Scientific Games Corporation has acquired Stockholm based game developer ELK Studios in an effort to grow its igaming content offering and production capabilities. The acquisition will strengthen Scientific Games' position as a content provider in the UK and Europe and bring ELK's content to the US and Canadian markets. 

Virgina sets new record for fastest U.S. sports betting market to reach $2 billion in handle - According to , state record sportsbook handle in October 2021 ($427.3 million) pushed total handle since Virgina launched sports betting in Mid-January 2021 to $2.4 million exceeding the $2 million threshold in just over nine months.

Hospitality & Tourism News

New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission opens applications for Cannabis growers, maufacturers and testing laboratory operators - According to a December 15 from the Cannabis Regulatory Commission, almost 500 individuals and entities began the process of filing for recreational cannabis licenses for growing, manufacturing and testing in the first four hours after the Commission began accepting applications at 9 a.m. on December 15. The Commission will begin accepting applications for prospective marijuana dispensary owners March 15. Further reporting from the .

New Jersey Airbnb Hosts have earned $825 million since 2010 - According to an from Airbnb, shared via , between January 2010 and September 2021, Airbnbb hosts in the United States earned more than $54 billion of which, New Jersey based hosts earned $825 million. In the first three quarters of 2021 Airbnb hosts in the United States earned $12.5 billion total and the average individual Airbnb host earned more than $8,000 in the same period. Between May and August 2021 Airbnb delivered $520 million in tourism taxes to local governments in the United States. 

Summer 2021 tourism rebounds - According to a report released by the New Jersey Tourism saw a "strong bounce-back summer" in 2021. The report, which focused on the shore counties of Atlantic, Cape May, Monmouth and Ocean from June 1 to August 31, found record increases in key metrics such as bed tax receipts, rooms sold and beach tag sales. The 2021 bed tax revenues for shore counties are expected to reach $19.2 million, an increase of 22% over the record setting year 2019.  Summer beach tag sales exceeded pre-pandemic levels with Cape May reporting a 35% increase in beach tag revenue over 2019. Further reporting by .