Pandemic Impact on Problem Gambling – The pandemic has fueled a dramatic rise in all online gaming,as gamblers stay at home to play casino games, bet on sports, and play digital-instant lottery games. The ease of access, speed of games, and social isolation may magnify – and increase – the risk factors for those who have gambling problems or may be susceptible to them. How are both problem gamblers and those who treat them dealing with these new circumstances? Importantly, are these conditions the “new normal” for those in the problem-gambling community? 

The Shift to Digital: Pandemic Phenomenon or Industry Sea Change? – Fourteen states and the District of Columbia now offer online sports betting, five states offer online casino gaming (igaming), and eight states offer online lottery games … and numerous states are considering legislation to hop on the digital bandwagon to generate either incremental gaming receipts and/or make up for depressed casino revenues. In a post-pandemic world, will customers return to their traditional gaming preferences or is the gaming industry in the midst of a fundamental change? Importantly, to what extent can digital and retail gaming channels coexist?

Capturing Opportunities, Facing Challenges The COVID-19 pandemic has created extraordinary challenges for Indian gaming commissions and operators from coast to coast, from major metropolitan centers to rural areas, as tribal leaders endeavor to meet their commitments to their members, their communities and their local economies. Emerging from the pandemic, tribal leaders will be addressing a host of new opportunities in areas ranging from esports to igaming and beyond. Do compacts that were drafted in a pre-digital world need to be reconsidered? What will new technologies and new efforts to tap a broader demographic mean for the partnerships between state and tribal leaders?

Is the State Lottery the New Casino? – As states increasingly expand the scope of gaming to generate fiscal receipts, their lotteries are facing increased pressure to develop new sources of revenues. Some began by offering video lottery terminals in casino-like facilities, and today lotteries are entering the online space with digital instants and, in one case, with games the compete directly with the casinos’ online slot games. Is there a turf war between a state’s public-sector lottery and its private-sector casino industry? Is there a line in the sand between these two types of gambling providers?

Coping with COVID-19 – The pandemic has caused casinos to at least temporarily adjust their operations to account for capacity restrictions, fewer amenities, and fewer visitors. Nonetheless, some casinos are performing at nearly pre-COVID-19 levels. Will casinos return to “normal” operations once the pandemic has ended? How has, or will, the pandemic affected casinos’ employment and economic impacts? Further, casinos now have compete with an array of emerging forms of gaming that could alter their business models. In this vital session, gaming operators and regulators discuss balancing health and economic concerns, operational protocols, and the potentially long-lasting effects of this unprecedented business disruption

Alternative Revenue Options for Racetracks – Racetracks across the country are finding gambling-related profits through off-track means such as slot-like historical horse-racing machines and sports betting. Do such options help the horse-racing product, or are they simply a means for racetracks to survive? A panel of experts discuss the benefits and potential drawbacks of off-track business segments. 

Distributed Gaming – Legal and Otherwise: Across the country, states on the one hand are considering the introduction of distributed gaming to raise fiscal receipts while on the other hand combatting the rapidly expanding industry of skill games, sweepstakes games and other electronic gaming devices that allegedly fall into the “gray area” of gaming law. While Illinois may provide a road map for other states in introducing distributed gaming, some argue it also came at the expense of its casino industry. This panel examines the legal and policy implications of introducing legal video gaming machines and combatting the unregulated electronic gaming devices.

Gaming’s Awkward Stage: How to Regulate a Mature Industry that is Still Emerging? The land-based gaming industry in the United States has been expanding for decades, and the expansion continues but is clearly cresting. At the same time, new verticals are emerging. How should legislators and regulators respond? Do regulations, statutes, compacts and other agreements need to be updated to reflect this? ? Regulators and attorneys discuss the merits of different regulatory schemes in a time of rapid expansion.