VSiN was ahead of its time when the network launched a year before the sports betting industry began its nationwide growth. 

By splitting away from DraftKings, the company hopes to be a news resource once again. 

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Vegas Sports Information Network (VSiN) is once again a standalone media entity.

Three years after DraftKings paid $70 million to acquire the Las Vegas-based radio and television broadcasting network — launched a year before the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal law prohibiting sports betting outside of Nevada — VSiN’s founding partners are again in control of the media company.

VSiN will continue to operate from its primary studio and newsroom inside the Circa Casino Resort’s sportsbook and is hoping to produce more shows from the resort’s Circa Swim outdoor pool deck. The company creates more than 18 hours a day of news, analysis and insights for sports gamblers. VSiN programming can be found across YouTube TV, various online sports networks and on traditional radio stations. 

DraftKings offered little insight on why it sold VSiN. It did not issue a press release about the sale nor was the price viewed as material enough for the company to file an 8K report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, making the sale price unknown.

On the company’s quarterly earnings conference call last week, CEO Jason Robins said DraftKings was “more focused than ever on our core [sports betting business]. I think that's just been a mantra and a theme throughout the company is focus, focus, focus.”

Eilers & Krejcik Gaming analyst Chris Krafcik, writing in the advisory firm’s EKG Line newsletter, suggested the price was, “likely as low as $1.” 

When VSiN was sold to DraftKings, many sports betting operators were seeking different media avenues to reach their customers in the highly competitive market.

The divestiture of VSiN by DraftKings caused some in the gaming industry to draw immediate comparisons to the $1 sale price Penn Entertainment received from Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy last year to take back the irreverent media company when it rebranded its sportsbook operation to ESPN Bet. 

But that’s an incomplete analogy. VSiN was never branded as a sportsbook. 

VSiN founder and CEO Brian Musburger said the split from DraftKings allows the network to once again be a traditional media company and use odds and betting information from other sports betting providers — not just one resource. 

“We're appreciative of the partnership. We grew our subscription base considerably with them,” said Musburger, the nephew of legendary sportscaster Brent Musburger, who reacquired VSiN with his original partner, Bill Adee. 

“I think DraftKings put us in a terrific position to succeed,” Musburger said. “With the change, we can now better serve the sports betting community by informing them about all the different options across the market.”

On Monday, VSiN announced the hiring of long-time media industry executive Steve Cohen as the network’s executive vice president of talent and programming. Cohen spent the last two decades at SiriusXM, where he built and oversaw the network’s sports talk radio stations.

“What we're looking to do is get back to our roots and give people credible information, from multiple operators so they can make better and more informed wagers,” Musberger said, who likened VSiN to the business-oriented network CNBC. “We had wonderful partnerships with other operators looking to reignite those talks and also talk to some other people that we hadn't worked with before.”

UAE regulatory agency has a Nevada flair

The board that will regulate and license the operators of the United Arab Emirates’ newly established gaming industry has more than a few Nevada roots.

Former MGM Resorts International Chairman and CEO Jim Murren was named chairman of the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA) nearly a year ago. 

He will be joined on the seven-person board by gaming executive Mark Lipparelli, whose management company operates the Westgate Las Vegas, according to the recently launched GCCRA website. Lipparelli is a former state senator and one-time chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board and was a former top executive with three gaming equipment providers.

Also on the board is William Grounds, a former MGM board member and the former president of Dubai-owned Infinity World Development Corp., the company that previously owned half of the CityCenter development in Las Vegas.

Former Missouri Gaming Commission Executive Director Kevin Mullally is CEO of the GCGRA. 

Last week, the GCCRA announced it had awarded a license to The Game, LLC, an Abu Dhabi, UAE-based company, to operate the country's first authorized lottery. In a statement, Murren said establishing the framework for lottery activities “underscores our commitment to nurturing a secure and enriched commercial gaming environment in the UAE.”

One casino development is already under construction. Wynn Resorts is building a $3.9 billion integrated resort, first announced in 2022, on the man-made Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah. At least two other emirates — Dubai and Abu Dhabi — are targeted for a casino resort.

CBRE Equity Research analyst John DeCree, who led a team of CBRE analysts during a weeklong visit to the UAE in early May to gain an understanding of the market, said identifying a lottery operator was “a natural first course of legalized gaming given its prior gray market operation and customer acceptance.”

After reviewing the preliminary casino licensing framework, DeCree said the renewal process “appears more administrative,” which he said resembles Nevada licensing rather than the concession models in Macau and Singapore.

What I'm reading

Jacobs Entertainment closes Bonanza Inn purchase, still plans workforce housing — Jason Hidalgo, Reno Gazette-Journal

CEO Jeff Jacobs needs to assess how much work the closed hotel will require to bring it back to good condition.

️ Oakland A’s agree to sell Coliseum share to Black-led development group — Shomik Mukherjee, San Jose Mercury-News

The $125 million sale gives the future Las Vegas A’s a profit ahead of the team’s temporary move to Sacramento next season.

Why was a beloved hockey broadcaster pulled off the air — Katie Strang and Dan Robson, The Athletic

A Canadian announcer allegedly passed along inside information during the NHL Draft in Las Vegas that could be used for gambling purposes. The Gaming Control Board was looking into the matter.

Hard Rock Continues To Dominate Atlantic City’s Casino Resort Industry — Alexandra Kirkman, Forbes

Atlantic City’s nine casinos saw profits fall almost 10 percent in the first three months of 2024. Hard Rock was one of only two properties that grew profits by 18 percent.

Fiscal year gaming revenue tops $15.8B statewide, $9.1B on the Strip

Strip and state gaming revenue totals for the 2024 fiscal year foreshadow a record calendar year in 2025.

Seven of Nevada’s 18 reporting markets set all-time gaming revenue records for the 12 months from July 2023 to June 2024, the Gaming Control Board announced last week. Statewide, gaming revenue neared $15.8 billion, a 4.4 percent increase from the 2023 fiscal year. 

Clark County, led by the Strip’s record gaming revenue total of almost $9.1 billion, saw a 4.9 percent increase to $13.7 billion — more than 86 percent of the statewide total. Downtown Las Vegas, Mesquite, the balance of Clark County, Wendover and Elko County also set fiscal year records.

Michael Lawton, the control board’s senior economic analyst, said the highest percentages for gaming revenue for the state and the Strip came in the first half of the fiscal year — July through December. 

The Strip’s gaming revenue figure was up 6.1 percent fueled by high-end baccarat revenue of almost $1.7 billion, a 51 percent increase from a year ago. The total missed the 10-year-old fiscal year record by $6 million.

As for calendar year 2024, after six months Nevada’s largest gaming revenue reporting markets are all ahead of 2023. Through June, state gaming revenue is up 3.2 percent and the Strip is up 3.6 percent. Washoe County and Reno, each of which had more than 7 percent revenue declines, are ahead of 2023 totals.

General manager named to boost the Sparks Nugget operations

Century Casinos is bringing its regional vice president from Colorado to Northern Nevada where he will become general manager of the Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks, which the company’s co-CEOs said “encountered a challenging” first half of 2024.

The 1,382-room Nugget became Century’s flagship property when it was acquired last year by the Colorado Springs-based casino operator in a $195 million deal.

Century said in a statement that Eric Rose, who began his 32-year gaming career in Stateline before moving on to Colorado, would be Nugget’s top executive. He served as general manager of Century Cripple Creek before his promotion to regional vice president. 

In a statement, Century co-CEOs Erwin Haitzmann and Peter Hoetzinger said the Nugget reported lower-than-expected revenue so far this year. The CEOs said the property underwent “right-sizing and cost-cutting initiatives,” adding that Rose operated casinos in highly competitive markets. 

In a research note last week, Truist Securities gaming analyst Barry Jonas said the Reno-Sparks area was “highly competitive” and faces a challenge from tribal casinos in Northern California.