Despite rumors that an agreement had been reached, a Las Vegas strike has workers set to walk off the job this week! The Union has set a November 10th strike date, which is just days before the Las Vegas Grand Prix. If no agreement is reached, there will be huge impacts on race fans. We also have sports betting updates from Maine, Florida, and ESPN!
Hello friends, and welcome to This Week in Gambling! Happy Thanksgiving! Yes, I know it’s early but I’m going to be taking the next two weeks off, traveling on business, and then spending time with family over the holidays. And apparently, about 35,000 Vegas employees are going to be taking some time off, too!
Despite rumors that an agreement had been reached, union workers are now set for a Las Vegas strike to begin on November 10th at 5:00 am, drastically impacting 18 Las Vegas Resorts… and the timing could not be worse (or better), depending on which side of this argument you come down on.
When news of this strike first broke we, like most media outlets, strongly suspected that the Union was attempting to leverage the upcoming Las Vegas Grand Prix… and that’s exactly what they’re doing now. Threatening to walk off the job just six days before the race begins and throw the city into utter chaos.
Over 100,000 people are expected to attend this race, and now the union is asking those people not to cross their Las Vegas strike picket lines at any of the resorts! However, given how long people have been looking forward to this event… and how much much money they had to shell out to get there… I think that might be asking a bit too much, even if folks are empathetic with their position.
Finally this week, some updates on sports betting across the country. First up the state of Maine, where sports betting just launched a few days ago. However , state residents will not be able to bet on professional sports teams located within Maine… because there are none.
Next up, it’s ESPN Bet, which is set to launch on November 14th in 17 states, just in time for some Thanksgiving football. Many industry experts also believe that ESPN Bet will eventually surpass both FanDuel and DraftKings as America’s number one sports book.
And fresh off their Supreme Court victory, the Seminoles say they will relaunch sports betting in Florida sometime in December… which should make for a very Merry Christmas in the Sunshine State. Remember, I’m off for the next 2 weeks but I’ll be back on November 28th… just in time for the grand opening of Fontainebleau Las Vegas!