David Cordish, the chairman of the Cordish Corporation and the owner of Live! Casino, one of Maryland’s leading revenue generators has recently shared his stance on the ongoing plans for the legalization and regulation of online and mobile sports betting. Speaking at a gaming conference that was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey last week, the casino mogul, said that Maryland should only consider the approval of retail, on-site sports betting and leave out online or mobile sports betting.
According to Mr. Cordish, lawmakers in Maryland should craft laws that will “drive people to facilities for sports betting” while saying that online or mobile sports betting will be a mistake. In essence, his argument was that sports betting be restricted to land-based facilities. He further pointed out that the brick-and-mortar gaming facilities were not being given the right amount of attention since many of the operators have shifted their focus to online sports betting instead.
The Cordish Corporation has long had a rather complicated relationship with sports betting. Last year, after the United States Supreme Court lifted the federal ban on sports betting. David Cordish reportedly commented that the state of Maryland would be among the last ones to have sports betting. In a previous interview with CNN, the casino mogul touted sports betting as an attractive offering that would bring many more people to the casinos.
This point of view is quite justified for Mr. Cordish especially because his casino brand in land-based and live and therefore the goal of the company has always been to create full-fledged entertainment complexes. As such, online and mobile sports betting are a disruptor to these plans especially because they do not seem to go along with the Live! Casino’s business model. In his argument against online gambling, Cordish subtly took a hit at Amazon saying:
“You can have Amazon send you whatever you want at home, but you need to go out for a social experience, for a live experience, for a fun experience.”
Needless to say, this is a rather outdated mentality in the face of the rapidly changing gambling environments.
What Is Being Overlooked?
Well, Maryland Live! is seemingly so hellbent on protecting its turf in a gaming market that has lots of competition that it has failed to see the big picture. Either that or the casino operators in just outrightly ignoring certain vital things.
For instance, the proponents of online gambling have pointed out that by legalizing and regulating the activity, they will be able to liberate the industry from the hands of the very robust illegal online gambling market. This does not appear to carry any weight for Maryland Live! and it might be because they are supposedly ready and willing to struggle with the realities of an illegal online gambling market in Maryland.
