Gambling in the USA
IGT Modernizes Gaming in Minnesota with Debut of S3000 Spinning Reel Cabinet at Grand Casino Mille Lacs

IGT first gaming supplier approved to deploy video slot games on spinning reel cabinets in Minnesota
International Game Technology PLC announced that it is modernizing casino entertainment in Minnesota with the launch of the S3000® cabinet at Grand Casino Mille Lacs in Onamia, Minn. IGT recently became the first gaming supplier approved to distribute video slot games on spinning reel cabinets in Minnesota, paving the way for Grand Casino Mille Lacs to be the first gaming venue in the State to offer patrons this in-demand form of gaming.
The award-winning IGT S3000 gaming machines at Grand Casino Mille Lacs deliver a new-to-the-state gaming experience, complete with spinning reels, flashy lights, iconic slot machine sounds and big win celebrations. Initial IGT games offered on the S3000 cabinets in Minnesota include some of the gaming industry’s most popular titles such as Double Gold, Pink Diamond®, Triple Gold Bars and Triple Jackpot Jewels®.
“Introducing IGT games on the S3000 cabinet instantly elevated the excitement and diversified the entertainment that we can offer Grand Casino Mille Lacs guests,” said Robbie Sawyer, Grand Casino Mille Lacs Vice President of Gaming. “Grand Casino Mille Lacs is proud to be the first casino in Minnesota to showcase IGT’s spinning games and is delighted to observe our guests enjoying the quintessential gaming experiences that they deliver.”
“By deploying IGT’s S3000 cabinets, Grand Casino Mille Lacs is the first casino operator in Minnesota to benefit from the player appeal of the industry’s most iconic spinning reel cabinet and the strength of IGT’s vast spinning reel content library,” said Nick Khin, IGT Chief Operating Officer, Gaming. “IGT’s recent regulatory approval to deploy mechanical reel games in Minnesota presents a meaningful growth opportunity for the Company and our casino customers throughout the State.”
For more information, visit IGT.com, or go to Facebook at facebook.com/IGT, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/IGTnews, or watch IGT videos on YouTube at youtube.com/igt.
About IGT:
IGT is the global leader in gaming. We deliver entertaining and responsible gaming experiences for players across all channels and regulated segments, from Gaming Machines and Lotteries to Sports Betting and Digital. Leveraging a wealth of compelling content, substantial investment in innovation, player insights, operational expertise, and leading-edge technology, our solutions deliver unrivaled gaming experiences that engage players and drive growth. We have a well-established local presence and relationships with governments and regulators in more than 100 countries around the world, and create value by adhering to the highest standards of service, integrity, and responsibility. IGT has approximately 11,000 employees. For more information, please visit www.igt.com.
Gambling in the USA
Aristocrat Interactive wins iLottery Contract with the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission

Gambling in the USA
How Alberta’s Insider Lobbyists Delivered for Gambling Companies

Private gambling companies and industry groups have waged a years-long lobbying campaign to shape Alberta’s regulated internet gaming and sports betting strategy, including hiring several consultants with ties to the United Conservative Party government, the Investigative Journalism Foundation has found.
Alberta is expected to launch its iGaming market early next year, making it the second province where residents can legally gamble online and place bets with private operators. Provincial records show that since 2020, at least 21 different gambling companies and industry associations registered to guide, inform, and educate various government ministries on online betting regulation and market frameworks.
Global gaming platforms like BetMGM, Caesars Entertainment, and Bally’s Corp. have all sought meetings with Alberta government officials, as have a swath of major Canadian companies including the Stars Group, Score Media and Gaming, and its parent company, Rogers.
Along with their own in-house advocates, gaming companies and groups have also enlisted the help of professional influencers from more than a dozen public relations firms.
The IJF’s analysis of public lobbying records found 11 of the lobbyists registered to represent the gaming and sports betting industry previously held positions within the United Conservative Party or the Alberta government.
Representing the Canadian Online Gaming Association, Endgame Strategies’ lobbyist Pierçon Knezic worked as the UCP’s deputy campaign manager during the 2023 election. In between her time as a ministerial press secretary and a senior communications adviser for Alberta’s government, Eliza Snider was part of the team managing the Score Media and Gaming account for public relations giant Hill & Knowlton.
Wellington Advocacy employed a stable of former government staff for clients such as Pure Canadian Gaming and Caesars Digital, including Clancy Bouwman, assistant to Premier Jason Kenney; Brad Tennant, former UCP executive director; Ashley Wilde, former UCP director of operations; Nick Koolsbergen, Kenney’s chief of staff and campaign director; Peter Csillag, UCP caucus director of issues management from 2017 to 2019; Lucas Robertson, who served with the UCP caucus, the minister of health’s office and the UCP caucus whip’s office; and Ethan Lecavalier-Kidney, former policy adviser to Alberta’s finance minister.
Brandon Aboultaif, press secretary to Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Dale Nally, who is responsible for iGaming legislation, would not say which companies Nally has met with but told the IJF in an email that the minister and his department “continue to meet with all interested industry stakeholders to engage on issues related to the launch of a private, regulated iGaming market in Alberta.”
“We are taking the next step toward establishing a private, regulated online gaming market in Alberta by further engaging with Indigenous partners and stakeholders on Alberta’s iGaming strategy, including the development of regulations related to social responsibility and consumer protection,” he said.
Regulated online gambling has grown rapidly in North America following the decriminalization of single-game sports betting in the United States in 2018 and in Canada in 2021. Single-game betting allows people to bet on various aspects of individual sports events.
While the expansion of legal markets has corresponded with a surge in lobbying activity, industry efforts to push for privately owned online gambling go back much further, said Renze Nauta, program director for work and economics at Cardus, a non-partisan Christian think tank.
Nauta pointed to a 2011 report on single-event sports wagering and related press releases from the Canadian Gaming Association as examples of the long-standing push for open markets, as well as the source of industry statistics on black-market gambling activity that have been widely circulated and used to make the case for legalization.
“I can’t speak to the intensity of the lobbying effort; it’s clearly a long-standing one. Because from 2011 to 2021, that’s a 10-year period where there was clearly an attempt to bring this to Canada,” Nauta said.
In its publications, the Canadian Gaming Association estimated that Canadians were spending at least $10 billion annually on illegal single-event sports betting, and an additional $4 billion gambling on grey-market websites based in jurisdictions where these bets are legal. The estimate that $14 billion in illegal sports betting was taking place in Canada was subsequently cited by members of Parliament and continues to be referenced by government and media.
The potential taxable income that would come from capturing a share of black-market activity has been a primary justification for iGaming legalization cited by legislators from Alberta to Ontario to the federal government and various U.S. states.
The potential tax revenue has also been a consistent theme in lobbying communications recorded in the Alberta lobbyist registry. Notices filed by Pure Canadian Gaming note the “economic contributions of gaming to the Alberta economy.” The Stars Group declared its intention to educate the government and to establish “safe, regulated environments that benefit jurisdictions,” including “incremental government revenue opportunities.” And Century Mile Racetrack and Casino had discussions with the government on how “gaming can drive tourism and economic prosperity.”
A similar emphasis on corporate and economic benefits has also dominated Canadian media coverage of the legalization of sports betting, according to a study from researchers at the University of British Columbia.
About 85% of newspaper articles on sports betting between 2020 and 2022 featured themes of legality and industry change, while the issues of gambling harm and reform were present in less than a quarter of articles surveyed.
“The newspaper coverage through that three-year window is really emphasizing and framing the economic, business and financial considerations. Particularly this idea of capturing the illegal market through legalization and regulation, at the cost of much discussion around harms and the risks of excessive gambling and the health of the public,” said Luke Clark, director of the Centre for Gambling Research at UBC.
The study also found that industry representatives were by far the most frequent sources interviewed in media coverage. Seventy per cent of articles included voices from the gaming industry, while few academics, addiction and public health advocates or people with lived experience with gambling made the news.
Clark said this imbalance in perspective stems from the disparity in size and resources between the groups representing these different viewpoints.
While academics might offer a more complicated and nuanced take, they have less time to dedicate to media, and people with lived experience aren’t connected, co-ordinated and issuing press releases.
The gaming providers now operating in Canada, on the other hand, are big global gambling corporations with resources dedicated to influencing government and public opinion.
“These are huge companies with a footprint in many different parts of the world. They have large public relations teams and huge marketing and advertising budgets. And they’re very well positioned when media reach out. They’re right on it with clear messages that frame things from their perspective,” Clark said.
Source: thetyee.ca
Gambling in the USA
The 2025 “Low-Wage 100” Report Reveals Significant Employee Pay Disparities in the Gambling Industry

Leading gambling companies Caesar’s Entertainment, MGM Resorts International, and Las Vegas Sands have recently been spotlighted in the 2025 “Low-Wage 100” report. This annual publication by the Institute for Policy Studies and Inequality.org identifies S&P 500 companies that show the smallest median wages for their employees compared to the large earnings of their top executives.
The financial figures reveal significant disparities in compensation. In 2024, Caesar’s CEO Tom Reeg earned $18.4 million, while the average U.S. employee at the company received just $43,880, resulting in a salary gap of 419 to 1. MGM’s CEO Bill Hornbuckle earned $15.8 million, sharply contrasting the company’s median employee salary of $47,607, creating a 332 to 1 ratio. Meanwhile, Las Vegas Sands’ Robert Goldstein took home $21.9 million, dwarfing the $42,426 earned by the typical worker and leading to a 516 to 1 pay disparity.
These pay gaps have sparked ongoing criticism of the casino industry. Since 2019, the top executive pay at Caesar’s has more than doubled, surpassing the 40% wage increase seen among its workforce. Though MGM and Las Vegas Sands have also raised executive salaries at a faster rate than employee wages, their growth was less dramatic compared to Caesar’s.
Experts argue that this imbalance extends beyond optics. The report examines billions spent on stock buybacks which inflate share prices and executive compensation, while funding for employee wages and training remains insufficient. For instance, MGM invested over $9.5 billion in buybacks last year—more than twice what was spent on upgrading its properties.
This uneven pay structure is not limited to major companies in the S&P 500. Smaller gaming firms reveal similar trends. Penn Entertainment reported a striking 734 to 1 gap, with its CEO earning $26.6 million and the average employee making $36,322. Boyd Gaming followed with a 304 to 1 ratio, and Golden Entertainment showed a 155 to 1 difference.
Industry critics suggest these pronounced salary gaps damage employee morale and complicate talent retention, ultimately hindering long-term growth. Calls for reform include proposals to increase taxes on companies with large pay disparities and to levy higher taxes on stock buybacks.
Despite these controversies, these companies remain among Nevada’s top employers and hold substantial influence within the global gambling market. Nevertheless, the study concludes that the industry’s focus on rewarding shareholders and executives over workers will likely persist without regulatory intervention.
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