Gaming Americas Weekly Roundup – January 27-February 2

Welcome to our weekly roundup of American gambling news again! Here, we are going through the weekly highlights of the American gambling industry which include the latest news and new partnerships. Read on and get updated.

Latest News

The Michigan Gaming Control Board has issued a cease-and-desist letter to Duranbah Limited N.V., the operator of MyBookie.ag, based in Curaçao. The site offers a variety of casino-style games, such as slots, poker and live-dealer games like blackjack, roulette and craps. It also allows users to place bets on sporting events and horse races. MyBookie.ag offers numerous payment methods for deposits and the funding of players’ accounts, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, PayPal, various cryptocurrencies and MoneyGram. However, withdrawals can only be made via Bitcoin or bank wire transfer. The MGCB’s investigation revealed that MyBookie.ag’s operation of online casino-style games for paying customers, without a valid Michigan gambling license, breaches several state laws.

Altenar has increased its focus on the North American iGaming market with the appointment of Matthew Ferrara as Sales Manager. Based in Miami, Ferrara has previously spent two years working in Croatia as a live trader on US sports for Superbet before returning to the United States to join micro-betting provider Kero Sports as Business Development Manager, specialising in outbound sales and strategic partnerships. He now strengthens Altenar’s sales team and will focus primarily on the North American market as the sportsbook provider looks to expand its operation.

SUZOHAPP has announced the appointment of Jim Kirner as its new Sales Director for North America. With over 20 years of experience in the gaming industry, Jim brings a wealth of expertise to his role and will be pivotal in driving SUZOHAPP’s sales and product strategies across the region. Throughout his career, Jim has been instrumental in driving transformational changes in the gaming sector, helping companies innovate and enhance the player experience. Prior to joining SUZOHAPP, Jim held key leadership positions at IGT, DiTRONICS, Interblock and Aruze Gaming Global.

Partnerships

The National Football League has announced a partnership with the Responsible Gambling Council to develop and implement a comprehensive responsible gambling training programme specifically designed for university and college student-athletes. The RGC and NFL have identified student athletes as an important audience for targeted responsible gambling and problem gambling prevention initiatives, as previous research has shown their susceptibility to risky gambling behaviour. The programme will launch with a pilot phase at eight universities and colleges across Canada in the upcoming 2025 spring semester. Insights and feedback from this phase will be used to refine and improve the programme before its broader rollout to 30 university and college institutions in the 2025–26 school year.

The PGA TOUR, PENN Entertainment and ESPN are launching a live betting stream on PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+. The ESPN BET branded stream will provide key data, insights and live betting analysis during coverage of six marquee FedExCup events across the 2025 PGA TOUR season. ESPN BET on PGA TOUR LIVE, set to premiere at the WM Phoenix Open on ESPN+ starting Thursday, Feb. 6, is made possible by a new multi-year agreement between the PGA TOUR and PENN Entertainment, the operator of ESPN BET. The deal designates ESPN BET as an Official Betting Operator of the PGA TOUR.