MGM Resorts Signs Deal With UAIC to Offer Sports Betting in California
MGM Resorts International and joint company GVC have announced a partnership with the United Auburn Indian Community (UAIC).
The partnership is the first of its kind to be based in California and to feature the Native Indian community.
Under the agreement, MGM and GVC would provide their technology to the UAIC, a Native American tribe, so they can offer retail and mobile sports betting as well as online casino games if and when they become legal in the state of California.
The UAIC, the operator of California’s popular Thunder Valley Casino Resort, has been described as “an ideal initial partner” within California as it’d provide MGM access tot he United States’ largest state by population.
An Important Partnership
Scott Butera, MGM’s President of Interactive Gaming, send in a statement: “We are excited to have a partner the calibre of UAIC as our first partner for MGM-QV in Indian Country.”
Adam Greenblatt, the Director of Corporate Development and Strategy at GVC, said: “We greatly admire the success the UAIC has had with its Thunder Valley Casino Resort, and look forward to adding to that success. The potential of this partnership is significant for MGM-GVC.”
Gene Whitehouse, Chairman of UAIC, said in a statement: “It is not yet clear if California will authorise sports betting or interactive games generally, but with the overturn of PASPA possibly opening the door for sports betting, our Tribe wants to be well-situated, and this agreement with the national leader in the field does just that.”
The news comes after the US Supreme Court decided to overturn PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992) in May this year, allowing individual states to introduce legislation allowing sports wagering.