Bally's responds after casino proposal is no longer considered in Richmond

A resort casino evaluation panel in Richmond, Va., has reduced the list of proposed casino projects being considered to two, Live! Casino & Hotel Richmond and ONE Casino + Resort.

The proposed Bally’s Richmond Casino Resort and the project’s proposed site of Parkway Crossings (Chippenham Parkway and Powhite Parkway) are no longer being considered by Richmond's Resort Casino Evaluation Panel, officials said in a press release on Wednesday.

“The Evaluation Panel is no longer considering the Bally’s project or the Parkway Crossings site for a resort casino due to concerns about site access, environmental factors, and required approvals from non-city entities that may not be granted or extend the project timeline,” said Leonard Sledge, director of the city’s Department of Economic Development. “We also appreciate the many Richmond citizens who have shared their thoughts throughout this process.”

President and Chief Executive Officer of Bally's, George Papanier, said his company's proposal is the best for Richmond and provided the largest financial package with the most economic benefit to RVA residents and business owners. “We were deeply committed to this project, as well as to becoming a responsible neighbor and member of the Richmond community,” Papanier said. “Should the city reconsider its decision, we would be pleased to reengage."

Papanier continued, “With a total value of $650 million, including an upfront, unrestricted $100 million payment to the city, along with $28-$30 million in annual tax payments, Bally's Richmond offered the largest financial package of the remaining finalists. Bally's Richmond was estimated to attract approximately 3.7 million visitors annually, generating $415 million in annual total gross revenue, $5.3 billion in economic value over 10 years as well as creating over 2,000 full-time equivalent jobs.”

Bally's currently owns and manages 12 casinos across eight states, a horse racetrack and 13 authorized Off Track Betting licenses in Colorado.

"We respect the city's decision, and look forward to providing our best-in-class online sports betting platform to sports fans across the State of Virginia under our recently awarded temporary sports wagering permit.” Currently, there are six online sports betting services available in Virginia.

Richmond's evaluation panel is continuing its evaluation of the remaining proposals and sites (Live! Casino & Hotel at 1301 N. Arthur Ashe Boulevard and ONE Casino + Resort at 2001 Walmsley Boulevard).  Factors in the evaluation of the proposals include:  community impact and community benefits; location; direct revenue impact to the city; project feasibility and project sustainability; and economic development impact.

BetMGM to integrate responsible gaming program into sports betting app

BetMGM announced Tuesday that it will integrate a responsible gaming program called GameSense into its mobile sports betting app. The agreement marks the first time an online gaming operator in the United States will utilize the industry-leading program.

Developed by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, GameSense is an award-winning program that incorporates responsible gaming resources and education into the customer service model – providing every player with tools and support to make informed decisions and play responsibly. It also connects players with trained specialists, known as GameSense Advisors, and focuses on positive, transparent, and proactive communication to educate players about healthy habits and how to keep gaming fun, safe and responsible.

GameSense is expected to be fully integrated into the BetMGM platform later this year.

MGM Resorts first launched GameSense at its U.S. properties in 2017, making available educational resources and interactive GameSense touchscreens at its M life Rewards desks.

GameSense will be available to customers in all current and future states where BetMGM operates, like Virginia.

Bowlero plans sports betting services at all Virginia bowling centers

The worldwide leader in bowling entertainment, Bowlero Corp., announced a collaboration last month with BettorView, the nation’s leading in-venue sports betting marketing and technology platform to distribute BettorView content across all of Bowlero’s centers that are located within legal online betting states.

BettorView will showcase customized sports stats, analytics and odds alongside special sports betting promotions across multiple touchpoints throughout Bowlero’s centers including its bars, lounges, and lanes, reaching millions of highly engaged sports fans.

Currently, over 20% of Bowlero’s 300+ locations across the United States are located within legal online betting states. If industry trends continue into 2022, this count will increase to over 50% of Bowlero locations.

BettorView and Bowlero will drive increased awareness for the numerous sportsbook brands that have already signed deals for Bowlero locations in highly competitive markets including Illinois, Michigan, Virginia, Colorado, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Indiana.

TwinSpires highlights surprising upsets ahead of Kentucky Derby

As we close in on the first Saturday in May, we’re only 17 days away from the 147th Run for the Roses Kentucky Derby.

The road to the Kentucky Derby wrapped up last Saturday with a pair of surprising upsets, according to TwinSpires, an online service for horse race betting in the United States.

In the Lexington Stakes (G3) at Keeneland, 18-1 long shot King Fury rallied to claim victory and 20 qualification points, putting him in 28th on the leaderboard. Trainer Kenny McPeek indicated King Fury is eyeing the Derby if enough horses above him drop out to help him qualify. Those drop outs are occurring.

With 70 points and a 9th place spot on the leaderboard, Bob Baffert’s Concert Tour was the heavy favorite for the Arkansas Derby (G1) at Oaklawn Park with 3-10 odds. But as Concert Tour weakened at the eighth pole, 12-1 long shot Super Stock took advantage and soared to victory to claim 100 points and a spot in the top 20.

One thing that does seem for sure is Essential Quality being the Derby favorite.

“There is now no doubt in my mind that undefeated champion Essential Quality will start the Derby a well-supported favorite,” TwinSpires Handicapper Ed DeRosa said a WDRB TV article. “The combination of his unblemished record, fast times, local trainer and color (gray) will all add up to a large amount of public support.”

After Concert Tour’s stumble in the Arkansas Derby, DeRosa is predicting Essential Quality will go off at 7-2 odds.

Other Derby coverage:

Get to know the 2021 Kentucky Derby contenders

Kentucky Derby Pedigree Profile: King Fury

Kentucky Derby roundup: April 12, 2021

Bally's schedules 'listening tour' to hear community concerns over proposed Richmond casino

Richmonder's will have a chance to meet with Bally's Corp. officials this week to discuss the company's proposed $650 million Bally's Richmond Casino Resort, one of three casinos that may be selected for development in Virginia's capital. By law only one casino will be built in Richmond.

Recent editorials and opinion pieces appearing in local Richmond newspapers show strong opposition against all three proposed casino projects. More than 100 people participated in a protest against the project last week, according to an article in the Richmond Times Dispatch.

Bally's, the proposed developer and operator of Bally's Richmond Casino Resort, will proactively embark upon a listening tour consisting of a series of in-person conversations and meetings in Richmond this week, the company announced on Monday.

“The objective of the tour is to provide Bally's, and Richmond residents and local business owners spanning all nine districts, with opportunities to engage with Bally's, and address important issues regarding the casino selection process, to ensure that Richmonders' interests and values are best served,” Bally's officials said in a company press release. Jonathan Davis, an African American Community Activist in Richmond, is partnering with Bally's in the planning and implementation of the listening tour.

The listening tour will consist of three events taking place on the following dates at each respective time and location:

• Tuesday, April 13th, 6:30pm ET at Bryan Park (4308 Hermitage Road, Richmond, VA);

• Wednesday, April 14th, 1:00pm ET at Battery Park (2803 Dupont Circle, Richmond, VA); and

• Wednesday, April 14th, 6:30pm ET at Chimborazo Park (3215 E Broad St, Richmond, VA).

"As we've said from the start, a key component of our proposal is partnering with the City of Richmond,” said Michael Monty, senior project manager of Bally's Richmond. “A critical part of building that partnership consists of listening to the community and its stakeholders. We want to hear Richmonders' thoughts, ideas and concerns so that we can best represent their interests and values. We look forward to this opportunity to engage with the community so that Bally's is best positioned to put Richmond first."

Mars helicopter two days away from making historic flight

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is two days away from making humanity’s first attempt at powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet. If all proceeds as planned, the four-pound rotorcraft is expected to take off from Mars’ Jezero Crater Sunday at 10:54 p.m. EDT, hovering 10 feet above the surface for up to 30 seconds. Mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., expect to receive data from the flight attempt the following morning at around 4:15 a.m. EDT, Monday.

Flying in a controlled manner on Mars is far more difficult than flying on Earth. Even though gravity on Mars is about one-third that of Earth’s, the helicopter must fly with the assistance of an atmosphere whose pressure at the surface is only 1% that of Earth.

Sunday’s flight will be autonomous, with Ingenuity’s guidance, navigation, and control systems doing the piloting. That’s mostly because radio signals will take 15 minutes, 27 seconds to bridge the 173-million-mile gap between Mars and Earth.

Events leading up to the first flight test begin when the Perseverance rover, which serves as a communications base station for Ingenuity, receives that day’s instructions from Earth. Those commands will have traveled from mission controllers at JPL through NASA’s Deep Space Network to a receiving antenna aboard Perseverance. Parked at “Van Zyl Overlook,” some 215 feet away, the rover will transmit the commands to the helicopter about an hour later.

Then, at 10:53 p.m. EDT, Ingenuity will begin undergoing its myriad preflight checks.

“It should take us about six seconds to climb to our maximum height for this first flight,” said JPL’s Håvard Grip, the flight control lead for Ingenuity.

While hovering, the helicopter’s navigation camera and laser altimeter will feed information into the navigation computer to ensure Ingenuity remains not only level, but in the middle of its 33-by-33-foot airfield – a patch of Martian real estate chosen for its flatness and lack of obstructions. Then, the Mars Helicopter will descend and touch back down on the surface of Jezero Crater, sending data back to Earth, via Perseverance, to confirm the flight.

Perseverance is expected to obtain imagery of the flight using its Navcam and Mastcam-Z imagers, with the pictures expected to come down early morning Monday. The helicopter will also document the flight from its perspective, with a color image and several lower-resolution black-and-white navigation pictures possibly being available by the next morning.

Waltzing Matilda Aviation launching new airline

Boston-based Waltzing Matilda Aviation (WMA) will be launching Connect Airlines, a new airline starting operations in October, connecting Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport with airports in the Northeast and Midwest United States.

Using the Canadian built Q400 turboprop aircraft, Connect Airlines will offer a premium service for day-tripping business travelers direct into Toronto's downtown island Billy Bishop airport. Subject to regulatory approvals, the airline will provide a valuable alternative to business travelers as they start to fly between the United States and Canada again.

WMA is a FAA Part 135 jet charter operator (Certificate number 6WZA614N) that has started the process to add FAA Part 121 scheduled and non-scheduled services to its Air Operators Certificate. WMA began private (Part 91) operations in June 2008 and has operated thousands of hours of safe and reliable flying with a focus on delivering superior customer service.