Team King Investment (CNMI) LLC successfully completed the acquisition of Imperial Pacific International (IPI) casino assetswith a $12.95 million bid.
According to The Northern Marianas Variety, the full acquisition took place on August 20th, following a court-approved auction in which Team King won the bid on February 26th, 2025.
Judge Robert J. Faris discharged an earlier order related to IPI’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition, as the sale was finalized before the August 21st deadline.
IPI had operated a casino in Saipan for four years before closing in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently filed for bankruptcy in April 2024, reporting liabilities exceeding $165.8 million.
The sale faced delays primarily due to disputes regarding IPI’s ground lease with the Department of Public Lands. During a recent court hearing, it was confirmed that the escrow was fully funded, and the transaction was closed. The committee of creditors is now working with IPI to distribute funds to claimants.
Additionally, IPI’s storage issues with Saipan Stevedoring Company were addressed, with Team King agreeing to assume responsibility for any storage fees incurred post-closing and planning to remove containers from the facility soon. A hearing regarding the storage fees is scheduled for October 2nd, 2025.
Team King Investment stated before that if it successfully finalized the acquisition of the Imperial Pacific Resort and decided to complete the ongoing construction, an additional $150 million would be needed to finish the casino resort.
DATA.BET, a trusted sportsbook solution supplier, will present its expanded portfolio at SBC Summit 2025 in Lisbon, stand D160. The company now offers a unified solution covering sports, esports, and virtual sports.
From September 16 to 18, the company’s representatives will unveil the updated product suite. Building on its established presence in esports and virtual sports betting, DATA.BET has expanded into traditional sports betting, covering over 50,000 sports events per month across 63+ pre-match and 38 live sports disciplines. The company’s 24/7 in-house trading team maintains 93% market uptime while delivering 1000+ betting markets backed by official data partnerships.
Each betting vertical, as well as individual sports and leagues within them, can be activated separately or combined based on market needs. Operators can instantly launch the complete sportsbook solution through a ready-to-use Single Page Application (iFrame), while those with an existing betting platform can integrate directly via the Odds Feed API.
At SBC Summit, visitors will explore DATA.BET’s core products: Risk Management system, Odds Feed, Widgets, Streams, SPA (iFrame), and Bet Builder available for all three verticals. The latest features joined our comprehensive suite include Hot Bundles for express betting optimization and Timeline Widget for enhanced game process tracking.
“This marks our first offline presentation of the complete sportsbook solution we launched in May with our full product range and latest features for betting,” said Natalie Loshatynska, Head of PR & Marketing at DATA.BET. “We look forward to showing SBC Summit participants how our technology empowers operators and platform providers to offer their clients a more dynamic and engaging betting experience.”
Discover DATA.BET’s betting technology solution at stand D160. Connect with the team at [email protected] to schedule a meeting.
Creating a one-of-a-kind wagering experience for Kentucky and nearby fans, the book boasts a 5,100-square-foot venue featuring an 80-foot-wide LED viewing screen, 31-foot odds board, luxury seating, live VSiN broadcast studio, and a mix of staffed betting counters and self-service kiosks.
Executives including Derek Stevens, Owner and CEO of Circa Sports; Mike Palm, Vice President of Operations for Circa Sports; Ron Winchell and Marc Falcone, Co-Managing Partners of The Mint Gaming properties and Kentucky Downs; and Johan Mirkovic, Vice President and General Manager of The Mint Gaming Hall, took part in the ribbon cutting ceremony. Additionally, former Kentucky Representative Adam Koenig joined in for the festivities. Koenig was critical in building the groundwork for sports betting in the state, paving the way for Circa Sports Kentucky.
“Today marks an incredible milestone for Circa Sports Kentucky,” said Derek Stevens, Owner and CEO of Circa Sports. “We are grateful to our partners at The Mint and former Representative Koenig on their important roles in getting us to the opening. We know the state of Kentucky is passionate about sports, and whether you’ve an avid bettor or a passionate fan, this will be the ultimate viewing destination.”
The Mint co-managing partner Marc Falcone said, “This transcends any experience today in Kentucky from a sports-betting perspective. We made a commitment to build a first-class facility here with Circa Sports. And after spending a lot of time with Derek and his facility in Las Vegas, we thought it was a good match not only for our mutual partnership but for them coming into the state of Kentucky. This will be, by far, the best place to watch and bet any live sporting event in Kentucky and Tennessee.”
In addition to the retail venue, Circa Sports has a mobile app, available across Kentucky, giving players statewide access to a full menu of betting options – straight bets, parlays, futures, and live in-game wagering – backed by Circa’s reputation for competitive odds and transparent limits.
Circa Sports has become known for a leadership team consisting of the top oddsmakers with a menu featuring some of the best odds in the country. Kentucky marked the fifth state for the Las Vegas-based brand, which also operates in Nevada, Illinois, Iowa and Colorado.
New Zealand’s SkyCity Entertainment Group said it had raised about NZ$195 million ($113.2 million) from institutional investors as part of a wider capital raising aimed at strengthening its balance sheet.
In a dispatch on August 22nd, the casino and entertainment operator said the funds came through an institutional entitlement offer and a placement to investors, both of which closed on Thursday.
SkyCity said 95 percent of eligible institutional shareholders took up their entitlements, while all existing shareholders who sought their pro-rata allocation in the placement received at least that amount of new shares.
‘We are pleased with the success of the institutional offer, and the strong take up from eligible institutional investors,’ chief executive Jason Walbridge said in a statement. ‘The equity raise will strengthen SkyCity’s balance sheet, allowing us to better navigate the current environment and execute on our near-term priorities.’
The institutional component is part of a broader NZ$240 million ($139.3 million) fully underwritten capital raising that includes a retail entitlement offer.
The new shares from the institutional offer and placement are expected to begin trading on August 28th, the company said.
The Philippines’ gaming regulator is misconstrued in regards to its actual enforcement ability for shutting down illegal operators. A top expert points out that its primary avenues for shutting down bad actors lie more in blacklisting or sanctioning game providers, content studios and service providers.
Gaming industry lawyer Tonet Quiogue
In a commentary shared with AGB, Tonet Quiogue, legal expert and CEO of Arden Consult, said that while PAGCOR lacks direct enforcement authority over illegal operators, it holds a powerful regulatory tool through its accreditation of suppliers.
‘By exercising its rule-making powers, PAGCOR can cut off the very supply chain that illegal operators depend on. If a provider is found servicing unlicensed gambling platforms, PAGCOR can revoke its accreditation, effectively shutting them out of the legal market,’ Quiogue noted.
The call comes amid ongoing confusion over PAGCOR’s enforcement powers. Recent congressional hearings highlighted a widespread misconception that the regulator can unilaterally shut down illegal gambling websites.
PAGCOR Chairman Alejandro H. Tengco
PAGCOR Chairman Alejandro H. Tengco clarified that the agency has ‘no power to close illegal sites’ and can only refer cases to law enforcement agencies such as the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) or the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Quiogue stressed that the power to investigate, prosecute, and shut down illegal operators lies with enforcement bodies. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) can block access to websites, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and NBI can build criminal cases, and the PNP has the authority to conduct raids and arrests.
‘PAGCOR’s role is regulatory, not enforcement,’ she explained, noting that even lawmakers often misunderstand the agency’s mandate.
Despite these limitations, PAGCOR still plays an important role in monitoring the industry and reporting suspicious activities. Its Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Department audits licensees and can impose fines, suspensions, or license revocations on those who breach regulations. But against purely unlicensed operators, it must rely on cooperation with law enforcement agencies.
Cutting the supply chain
While PAGCOR has no police powers, Quiogue emphasized that it can disrupt illegal gambling networks by targeting their supply chain.
Under its accreditation framework, service providers — including game developers, platform suppliers, and payment processors — must secure approval from PAGCOR to work with licensed operators. Any supplier caught assisting unlicensed gambling platforms risks losing accreditation and being banned from the legal market.
International examples highlight the effectiveness of this approach. Sweden, Great Britain, and Ontario mandate supplier licensing to ensure vendors work only with authorized operators. This strategy denies unlicensed sites access to popular games, reliable payment channels, and other essential services, making them less competitive and pushing players toward regulated platforms.
‘Explicitly blacklisting developers or platform suppliers that knowingly support unlicensed sites sends a clear message: vendors who work with unauthorized gambling outfits will face serious consequences,’ Quiogue wrote.
The issue is urgent. PAGCOR has flagged more than 12,000 unlicensed gambling websites targeting Filipinos, many hosted overseas and masked by shifting domains and opaque ownership structures. These platforms siphon off untaxed revenues while exposing consumers to risks such as fraud, money laundering, and gambling addiction.
Private sector collaboration
Quiogue also underscored the role of industry collaboration in combating unlicensed operators. In an exclusive statement to AGB, she pointed to the newly launched PlaySafe Alliance — a coalition of licensed operators and accredited providers — as a platform for proactive private-sector action.
‘With the PlaySafe Alliance now established, private sector stakeholders must continue taking a proactive role in addressing illegal online gambling,’ she said. ‘Licensed operators and accredited providers should work with regulators and telecoms to block unlicensed sites, enforce stronger KYC and AML standards, and differentiate themselves from illegal competitors.’
She added that the next stage requires concrete collective measures: ‘Operators must align under the Alliance to share intelligence in a structured way, pool funds to support monitoring and enforcement, and run consumer campaigns that warn against the risks of unregulated play.’
According to Quiogue, a whole-of-government approach — with PAGCOR acting as gatekeeper, the NTC blocking websites, law enforcement pursuing criminal cases, and industry stakeholders closing ranks — offers the best chance of stemming the growth of illegal gambling in the Philippines.
‘Through proactive rule-making and strict enforcement, PAGCOR can leverage its oversight of the supply chain to stifle illegal gambling enterprises — even without police powers,’ she said.
Visitor arrivals to Macau increased by 14.5 percent year-on-year to 3.46 million in July 2025, with mainland Chinese visitation improving, according to data released by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).
The robust growth continues a positive trend for the territory’s tourism sector, with total arrivals for the first seven months of 2025 reaching 22.68 million, a 14.9 percent yearly increase.
Macau visitor arrivals in 2025
Mainland Chinese visitors accounted for the largest portion of arrivals, totaling 2.56 million in July—a substantial 17.4 percent increase from the previous year. Within this segment, visitors traveling under the Individual Visit Scheme numbered 1.36 million, a 23.6 percent year-on-year rise. The data reveal strong utilization of various travel programs, with 178,533 visitors arriving under the ‘one trip per week measure’, 56,602 under the ‘multiple-entry measure’, and 8,993 under the ‘tourist group multi-entry measure’.
The Greater Bay Area continues to have strong connectivity to Macau, with visitors from the nine Pearl River Delta cities increasing by 23 percent year-on-year to 1.23 million. This growth was particularly driven by a 56.8 percent surge in visitors from Zhuhai, highlighting the benefits of cross-border integration initiatives.
Visitor arrivals in July 2025
Regional markets showed mixed but generally positive performance. Visitors from Hong Kong totaled 625,343, a 6.2 percent increase, while arrivals from Taiwan reached 92,037, up 21.4 percent year-on-year.
International visitor arrivals totaled 177,774 in July, a modest 2.8 percent increase. Southeast Asian markets presented varied results, with Thailand leading growth at 48.9 percent to 12,352 visitors, followed by Indonesia at 9.7 percent to 14,884 visitors. However, arrivals from the Philippines declined 11.8 percent to 37,912 visitors, and Malaysia dropped 9.6 percent to 8,102 visitors.
The visitor composition breakdown shows that same-day visitors numbered 13.16 million for the seven-month period, surging 25.5 percent year-on-year, while overnight visitors reached 9.51 million, growing at a more moderate 2.8 percent. This pattern suggests strong cross-border day-trip activity while indicating opportunities for extending visitor stays.
Long-haul markets showed resilience, with US visitors increasing 6.2 percent to 15,796, while Northeast Asian markets remained relatively stable with slight declines from South Korea, down 1.6 percent to 32,288, and Japan, down 0.4 percent to 8,743.
Hann Holdings Inc., operator of the Hann Casino Resort in Pampanga, has deferred its PHP13 billion ($232 million) initial public offering (IPO) due to unfavorable market conditions.
The casino firm notified the Securities and Exchange Commission and Philippine Stock Exchange of the postponement, confirming earlier reports that cited ‘prevailing market conditions’ as the primary reason for the delay. The IPO was originally scheduled to run from September 9th-15th, with listing on the PSE main board planned for September 23rd.
According to the company’s preliminary prospectus, Hann Holdings intended to offer 500 million primary shares at PHP23.60 ($0.42) each, with an over-allotment option of up to 50 million additional shares at the same price from existing shareholder Hann Group Holdings WLL. The primary offering was expected to raise PHP11.43 billion ($204 million) for capital expenditure, development, expansion plans, and general corporate purposes.
The postponement occurs as Hann Holdings expands beyond traditional casino operations into the digital gambling space. The company launched its online platform, Hann Live Online, in the Philippines in August 2024, entering a market experiencing dramatic growth but increasing regulatory scrutiny.
The Philippine online gambling sector has exploded from PHP7.8 billion ($140 million) in gross revenues in 2022 to PHP133.4 billion ($2.4 billion) in 2024, prompting lawmakers to describe it as a “silent epidemic” requiring urgent intervention. The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has advocated for stricter regulation rather than outright bans, while the central bank has directed e-wallet companies like GCash and Maya to remove in-app gambling platform links.
Hann Philippines operates an 11-hectare property in Pampanga featuring the Clark Marriott, Central Luzon’s first five-star luxury hotel, and the country’s first Swissotel. The company plans to pursue its IPO once market conditions improve.
With Hann’s deferment, only one IPO has been completed this year—Cebu-based fuel retailer Top Line Business Development Corp. in February—highlighting investors’ cautious approach amid geopolitical tensions and global trade uncertainties.
India has moved to ban real money games and, while still lacking the president’s approval for implementation, it has the sector reeling. Here are some key takeaways from what it’s targeting and why it’s being enacted.
What’s in the bill?
‘The Bill imposes a complete ban on online money games […] Advertising and promotion of such games is strictly prohibited. Financial transactions related to these platforms cannot be processed by banks or payment systems’.
Any ‘unlawful platforms’ can be blocked.
The bill also notes that an online gaming authority, at a national level, will be established, ‘or an existing one may be designated for oversight’.
The function of the body? ‘Categorizing and registering online games, deciding whether a game qualifies as a money game, and addressing public grievances’.
Penalties
Offering or facilitating online money games can lead to imprisonment of up to three years and a fine of up to RS10 million ($114K)
Financial transactions ‘linked to these games are also punishable with similar penalties (above)
Advertising such games can attract a jail term of up to two years and a fine of up to RS5 million ($57.2K)
Note: repeat offenders can face penalties including up to five years in jail and fines of up to RS20 million ($228.7K). ‘Police can arrest without a warrant and bail is not a right’.
While companies and their officers will be held accountable for offenses, independent directors and non-executive directors (not involved in day-to-day decisions), won’t be punished if they ‘can show that they acted with due diligence’.
Investigations
The right to potentially enter premises and make arrests without a warrant is also encompassed ‘in certain cases’. When authorized, officers may ‘investigate, search and seize both digital and physical property linked to offenses’.
Reason for implementation
The Government of India’s Press Information Bureau released a detailed explanation of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025.
One key highlight of this is that, while its goal is to shut down real money games, it aims to promote e-sports and online social games.
According to its extensive release on the bill, the government highlights five key reasons for its implementation:
‘Addiction and financial ruin’: ‘compulsive play’ causes players to ‘lose their entire savings chasing the illusion of quick profits’
‘Mental health and suicides: ‘the bill seeks to prevent such tragedies by banning these exploitative platforms’
‘Fraud and money laundering’: platforms have been ‘misused for illegal activities’
‘Threat to national security’: ‘some gaming platforms were being used for terror financing and illegal messaging’
‘Closing legal loopholes’: ‘the bill ensures that the same standards apply in both physical and digital spaces’
‘Encouraging healthy alternatives’: ‘e-sports will be promoted as a legitimate sort […] while social and educational games that build skills and cultural values will receive government support’
Online money games are defined as ‘games where financial stakes are involved, whether based on chance, skill, or a combination of both’.
Information by the bill claims some 450 million people in India are ‘negatively affected by online money games’ and ‘faced a loss of more than’ RS200 billion.
‘There is a lack of coherent and enabling legal framework that can promote structure growth of the sector and allow responsible gaming practices to evolve’.
The bill also notes that ‘many gaming platforms operate from offshore jurisdictions’, which ‘presents challenges in terms of extra-territorial jurisdiction and inter-state inconsistencies’.
The government’s viewpoint
According to its published statement, the government notes that ‘The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, marks a decisive step in India’s digital journey. It recognizes the dangers of unregulated money gaming and responds with firm safeguards to protect citizens. At the same time, it carves out space for e-sports and educational games that nurture skills and creativity. By balancing innovation with responsibility, the Bill sets the tone for a safer and healthier digital future. It also strengthens India’s standing as a nation that can lead in shaping global digital policy. Most importantly, it ensures that technology serves society rather than harms it.’
Good Morning. Bills and bans appear to be the trend for 2025. The most recent is India’s Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025, which was passed by the upper house of parliament and now only requires the president’s approval before implementation. But operators are banding together to attempt to appeal the move. Moving to restrictions in the Philippines, TikTok is now banning all gambling ads in the country, amongst a call for a large-scale transformation of the sector. In Macau, things are looking up for this year, as analysts predict GGR could see a double-digit increase, boosted by mass-oriented operators such as Sands.
Winning Trust, Stopping Fraud. Asia Pacific’s iGaming market is expanding extremely fast, and a new wave of digital-savvy players is pushing demand through the roof. But the rise in adoption has outpaced regulation in many markets, and fraudsters have taken notice.
Product Madness, Aristocrat Leisure Limited’s market-leading free-to-play social casino business, has announced the official worldwide launch of NFL Super Bowl Slots, the first-ever NFL-licensed free-to-play (for 18+) social casino mobile game.
Developed in collaboration with the National Football League (NFL) and the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), this innovative free-to-play mobile application invites social casino players to play their fandom—anytime, anywhere.
To celebrate the launch, Product Madness has teamed up with standout NFL linebacker, Micah Parsons, as a brand ambassador to help spotlight the game’s unique blend of sports passion and free-to-play social casino entertainment.
“With NFL Super Bowl Slots, we set out to do more than just build a game – we wanted to create a new way for fans to experience the sport they love,” said Matt Labbat, Senior Vice President and Head of Product Madness. “Every detail was crafted to channel team pride and authenticity into one free-to-play mobile game experience.”
NFL Super Bowl Slots reimagines social casino entertainment by blending the electrifying energy of the NFL gameday experience with the excitement of social casino slots. Available for free to download and play on both Android and iOS, the game offers a variety of free-to-play slot games to choose from, all of which allow players to customize their experience by selecting any of the NFL’s 32 teams, unlocking fully branded content tailored to each franchise.
“NFL Super Bowl Slots represents a fresh take on gaming at the league that will reach new fans who can engage with their favorite teams through exciting and interactive gameplay,” said Ed Kiang, vice president of video gaming at the NFL. “Through our partnership with Aristocrat and the expertise from Product Madness, we can provide fans (18+) a free-to-play gaming experience right at their fingertips, that will keep them engaged with our sport while also enjoying the liveliness and enthusiasm that is embedded in social casino entertainment.”
