WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ahead of Responsible Gaming Education Week 2021, the New York Jets have joined the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) Have A Game Plan.® Bet Responsibly.™ public service campaign. The Jets will encourage their fans to “Know When to Huddle Up” through in-stadium and digital content that promote responsible sports wagering.
“The fan experience is at the heart of everything we do, and as legal sports betting expands, we want to ensure Jets fans are empowered to wager responsibly,” said New York Jets Vice President, Business Development & Ventures Jeff Fernandez. “We are proud to partner with the AGA on this important initiative.”
Recent AGA research found that due to expanded sports betting legalization and high fan enthusiasm for the season, a record 45.2 million Americans (18%) will wager on this year’s NFL season, a 36% increase from the 2020 NFL season. Among NFL fans, 37 percent plan to wager on the 2021 NFL season, including 47 percent of self-described avid NFL fans.
“Leadership from professional sports teams like the Jets is critical to not only ensuring fans understand how to wager responsibly, but also getting sports betting right,” said AGA Senior Vice President Casey Clark. “We’re thrilled to welcome the team as a partner and value their commitment to prioritizing responsible sports betting education for their loyal fanbase.”
The AGA launched Have A Game Plan in late 2019 to educate sports fans on the principles of responsible sports betting. The Jets join campaign partners DraftKings, FanDuel, Monumental Sports and Entertainment, NASCAR, NHL, PGA TOUR, SeventySix Capital, Sightline Payments, Sinclair Broadcast Group, UFC, Vegas Golden Knights, and the Washington Football Team.
The New York Jets were an early adopter of gaming partnerships after the State of New Jersey approved legalized sports betting in June 2018. The Jets have a long-standing relationship with BetMGM and have recently added new sports betting partnerships with Fubo Sportsbook and WynnBet.
AGA’s Responsible Gaming Education Week, from September 19-25, educates consumers on responsible game play and highlights responsible gaming’s central role in gaming and sports betting.
Sports betting is currently legal and operational in 26 states and the District of Columbia. During the NFL season, five additional states are expected to launch legal markets. The NFL has a long-standing partnership with the National Council on Problem Gambling.
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Wynn Resorts
Advancing Sustainability
With a circular approach that encompasses our entire supply chain, Wynn Resorts continuously examine ways to reduce our environmental impact as we move closer to achieving our goal of operating zero carbon, zero waste resorts. Such as:
- Encore Boston Harbor Site Remediation: Wynn Resorts turned a polluted industrial site along Boston’s Mystic River into a thriving riverfront environment where wildlife is flourishing, giving the local community a renewed waterfront greenspace to enjoy.
- Waste Reduction Overhauls: Operations at Encore Boston Harbor were designed to send zero waste to landfills, and Wynn Las Vegas continues to replace single-use plastics with sustainable alternatives while implementing single-stream recycling.
Lowering Carbon Emissions
Wynn Resorts has made commitments to several significant initiatives designed to confront the global threat of climate change, including net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050, stopping and reversing year-over-year growth of operational carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, and procuring 50 percent renewable energy by 2030. To align with the goals of the Paris Climate Accord, Wynn Resorts will build on the successful planning, implementation and expansion of its large-scale environmental projects, including:
- Wynn Solar at Stillwater (NV): In 2018, Wynn installed one of the 10 largest corporate solar sites of the year, featuring 20 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity. Wynn’s Las Vegas properties include 2 MW of rooftop solar panels, which work in concert with the Stillwater project to help supply up to 75 percent of Wynn’s peak energy needs from the sun.
- Boston Microgrid Innovation: Encore Boston Harbor is the first integrated resort in the U.S. with an on-site microgrid that balances solar energy production, combined heat and power co-generation and battery storage.
Strengthening Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Increasing Board and Management Diversity
Wynn Resorts has established a goal of achieving 50 percent diversity among board members, and as of the 2021 Annual Meeting, Wynn Resorts’ board is 50 percent diverse, with four directors being women and one racially diverse director.
Wynn has adopted an NFL-style “Rooney Rule” policy to include (and have any search firm it engages to include) candidates with a diverse background in race, gender and/or ethnicity when evaluating new candidates for the board.
Engaging Diverse Suppliers and Vendors
Wynn Resorts recognizes the vital contributions of Minority-owned and Women-owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs) to the economies of the nation, the state, the community and the Company. Wynn’s supplier diversity policy objectives are to:
- Actively and routinely seek out qualified MWBEs that can provide high quality commodities and services in a competitive market.
- Encourage major suppliers to Wynn Resorts who are not MWBEs to support diversity in their operations.
Seek opportunities to support the development and competitiveness of MWBEs through instruction, mentoring and other outreach activities.
Investing in Communities
Wynn Resorts’ legacy as an agent of change is supported and extended by the collective spirit of service in the hearts of our approximately 27,000 global employees. Wynn Resorts employees volunteered more than 37,000 hours globally in 2021. Together, they inspired Wynn’s corporate culture of giving that builds resilience in our home communities. Wynn Resorts employees in North America led in 2021 by contributing more than $620,000 to the community through the Wynn Employee Foundation. The Company matching those contributions, and additionally donated more than $2.9 million in 2021.
Combining philanthropy with citywide economic and infrastructure development has become Wynn’s community relations calling card. And because each community the Company operates in functions with its own unique framework, Wynn Resorts design customized community-development projects to solve specific social challenges. To ensure these projects work better for more people and drive long-term inclusive growth, the Company partners with a spectrum of local civic leaders to identify financial, supply chain, and operational gaps for Wynn Resorts to fill where it matters the most. The Company relies on these essential relationships with community leaders to guide Wynn Resorts’ extensive nonprofit work to strengthen infrastructure that provides for the underserved, as well as mobilize immediate relief efforts during times of crisis or natural disaster.
Wynn Resorts extended the international ‘Giving Tuesday’ initiative with its third annual Giving Week celebration. From Nov. 30 to Dec. 7, 2021, Wynn hosted 10 fundraising and volunteer events in support of community partners, including Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, Three Square Food Bank, USO Nevada, Project 150 and the Wynn Employee Foundation.
Wynn Scholarship Programs
The Wynn Employee Foundation’s Scholarship Program was extended to Encore Boston Harbor employees and their families in Fall 2019. One of the first recipients awarded in Spring 2020 was Zhihua Zhu, a freshman at the University of Massachusetts Boston majoring in computer science. Zhihua’s father, Bin Zhu, is an assistant chef at Encore’s Red 8 restaurant. The scholarship program provides up to $7,500 per year for tuition and expenses to employees or their children.
Wynn Resorts also gave $250,000 to the University of Nevada Las Vegas’ International Gaming Institute Leadership Diversity Initiative Fund, which includes support for the Young Executive Scholars Hospitality & Tourism Program. Each summer, rising stars in the Clark County School District are invited to participate in the four-week summer program to discover managerial and executive-level career opportunities in the global hospitality tourism industry.
Responsible Leadership
Protecting and Empowering Consumers
Responsible gaming is an integral part of daily operations at Wynn Resorts. One hundred percent of Wynn Resorts properties adhere to the AGA’s Responsibility Code of Conduct. Patrons may request at any time to be removed from any promotional mailings and revocation of casino-specific privileges such as access to markers, player card privileges and on-site check cashing. The Company reserves the right to exclude a patron from gaming without a request from a patron. Wynn Resorts also makes information available to all patrons explaining the probabilities of winning or losing at the various games offered at its casinos.
Training Employees
Wynn Resorts provides education to all new employees on responsible gaming and provides periodic refresher training to current employees.
Establishing and Following Rigorous Business Standards
Because Wynn Resorts takes pride in guest loyalty, publishing accurate and consistent information is the foundation of building trust with Wynn Resorts’ customers. Responsible marketing is part of the communication strategy across the business and is part of the Company’s commitment to responsible gaming. Wynn Resorts advertises responsibly by including a responsible gaming message and a toll-free helpline number in advertising messaging related to gaming where practical. Wynn Resorts places media where most of the audience is reasonably expected to be above the legal age to participate in gaming activity. The Company does not feature marketing designed to appeal to those under the age of 21. Wynn Resorts’ marketing practices also adhere to AGA’s Responsible Marketing Code.
Combatting Human Trafficking
Human trafficking is a global issue that requires local prevention efforts. The hospitality industry must play an important role. Wynn Resorts rallied around the issue in 2020, developing new training programs and security procedures implemented in 2021. Wynn Las Vegas drew on the program developed at Encore Boston Harbor, which partnered with My Life My Choice, a Boston-based nonprofit, to develop education for every employee upon starting employment. Encore Boston Harbor continued to provide refresher trainings to employees throughout 2020, including a webinar for supervisors on the persistence of human trafficking during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.
In expanding training to Las Vegas, Wynn Resorts partnered with the nonprofit iEmpathize to develop a training program for Wynn North America employees in 2021. The purpose of the training is for employees in both guest-facing roles and back-of-house operations to develop an empathetic, victim-centric awareness of the risks of human trafficking, helping employees identify suspicious behaviors and take the quickest and safest procedures for alerting Wynn Resorts security. These procedures were put into action in early 2021, when Wynn Las Vegas participated in a Las Vegas Strip-wide search for missing minors during Super Bowl Weekend.
WASHINGTON – U.S. commercial gaming revenue totaled $30.0 billion in 2020, down more than 31 percent year-over-year, according to the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker. 2020 marked the first market contraction for the U.S. gaming industry since 2014 and the lowest gaming revenue total since 2003.
The year ended with some positive momentum in the fourth quarter, with a 1.7 percent increase in revenue over Q3 2020. The nearly $9.2 billion in revenue still represented a 17 percent year-over-year decrease.
“COVID-19 devastated our business and the employees and communities across the country that rely on casino gaming’s success,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller. “We have persevered by leading responsible reopening efforts, supporting our employees, and extending a hand to our communities. Still, these numbers show the economic realities of COVID-19 and underscore the importance of targeted federal relief and ramped-up vaccine distribution to accelerate gaming’s recovery in 2021.”
Commercial casinos lost 27 percent of normal operating days throughout 2020 because of mandated COVID-19 closures and, to a lesser degree, disruptions caused by hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. Commercial casinos were open (with capacity restrictions) for an estimated 124,882 days in 2020 instead of 170,484 days had the industry not been shuttered.
The impact of COVID-19 on the casino industry extends beyond gaming revenue. Live entertainment, tourism, and meetings and conventions — which make up more than half of casino resort revenue in tourist destinations like the Las Vegas Strip — all came to a standstill in 2020 and are only now starting to reopen.
“Hospitality and travel have been among the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic. I am encouraged by recent bipartisan momentum on Capitol Hill to support these industries, which are crucial to our nation’s full economic recovery,” added Miller.
Since the reopening of casino properties in mid-2020, the industry has consistently demonstrated its ability to safely return to business, with 911 out of 998 U.S. casinos open today. AGA research shows about one-in-three American adults plan to visit a casino in 2021 — near the highest rate since the AGA began tracking last March. About 80 percent of future casino visitors agree the industry has done a good job at safely reopening.
Gaming’s performance in 2020 was buoyed by the growth of new gaming options, with legal sports betting garnering an all-time high of $1.5 billion in revenue, up 69 percent year-over-year, and iGaming revenue nearly tripling to almost $1.6 billion.
Background
- 30 commercial gaming markets were operational in 2020, while seven jurisdictions launched legal sports betting markets and West Virginia launched a new iGaming market.
- AGA’s Casinos & Communities: COVID-19 Response report details how gaming companies have supported their employees, communities, and frontline workers throughout the pandemic.
- The AGA’s COVID-19 casino tracker lists the reopening status of every U.S. casino.
About the Report
AGA’s Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker provides state-by-state and cumulative insight into the U.S. commercial gaming industry’s financial performance based on state revenue reports. This issue highlights fourth quarter results, ending December 31, 2020, and end-of-year comparisons.
Washington, D.C. – U.S. commercial gaming revenue reached an annual record of $66.5 billion in 2023, according to the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker. The total surpasses 2022’s previous high of $60.5 billion by 10 percent, marking the industry’s third-straight record revenue year.
The year was punctuated by all-time high quarterly revenue of $17.4 billion in Q4 2023, anchored by $6.2 billion in revenue in December, the highest grossing month in industry history.
“From the traditional casino experience to online options, American adults’ demand for gaming is at an all-time high,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller. “Sustaining our momentum will take unified industry efforts around combating pernicious illegal operators and growing responsible gambling efforts in tandem with the growth of the legal market—both of which the AGA is committed to lead on throughout 2024.”
The commercial gaming industry continues to evolve, with online gaming making up nearly one-quarter (24.7%) of nationwide commercial gaming revenue in 2023, a new annual high. Looking at each sector:
- Traditional Gaming: Brick-and-mortar casino slots and table games grossed a record $49.4 billion in 2023, up 3.3 percent over 2022. On a state level, 19 out of 27 traditional gaming markets saw record annual revenue.
- Sports Betting: In 2023, sports betting achieved new records for handle ($119.8B) and sportsbook revenue ($10.9B), up 27.8 and 44.5 percent respectively. This growth was largely fueled by continued maturation across most existing markets as well as several new markets, particularly in Massachusetts and Ohio.
- iGaming: 2023 online casino revenue grew 22.9 percent year-over-year to $6.2 billion in the six states with full-scale legal iGaming.
In 2023, 12 of the top 20 commercial casino gaming markets reported revenue growth compared to the previous year, with the top market—the Las Vegas Strip—seeing the strongest year-over-year gains. New Jersey maintained its spot as the second-highest grossing market, while Chicagoland (third) flipped rankings with the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. market (fourth) and Mississippi Gulf Coast (fifth) rounded out the top five.
The commercial gaming industry also contributed more to state and local governments’ coffers than ever in 2023. Throughout the year, commercial gaming operators paid an estimated $14.4 billion in direct gaming revenue taxes, an increase of 9.7 percent year-over-year. The industry also contributes billions of additional tax dollars to states each year in the form of income, sales, payroll and various other corporate taxes.
“Gaming’s success translates directly to the success of the states, cities and towns in which we operate,” continued Miller. “We are proud to be in 47 U.S. jurisdictions, acting as economic drivers, creating jobs and providing the funding that makes critical public education programs, infrastructure projects, problem gambling resources and more possible.”
Miller will make additional remarks on full-year 2023 commercial gaming revenue figures and preview AGA’s priorities for the year ahead in AGA’s annual State of the Industry webinar on Feb. 20 at 11:30 AM ET/8:30 AM PT.
Everi
“At Everi, we recognize that we can be at our best only when we embrace and reflect the customers and communities we serve. Therefore, we must continuously challenge ourselves to evolve and strive to build a long-lasting culture that fosters, promotes, and encourages diversity and inclusion, environmental sustainability, volunteerism and community involvement, and responsible gaming.”
Advancing Sustainability
Lowering Carbon Emissions
Everi has implemented recording and reporting protocols at its corporate headquarters and other office and manufacturing locations to monitor its environmental impact, and is setting long-term sustainability targets. Everi’s commitment to a reduced carbon footprint and preservation of precious water supplies includes using 100 percent renewable energy to host its data at SWITCH facilities. This 100 percent green energy supply is generated by Nevada solar farms and WECC hydroelectric plants.
Reducing Resource Consumption and Waste
As a smaller Company, Everi is still progressing in its development of measurement tools. Everi has focused its efforts on water and electricity conservation, paper usage, recycling and parts refurbishment, and consolidation of facilities. Everi currently has recycling partners for industrial material used in the manufacture of its products, including cardboard, electronics, pallets, batteries, packaging materials and metals, as well as consumer paper, plastics, and aluminum. In the Games business, Everi redeploys component parts and electronic gaming machines to the extent possible.
Strengthening Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Increasing Board and Management Diversity
The efforts to support diversity in leadership at Everi start with the Board. Everi was recognized by 2020 Women on Boards (now 50/50 Women on Boards) as a Winning “W” Company for achieving at least 20 percent representation of women on its Board prior to the organization’s 2020 target date. Currently, 37 percent of Everi’s independent Board members are women and 25 percent are ethnically diverse.
Strengthening Employee DEI
Everi embraces and lives by one of its key Company values: inclusion. The Company provides leadership training on how to manage unconscious bias in the hiring process, including through a blind resume screening process for new applicants, removing certain demographic information from resumes before the initial review, focusing instead on the talent and qualifications of each applicant.
Investing in Communities
Expanding Education and Career Opportunities
Everi business leaders also support the NEWL program of the Women’s Research Institute of Nevada (WRIN) at UNLV, serving as mentors and offering internships to participating students to provide exposure to the business and to develop the leadership skills of young women.
Everi also provides ongoing support of local charities and community organizations, having contributed to organizations such as those that support the needs of the LBGTQ community, at-risk children, individuals with disabilities, and many Native American organizations throughout North America.
Everi seeks to bring positive, lasting change to the communities where its employees and customers live and work. For instance, Everi is proud of its financial support of the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City, which builds awareness of and provides education about the collective history of 30 First American Nations in Oklahoma, and of many Native American organizations throughout North America.
Women’s Leadership Initiative
The Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) at Everi offers new opportunities for growth and advancement at all levels of leadership. Launched in 2017, the WLI has included more than 145employees. WLI members participate in industry educational seminars and external networking experiences, including events through Global Gaming Women (GGW), an organization dedicated to enriching the professional lives of women in gaming through education, mentorship, and networking. All members are encouraged to lead WLI events and participate in networking activities with Company leadership, as well as the WLI-sponsored Mentorship Program which was expanded in 2022, as a result of its success, to include employees outside the WLI.
Responsible Leadership
Protecting and Empowering Customers
As a technology supplier to the industry, Everi encourages and promotes responsible gaming. Everi’s initiatives and Self Transaction Exclusion Program (STeP) enable casinos to enhance their promotion of responsible gaming while helping them comply with local laws in the prevention of problem gambling. Everi’s CashClub Wallet™ also includes velocity and transaction limit tools as a supplement to its existing STeP program.
To further its commitment to responsibility and provide its casino operator customers a toolset designed to efficiently maintain compliance with various tax reporting and anti-money laundering requirements, the Company has developed Everi Compliance® AML, a platform with features such as quick alerts, currency transaction and suspicious activity report filing, auditable logging, and tax form generation. These compliance features can similarly be utilized by casinos in support of their responsible gaming initiatives, including Merchant STeP programs.
Establishing and Following Rigorous Business Standards
Everi’s Code of Business Conduct, Standards and Ethics contains the Company’s policies on privacy and data protection, anti-money laundering, environmental sustainability, social responsibility, diversity and inclusion, human rights, supplier diversity, workplace safety and health, and responsible gaming. As Everi continues to grow, innovate, and build a culture based on the principles of respect and transparency, and be a transformative force in the gaming supplier market, it is the Company’s duty to its customers, its business associates, the communities it serves, and the Company itself to uphold the highest standard of ethical conduct, integrity, and compliance in all that it does.
Protecting Human Rights
Similarly, Everi’s Supplier Code of Conduct outlines its values and expectations of vendors and their subsidiaries, officers, directors, employees, and agents that supply goods and/or services to Everi. The Company’s Supplier Code of Conduct reinforces its commitment to the improvement of economic, environmental, and social conditions through its business activities, including on human rights and labor practices, environmental regulations, protection, and health and safety.
Everi Cares Giving Module
To continue Everi’s commitment to community and provide its casino operator customers with a way to complement their own corporate social responsibility initiatives and support their communities, the Everi Cares™ Giving Module is a platform that allows casino patrons to donate change from redeemed vouchers. Everi’s customers and their patrons have embraced the concept of the Giving Module and the potential impact from each donation of change. To date, Everi’s customers’ patrons have made donations to approximately 125 regional and national charities through the Giving Module.
Washington, D.C. – Nationwide commercial gaming revenue totaled $14.81 billion in Q2 2022, according to the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker. The total sets a new quarterly record for the industry, beating Q4 2021 by 3.3 percent.
With $29.16 billion generated through the first half of the year—a nearly 18 percent year-over-year increase—2022 is on pace to set a new annual record for commercial gaming revenue for the second consecutive year.
“Q2’s results mark a 16-month period of gains for commercial gaming,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller. “With increasingly difficult year-over-year comparisons, our strength through the first half of 2022 reflects sustained consumer demand for legal options as well as gaming’s record popularity.”
The industry’s growth rate softened throughout the second quarter, with the pace of monthly year-over-year gains slowing from 13.1 percent in April, to 10.7 percent in May, and 2.5 percent in June—demonstrating stabilizing consumer demand and the return to normal gaming operations one year ago.
Twenty-two of the 31 commercial gaming jurisdictions operating during the same period last year experienced revenue increases in Q2 2022. Nine states reported all-time quarterly highs: Arkansas, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon and Pennsylvania.
Traditional casino gaming continued to drive the industry’s success, with both brick-and-mortar slots and table games seeing quarterly revenue records. While slot machine revenue was up 0.2 percent year-over-year, revenue from table games jumped 18.2 percent, indicating the lingering impact that COVID restrictions had on table games in the first half of 2021. In the first six months of the year, traditional casino gaming generated $23.67 billion in revenue, 11.7 percent ahead of the first half of 2021.
The sports betting sector also continues to grow. Consumer demand coupled with six new state market launches over the last year put the vertical up 58.7 percent from Q2 2021. The $3.04 billion in sports betting revenue thus far in 2022 is a 63.9 percent year-over-year increase.
Meanwhile, the six operational U.S. iGaming markets generated $1.21 billion in Q2 2022, narrowly beating the vertical’s previous record set in Q1 2022. With the addition of one market, the $2.42 billion in commercial iGaming revenue generated through June is a 43.5 percent jump over the same period in 2021—the vertical’s highest-grossing year.
“While on pace to set an annual revenue record, we are cognizant of the continued impacts of inflation and labor challenges as well as marketplace concerns of potential recession,” said Miller. “Our members have proven their agility and resilience over the last two years and are well-positioned to face these potential headwinds heading into the second half.”
AGA’s Q2 2022 commercial gaming revenue report comes on heels of the National Indian Gaming Commission’s announcement that tribal operators generated an all-time of high of $39 billion in gaming revenue in 2021. Combined with commercial gaming’s $53 billion in revenue, 2021 beat the previous record held in 2019 by 13 percent.
“Tribal gaming demonstrated its responsible leadership throughout the pandemic and these record results reflect that commitment,” concluded Miller. “The full recovery and ongoing success of tribal casinos goes well beyond the casino floor to support vibrant communities across the country.”
WASHINGTON – Today, the American Gaming Association (AGA) released the latest white paper in its ongoing efforts to promote regulatory reform, providing an in-depth look at regulatory modernization efforts in five gaming jurisdictions.
Highlights from the new white paper, Advancing Regulatory Modernization: Building on a Record of Success, include:
- Ohio and Michigan abandoned their decades-old regulations on the shipment of gaming machines, providing costs savings and streamlined shipping processes;
- Nevada has allowed customers to open unified wagering accounts for financial transactions relating to multiple forms of casino gaming, a critical first step toward meeting consumer expectations for seamless, simple financial tools; and
- Pennsylvania and Mississippi increased the ownership share that triggers the need for an institutional investor to acquire a gaming license, improving gaming companies’ access to capital without raising the regulatory burden.
“Change truly is the new normal in our industry, with each year bringing innovative casino games, delivery systems, customer identification processes and more,” said Sara Slane, senior vice president of public affairs for the American Gaming Association. “As technology continues to disrupt the gaming world, regulatory reinvention must keep pace. Smart regulatory reforms improve our industry’s ability to accommodate changes in the marketplace, provide a seamless experience for consumers and create greater efficiencies for regulators and businesses.”
Background: Driving an efficient regulatory reform process is part of AGA’s strategic goal to create a more favorable business environment for gaming in each state. Across the country, more than 4,000 dedicated public servants are responsible for regulating all forms for gaming. AGA’s regulatory reform initiative is designed to eliminate burdensome regulation that bogs down business and regulators alike. Learn more about the Next Generation policy initiative here. AGA plans to send a copy of today’s white paper to U.S. gaming regulators.
About AGA: The American Gaming Association is the premier national trade group representing the $261 billion U.S. casino industry, which supports 1.8 million jobs nationwide. AGA members include commercial and tribal casino operators, gaming suppliers and other entities affiliated with the gaming industry. It is the mission of the AGA to achieve sound policies and regulations consistent with casino gaming’s modern appeal and vast economic contributions.
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AGS
“At AGS, we cultivate a culture of integrity and commit ourselves to do things the right and responsible way, prioritizing culture, pursuing operational excellence and advancing a sustainable future. We are committed to continuous improvement as it relates to our ESG profile, and we will continue to consider best practices that we may be able to implement in the future.” – David Lopez, President and Chief Executive Officer
Advancing Sustainability
Reducing resource consumption and waste
AGS advances sustainability in several ways. AGS employs recycling and reuse programs at all major facilities, including for metals and electronics, recycling more than 90 percent of materials unable to be repaired or reused, such as ferrous and non-ferrous alloys and copper. The company also promotes refurbishment and reuse whenever possible to reduce environmental impact; more than 50 percent of outgoing AGS products are built with refurbished components, including major game components such as bill validators, printers, displays, major metal components, light fixtures, processor control boards (“PCB”) and others. In product design, AGS updates its designs to incorporate lower-energy components such as LED lighting and more efficient power supplies.
Strengthening Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Strengthening Employee DEI
AGS strives to create a working environment that fosters diversity, inclusion and a sense of belonging in all it does. While proud of consistent progress in hiring, advancing and retaining women and people of color, AGS acknowledges there is more it can do to become more diverse at all levels of the organization by providing more opportunities for women and minorities. Within the senior executive team, 50 percent of AGS’ leaders are people of color, the same proportion as its global employee base. In the United States, approximately 40 percent of AGS employees are diverse, consistent with the U.S. population.
AGS’ diversity, equity and inclusion task force is called I.D.E.A. Squad, for “Inclusion, Diversity, Equality & Acceptance.” The role is to empower people, inside the Company and in their communities, by respecting and embracing what makes each of us different, no matter our age, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, education or national origin. I.D.E.A.S. focuses on four key issues:
- Creating opportunities in underprivileged communities.
- Encouraging diversity of thought.
- Promoting education on the topics of racism and discrimination.
- Celebrating diversity across various company channels.
AGS annually conducts diversity training for all employees globally, focused on the changing workplace and unconscious bias, and offers participation in Apollo and McKinsey Black Leadership Academy Management Accelerator to help equip aspiring leaders of color with the tools and support to achieve their professional aspirations.
Diversity Speaker Series
With a focus on promoting education on the topics of racism and discrimination, AGS launched a virtual diversity speaker series for employees globally. These fireside chat-style discussions feature AGS and external leaders to provide AGS employees with a better understanding of the challenges that people of color face in the workplace, school and professional sports and offer valuable insights and spur meaningful conversations.
Support for Veterans
AGS received the highest honor for supporting veterans in the workplace — the 2019 Gold Medallion and 2021 Platinum Medallion through the U.S. Department of Labor’s HIRE Vets program, the only federal-level program that recognizes companies for recruiting, employing and retaining U.S. military veterans. AGS was the only gaming company to receive the prestigious Platinum Medallion and one of only five companies in Nevada to be recognized. This award reinforces focus on veteran recruiting and on supporting the veterans who work for AGS, as well as their families, through connection to veteran resources in local communities.
Investing in Communities
Addressing Critical Community Needs
AGS actively engages in the communities where it does business. In addition to financial contributions to civic and community organizations, AGS fosters a culture that encourages employees to give their time and talents year-round. AGS actively supports literacy programs, disadvantaged schools, food banks, homeless and abused women and children shelters, holiday adopt-a-family initiatives, the elderly, veterans, and numerous other worthwhile causes. AGS also encourages employees to bring their professional expertise to programs that further STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) education.
Expanding education and career development opportunities
Through the University of Nevada at Las Vegas’ International Gaming Institute, AGS supports Battle Born Girls Innovate, an educational program named after the Nevada state motto for middle school and high school girls. Throughout the year, AGS executives meet with the young women to introduce AGS, demystify success in STEAM fields, and provide the teen women with a forum to engage with female role models. Through laptop donations, financial support and mentorship, AGS also supports the International Gaming Institute’s Young Executive Scholars Hospitality & Tourism Program for under-resourced high school students that includes a rigorous summer course of applied learning, team collaboration and mentor-guided, case-study analysis of the global hospitality tourism industry.
For the second year in a row, AGS is participating in a youth mentorship program with Club Christ, a non-profit with a mission to empower Las Vegas youth. Their program helps students from low-income families stay academically engaged and achieve their dreams of attending college. Lessons learned during the first year of AGS’ participation in the program included feedback from the teens that their AGS mentors helped them understand the importance of healthy relationships and lifestyle choices; better attitudes about school; increased educational aspirations and enhanced self-esteem and self-confidence. For the AGS mentors, positive outcomes included improved interpersonal skills, stronger empathy and a deeper understanding of youth problems, and a sense of accomplishment by positively impacting the life of another person – helping youth achieve their potential and discover their strengths.
AGS provides annual financial support to Global Gaming Women, an independent charitable organization that delivers high impact programs and events centered on the development of women in the gaming and lottery industry.
Responsible Leadership
Establishing and following rigorous business standards
Through memberships in the American Gaming Association and Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers, AGS supports and promotes research-based policies on responsible gaming and provides financial support to several responsible gaming operators, including the International Center for Responsible Gaming, the National Council on Problem Gaming, the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling, The Problem Gambling Center, and GamCare in the United Kingdom. In addition, AGS provides its employees with a no-cost, confidential employee assistance program called The Life Connection (TLC) which provides confidential consultation and counseling services on matters related to alcohol, drugs or gambling addiction.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Washington Football Team has joined the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) Have A Game Plan.® Bet Responsibly.™ public service campaign, making it the first National Football League (NFL) team to partner with the AGA to promote responsible sports betting.
The Washington Football Team will connect Have A Game Plan in-stadium activations, sponsored content on washingtonfootball.com, and campaign promotion on the team’s upcoming preseason radio and television broadcasts.
“With legal sports betting now permitted across our region, we are ensuring responsible gaming serves as a foundation for how we engage in this exciting commercial market,” said Washington Football Team’s Chief Partnership Officer Scott Shepherd. “We’re not only proud to partner with the AGA, the architect of Have A Game Plan, but also proud to lead by educating fans as they enjoy football in an engaging, new way.”
“Getting sports betting right is a shared responsibility for everyone involved,” said AGA Senior Vice President Casey Clark. “The Washington Football Team’s partnership demonstrates their leadership and commitment to making responsibility core to their sports betting strategy. Today’s announcement puts Have A Game Plan in front of more fans and is a step further in building a responsible, sustainable legal market.”
The season-long campaign will launch during the team’s first home preseason game on August 20 versus the Cincinnati Bengals. The Washington Football Team’s preseason radio and television broadcasts will include 20-second spots encouraging fans to bet responsibly and directing fans to AGA’s Have a Game Plan website for resources and other information.
Sports betting is now legal and live in 22 states and the District of Columbia. During the NFL season, six additional states are expected to launch. The NFL has a long-standing partnership with the National Council on Problem Gambling.
The AGA launched Have a Game Plan in late 2019 to educate sports fans on the principles of responsible sports betting. As the first NFL team to join the campaign, the Washington Football Team joins official campaign partners DraftKings, FanDuel, Monumental Sports and Entertainment, NASCAR, NHL, PGA TOUR, Sightline Payments, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Vegas Golden Knights, and UFC.
About the Washington Football Team
Headquartered at Inova Sports Performance Center in Ashburn, Virginia, and owned by Dan and Tanya Snyder since 1999, the historic Washington Football Team has won five World Championship titles including the 1937 and 1942 National Football League Championship games, as well as Super Bowls XVII, XXII and XXVI. Founded in 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts, the team relocated to Washington, D.C. in 1937. Since then, the Washington Football Team has become one of the most recognizable professional sports franchises in history, featuring multiple Hall of Fame coaches, 19 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and one recipient of the Walter Payton Man of The Year Award, Darrell Green. Since 1997, the Team has played their home games at FedExField, a multi-purpose stadium located in Landover, MD.
WASHINGTON – The American Gaming Association (AGA) released new Payments Modernization Policy Principles, reflective of an 18-month, collaborative industry effort, that provide a framework for regulatory flexibility allowing digital payments on the casino floor. The principles come at a time when the majority (57%) of past-year casino visitors report the option for digital or contactless payments on the casino floor is important to them because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Enabling payment choice allows casino customers the ability to supplement cash with safe and secure digital payment options on the casino floor. This not only improves responsible gaming efforts by equipping customers with digital tools to help them monitor their gaming and set limits, but also provides operators, regulators, and law enforcement increased transparency into matters of anti-money laundering and monitoring of financial transactions.
“Advancing opportunities for digital payments has been one of our top priorities since my first day at the AGA. It aligns with gaming’s role as a modern, 21st century industry and bolsters our already rigorous regulatory and responsible gaming measures,” said Bill Miller, AGA president and CEO. “The COVID-19 pandemic made it all the more important to advance our efforts to provide customers with the payment choice they are more comfortable with and have increasingly come to expect in their daily lives.”
Early last year, the AGA convened a working group of members to evaluate the regulatory, processing, and consumer landscape related to expanding payment options on the casino floor. The Payments Modernization Policy Principles, the product of that collaborative effort, seek to educate state and tribal regulators who are considering expanding payment choice:
- Equip customers with more tools to wager responsibly.
- Give customers payment choice and convenience.
- Ensure state laws enable a flexible regulatory approach, capable of keeping pace with evolving forms of digital payments.
- Address heightened customer public health concerns.
- Provide customers confidence in digital payment security.
- Create a uniform regulatory environment for casino operators, suppliers, and regulators.
- Empower law enforcement to better identify offenders through digital payment analysis.
The principles reflect the AGA’s ongoing coordination with regulators, card networks, responsible gaming and problem gambling advocates, financial institutions, and other key players in the payments ecosystem.
Recent AGA research found that 59 percent of past-year casino visitors are less likely to use cash in their everyday lives because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This translates to customer preferences on the casino floor, as more than half (54%) indicate that they would be very likely to utilize a digital or contactless payment option when they gamble.
The AGA is supporting regulator, operator, and supplier efforts to introduce digital payments as part of a number of contactless measures to promote public health on the casino floor.
More information on the AGA’s payments modernization efforts and the full policy principles are available here.
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About the AGA
The American Gaming Association (AGA) is the premier national trade group representing the $261 billion U.S. casino industry, which supports 1.8 million jobs nationwide. AGA members include commercial and tribal casino operators, gaming suppliers, and other entities affiliated with the gaming industry. It is the mission of the AGA to achieve sound policies and regulations consistent with casino gaming’s modern appeal and vast economic contributions.