Slot Machine Group Spends Another $78K+ On Petition Effort

Arkansas Lottery, Casinos, ,

In January the group Arcade Arkansas spent $78,408.58 on its petition drive to bring casino-style gambling machines to Arkansas, according to reports filed this week with the state Ethics Commission.

Over $70,000 of the group’s funds went to Spur Line Strategies for “Signature/Political Consulting,” the report indicated.

Arcade Arkansas is putting serious money into its effort to amend the state constitution to bring casino-style gambling machines to Arkansas.

The group has spent nearly $359,000 on the effort since last summer.

If they are successful, the amendment will legalize some 15,000 gambling machines statewide under the Arkansas Lottery and could create miniature casinos all over the state — with little or no oversight to prevent fraud or corruption.

Photo Credit: Win win win! by Domas Mituzas, on Flickr

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Arkansans Bet Over $700,000 on Super Bowl

Casinos,

Last week we wrote that Arkansas’ new casinos now offer sports betting.

On Tuesday KUAR reported that Arkansans wagered more than $705,000 on the Super Bowl alone this year.

As we’ve said before, sports betting poses a real threat to sports leagues — especially at colleges and universities.

It threatens to undermine the integrity of athletic programs.

All told, Arkansans have wagered approximately $11.5 million on sporting events since last summer, according to KUAR.

In other words, casino gambling and sports betting are pulling millions of dollars out of Arkansas’ economy.

Read more about this story here.

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Arkansas Casinos Offer Gambling on College Basketball, Professional Sports

Gambling,

Southland casino in West Memphis is offering sports betting ahead of Super Bowl Sunday, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Journalist Mike Wickline reports,

The casino’s retail sportsbook began accepting wagers on Sunday’s big game, NBA games, college basketball, NASCAR racing, PGA tournaments and more, Southland marketing manager Natalie Carlson said.

Sports betting is also offered at the Saracen casino annex in Pine Bluff — which is operated by the Quapaw Tribe out of Oklahoma — and at Oaklawn’s casino in Hot Springs.

Sports betting poses a real threat to sports leagues — especially at colleges and universities. It threatens to undermine the integrity of school athletic programs.

In 2017, Arkansans reported nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in gambling losses on their income taxes, according to the Department of Finance and Administration.

Simply put: Casino gambling and the state lottery are sapping hundreds of millions of dollars out of Arkansas’ economy every year.

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