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Last month, US President Donald Trump made an impromptu visit to Las Vegas, hosting a rally at Red Rock. Trump called the Fertittas a “beautiful family” during his remarks. Culinary, meanwhile, denounced the event and the Fertittas’ support of Trump and Nevada’s Republican Governor Joe Lombardo.
“As Lombardo runs for re-election in a state built and run by unionised hospitality workers, Culinary Union is demanding to know why the governor stands with Station Casinos and Trump’s harmful economic agenda instead of fighting and delivering for the working people who power Nevada’s economy,” the union said in a statement at the time.
Jess has covered the global gaming industry since 2022. A native of Reno, Nevada, he’d like to note that it’s Ne-va-da, not Ne-VAH-da.
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Through July, the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority (LVCVA) reported that visitor volume has rebounded only 0.5%. 2026 followed a difficult 2025, where visitation crashed 7.5%.
Far fewer travelers are arriving in the casino town by air this year. Harry Reid International Airport reported 30.2 million passengers through July—a 6.9% drop from the same period in 2025—with international traffic down nearly 9%.
The LVCVA and Harry Reid International Airport have not yet released their August reports. Truist Securities analyst Barry Jonas isn’t expecting a major rally.
How to play Badge Blitz
Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated that, if it were up to him, online betting companies would be shut down.
During a livestream on Sunday, he said he had met with “eight victims of online betting”. To reinforce his criticism of the sector and in an attempt to win over conservative voters, he pointed out that one gambler had made 1,400 instant fund transfers (Pix) to a betting site. Lula criticised the Central Bank for failing to detect such a high volume of transactions to a single company.
However, that responsibility does not lie with the Central Bank. It is the role of the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets to monitor and regulate the sector. Betting companies submit detailed daily reports on bettors’ financial transactions with the sites. A specific module within Brazil’s betting management system detects recurring transfers.
