Casino News Roundup: Boyd Gaming Opens New Vegas Casino & Playradar Launches
Welcome to the Casino Daily News Roundup - your briefing on the latest news from the global casino industry. We bring you the biggest stories from across the sector, covering everything from major business deals and revenue figures to new openings and regulatory developments.
Boyd Gaming Opens Cadence Crossing - Its First New Las Vegas Casino In Over 20 Years
Boyd Gaming is opening the doors to its newest property today - and for the company, it is something of a landmark moment.
Cadence Crossing Casino in Henderson, Nevada, opens to the public at noon local time on Wednesday, March 25.
It is Boyd's first ground-up casino development in over two decades and its first new property in the Las Vegas area since the Stardust era on the Strip.
Located at 920 N. Boulder Highway in east Henderson, the 50,000-square-foot property replaces the former Jokers Wild Casino, which operated on the same site.
The new facility opens with more than 450 slot machines - roughly double the number previously available at Jokers Wild.
Two restaurants, a center bar and a lounge will also be available from day one. Table games are not part of the initial launch, though Boyd has not ruled out adding them in future phases.
The location is no accident. Cadence Crossing sits within the Cadence master-planned community, which ranked third in the nation for new-home sales in 2025.
The surrounding neighborhood sold more than 1,200 homes last year alone. Boyd CEO Keith Smith has spoken confidently about the casino's long-term prospects, pointing to the area's continued residential growth as a key driver of demand.
The company has earmarked a portion of a $75million capital allocation to Southern Nevada properties for the project, and if performance meets expectations, a 114-room hotel is planned for the adjacent land once the former Jokers Wild building is demolished.
The opening forms part of a wider Boyd Gaming push in 2026. The company reported record annual revenue of $4.09billion in 2025 and has outlined an ambitious pipeline of property improvements across its portfolio.
Elsewhere in Nevada, a modernization project is underway at Suncoast in Summerlin, with room renovations at The Orleans scheduled for later in the year.
For players looking for quality gambling sites in the Las Vegas locals market, Cadence Crossing offers a fresh option in one of the fastest-growing communities in Southern Nevada.
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Sportradar Launches Playradar To Bridge The Gap Between Sports Data And Casino Gaming
Sports technology giant Sportradar has announced the launch of Playradar - a brand-new iGaming division that aims to combine the company's deep sports data expertise with a full suite of online casino content.
The announcement was made on Tuesday, March 24, with game releases planned throughout 2026.
The initial rollout will cover the UK, North America and Latin America, with all activity confined to regulated markets.
At the heart of Playradar is a 24/7 live experience center, allowing players to watch live sports streams while playing casino games simultaneously on the same screen.
The product range also includes hybrid content that blends live and historical sports streaming with casino mechanics - a concept designed to tap into growing demand for cross-vertical gaming experiences.
A full suite of traditional casino content will be available too, including slots, table games, arcade titles, and virtual sports.
Leading the new division is Edo Haitin, former CEO of Playtech Live, who joins Sportradar as Executive Vice President of iGaming. Haitin brings more than 20 years of industry experience to the role.
Sportradar founder and CEO Carsten Koerl described the launch as "a natural and scalable extension" of the business.
With most of Sportradar's existing clients already operating across both sportsbook and casino verticals, the company sees Playradar as a logical step toward increasing long-term player value for operator partners worldwide.
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UK Gambling Levy Launch Leaves Charities Facing An Uncertain Future
The rollout of the UK's new statutory gambling levy has sparked unease across the sector, with a number of charities and support organizations warning that the funding transition has been poorly managed.
The levy - designed to raise between £90m and £100m annually to fund gambling harm prevention, treatment and research - came into effect following the government's decision to move away from voluntary industry contributions.
The concerns center on timing. Organizations that applied for transitional funding were notified of outcomes just 13 days before the new funding cycle began.
For many smaller charities, that left almost no time to plan ahead.
The Gambling Lived Experience Network (GLEN), which represents individuals and groups affected by gambling harm, warned that the short notice risks destabilizing essential front-line services.
Structural questions have also emerged. Prevention funding in England is now overseen by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities - a government body with limited prior involvement in gambling harm.
Treatment services, meanwhile, fall under NHS England, which is itself in the middle of significant organizational restructuring.
GLEN has criticized what it describes as insufficient consultation throughout the process. Industry observers note that the levy's long-term ambition - to provide more stable funding than the previous voluntary model - remains sound.
But the transition period, critics argue, has created exactly the kind of short-term instability it was designed to avoid.
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Ontario's iGaming Market Continues To Post Strong Numbers As Regulated Sector Grows
Canada's most advanced regulated online casino market is continuing to go from strength to strength.
Ontario's iGaming sector recorded revenue of approximately $425m in December 2025 alone - the latest in a series of strong monthly figures since the province fully regulated online casino activity in April 2022.
The results reflect the broader maturity of Ontario's model, which has been built around a clear regulatory framework established by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.
Live dealer games, slots, and newer formats such as crash-style titles have all contributed to the province's growing digital gaming revenues.
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario has positioned the province as a template for other Canadian jurisdictions considering their own regulated iGaming frameworks.
Industry analysts expect the momentum to continue into 2026, with virtual reality gaming formats potentially adding a further dimension to the province's already-diverse online casino offering.
Ontario's experience continues to be closely watched by US states still weighing the merits of legalizing online casino play - a debate that shows no sign of slowing down as more jurisdictions explore the potential of a regulated digital gaming market.
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