This week’s casino news starts off with a new gaming job opening up in the NFL. The only odd part is the timing of the posting. Let’s take a closer look and explore.

NFL Posts Sports Betting VP Job After Suspension of Calvin Ridley

The NFL has just posted an opening for the position of Vice President in regards to sports betting. This comes around at a very odd time as Atlanta Falcons wideout Calvin Ridley was just suspended for the entire upcoming season after placing sports wagers while he was away from the team. According to some reports, the league actually created this position two years ago but given the timing of all of this, it does look like a bad coincidence. Their story is that while the post was made a while ago, they weren’t able to fill it because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley
Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley (18) warms up before an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

The duties of this job are to continue to expand sports betting partnerships and initiatives across the league. It also demands that any candidate is able to “work collaboratively” with other people while also having a strong understanding of the sports betting business landscape.

As it stands right now, the league hasn’t announced when they plan on filling this executive role in their management.

Station Casinos Make Progress on New Property 

Get ready for a brand-new casino resort in Las Vegas as Station Casinos is officially building a new property for the first time in 16 long years. The property is going to be named the Durango Casino & Resort. Station Casinos, along with around 300 members of their team, got together recently to perform a ceremonial groundbreaking.

It is expected that the casino will be officially open for business in late 2023 and will be located on the southwest end of Las Vegas. The parent company of Station Casinos, Red Rock Resorts, was also present at the groundbreaking ceremony.

The building is going to have roughly 83,000 square feet for gambling along with 200 hotel rooms. The company does have plans to implement a sportsbook into the property as well. However, no mention of a poker room was made in the announcement.

We’ll have to see how this venue does as new openings in Las Vegas haven’t thrived of late. There was lots of hype surrounding Resorts World but it hasn’t attracted the type of traffic they thought it would.

Indiana Casino Moving Further From Execution Chamber

A new Indiana casino that was about to be under initial construction is getting a new location. The original plans saw the casino being erected near the Illinois state line where they had 20.9 acres of land set out for them. Unfortunately, the land that they were planning to build on was right next to a sewage treatment plant and an execution chamber at a federal prison.

Originally, not many people knew about the other unsavory sites nearby but now that it’s out there in the public, many of the minds behind the casino are worried that this will serve as a deterrent for customers. After all, who wants to be visiting these types of areas?

Rather than deal with a marketing heading, now the Indiana casino gaming regulators have given the company permission to move their casino to Terre Haute instead. This is already considered a far more favorable position for the casino than where they were previously. It is safe to say that guests are going to feel a lot more comfortable without being in sight of an execution chamber and a sewage plant.

The property that is going to be opened will be called the Queen of Terre Haute. It cost $240 million to develop and is going to have 50 table games alongside 1,000 slot machines. There have been plans for a sportsbook to be added as well but didn’t talk about if it would be ready at launch. As for a poker room, there wasn’t any mention of it.

James Guill

James Guill is a former professional poker player who writes fro GambleOnlineUSA.com about poker, sports, casinos, gaming legislation and the online gambling industry in general. His past experience includes working with IveyPoker, PokerNews, PokerJunkie, Bwin, and the Ongame Network. From 2006-2009 he participated in multiple tournaments including the 37th and 38th World Series of Poker (WSOP). James lives in Virginia and he has a side business where he picks and sells vintage and antique items.

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