About this app
What is Chicken Drop?
The final third derives from a further 0.4% of a club’s gaming machine profits over $1 million during a tax year.
However, the scheme has faced ongoing scrutiny and criticism. Clubs can direct the funds towards upgrading their own facilities, and there is no mandated verification for how the grant recipients must deploy the money.
The latest 2025 contribution report indicated that $127 million was awarded, with $53.3 million specifically allocated to sport-related organisations.
About Chicken Drop
According to data from Yahoo Finance, the resort and casino sector is -41% over the last five years, and the overall gambling sector, which includes major sportsbooks and online operators, is +7%; the benchmark S&P 500 index, by comparison, is +71% during that span.
Two blockbuster developments in the casino space earlier this year seemed to indicate an increasingly bullish bet on the sector, including Fertitta Entertainment’s acquisition of Caesars Entertainment in May. The other is a subsequent takeover offer of MGM Resorts from its largest shareholder, Barry Diller’s People Inc. But a negative shift in market conditions could affect both deals.
In July, Fertitta’s General Counsel Steven Scheinthal told the Nevada Gaming Control Board that the company had a letter of intent from banks to finance the transaction but was waiting for better borrowing conditions. Fertitta is assuming nearly $12 billion in Caesars’ debt and is committed to a $6.6 billion financing package.
What is Chicken Drop?
This year, the team is responding with a new initiative, Hall 7. The launch of Hall 7 represents a stronger platform to drive the next phase of iGaming innovation.
Tech Race in Warsaw this September and Hall 7 at ICE in Barcelona this January are set to become sequential chapters of the same conversation. CTOs, CSOs and data leaders can expect to pick up where they left off four months later.
Both events are betting on the same idea proving useful for the industry. Getting a room full of exactly the right people together beats chasing them individually across the globe.
