August 11, 2023

August 11, 2023

Dearth of igaming legislation prompts major WynnBet roll-back

Wynn Resorts blames a dearth of igaming legislation and marketing costs for a major reduction in its online brand WynnBet’s US footprint.

Wynn will cease operations in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, New Jersey, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virgina as soon as possible.

Operations in New York and Michigan remain under review. Only Nevada and Massachusetts operations are guaranteed to continue – states where it operates land-based properties.

“Better uses of capital deployment”

There are better uses of capital deployment for Wynn shareholders than the high levels of marketing spend required for online sports betting, chief financial officer Julie Cameron-Doe explained.

“While we believe in the long-term prospects of igaming, the dearth of igaming legislation and the presence of numerous other investment opportunities available to us around the globe have led us to the decision to curtail our capital investment in WynnBet to focus primarily on those states where we maintain..

August 11, 2023

Four more charged in Iowa State gambling investigation

Prosecutors in Story County, Iowa have charged four more Iowa State football players for tampering with records.

The charges come as part of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s (DCI) sports integrity probe.

Among those charged was Iowa State running back Jirehl Brock. He is accused of placing four bets on games involving his own team. Prosecutors allege that he played in two of these games.

The first round of charges were issued on 1 August. At that time, seven individuals were charged.

In May, the University of Iowa reported 26 athletes across five sports were suspected of betting on sports. Betting on sports is against National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) rules.

Use of third party accounts to conceal betting

The four have all been charged with using a third party sports betting account to make bets. This practice would have concealed that the now-charged individuals were placing the bets.

Over the course of his wagering activity, Brock placed 1,327 mobi..

August 11, 2023

Risky business: The perils of setting Premier League odds

Simon Trim, launch consultant to 10star lifts the lid on the headaches facing bookmakers as a new Premier League season starts and what they can do to separate the signals from all the noise.

If, as a famous saying goes, the thoughts of a young man turn to love in springtime, then at this point in the summer – at the start of the football season – it’s all about what bookmakers are going to lay.

For trading teams, there are a multitude of factors to take into account – the significant one being transfers.

New signings can generate a lot of excitement among fans in the same way that losing a key player can be a big blow. Tottenham have drifted by around 7% to finish in the EPL top four next season, largely on the back of Harry Kane heading to Bayern Munich.

Simon Trim, launch consultant to 10star

While the transfer spending firepower of both the Saudi Arabia and MLS leagues and the subsequent means of offloading expensive unwanted players is good news for some Premier League clubs,..

August 11, 2023

ITIA suspends three tennis players for match fixing

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has handed provisional suspensions to Timur Khabibulin, Sanjar Fayziev and Igor Smilansky for match fixing.

Each suspension came into effect on 25 July and will remain in place until the ITIA decides sanctions. Each case relates to breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP).

Kazakhstan’s Khabibulin, who reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of 753 in 2016, was found to have breached the TACP 18 times between 2014 and 2018.

In the case of Fayziev, he committed five breaches of the TACP following an approach from Khabibulin. The Uzbeki national had a career-high ATP ranking of 253 in 2017.

Finally, Smilansky of Israel breached the TACP three times after also being approached by Khabibulin. He had a career-high ATP ranking of 451 in 2018.

Tennis match fixing – corrupt approaches

The players were collectively found to have contrived aspects of matches, related to tennis match fixing. They were also ruled to have facili..

August 11, 2023

Bet365 and FanDuel among applicants for KY mobile betting licence

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) has received applications for new mobile sports betting licences from seven operators including Bet365 and FanDuel.

Kentucky will open its legal online wagering market next month, as per a schedule agreed last month. This came after the governor, Andy Beshear, approved legal betting by signing off on House Bill 551 in April.

Retail wagering will go live on 7 September, with mobile following on 28 September.

Applications for licences in the state have been open for some time, with the KHRC receiving proposals from a number of major operators.

Joining Bet365 and FanDuel in applying for mobile licences are BetMGM, Caesars, Circa, DraftKings and Penn Sports Interactive.

Kentucky racetracks eye retail licences

In terms of retail permits, the KHRC said seven of the state’s licensed sportsbooks have put forward applications.

These include Churchill Downs in Louisville, Oak Grove Gaming and Racing in Oak Grove, Ellis Park in Henderson, The Re..

August 11, 2023

FanDuel and DraftKings neck-and-neck in New York during July

Rival operators FanDuel and DraftKings posted almost identical online sports betting revenue in New York during July, while the state reported its lowest monthly handle in 11 months.

Players spent $962.1m (£758.6m/€875.7m) betting on sports online in July. This was the first time New York’s monthly handle has fallen below $1.00bn since August last year.

The total was 20.1% ahead of $800.8m in July last year but 17.5% behind June’s $1.17bn handle.

Gross gaming revenue (GGR) from online betting during the month reached $105.1m. This was up 43.4% from $73.3m last year and 1.3% ahead of $103.8m in June.

FanDuel versus DraftKings – the battle for New York crown

In revenue terms, there was very little between FanDuel and DraftKings. FanDuel has been the frontrunner in New York for some time but DraftKings has steadily closed the gap over recent months.

Flutter Entertainment-owned FanDuel remained marginally ahead with $40.9m in revenue for July. The operator also took $384.6m in online..