Betting News Archives

January 30, 2023

US sports betting: The state of play

H2 Gambling Capital provides an overview of the state of the US sportsbook market today, with a sport-by-sport analysis, new insights on bet types and the role of free bets.

Sports betting is now legal in some form in 33 states, and $85bn of legal wagers have been made with licensed US sportsbooks in the past 12 months.

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Sports betting gross win per adult

Free bets

By sport analysis

Bet type analysis

Despite a handful of states only allowing retail sports betting, over 90% of handle is generated through online / mobile sports betting.

In terms of gross win / customer losses, US-licensed sportsbooks have generated over $6.3bn in gross win (handle less prizes paid out) over the past 12 months, with just under 90% of this generated through online / mobile channels.

However, we note that gross win figures include free bets, so the actual net win (the actual customer losses) is much lower than this.

The hold margin can vary substantially on a month-by-month basis, due to s..

January 30, 2023

US sports betting in 2023: Where do we go from here?

May marks the fifth anniversary of PASPA's repeal, and US sports betting proliferating at pace. iGB's principal data partner H2 Gambling Capital analyses the current state of the market, and the forces that will drive continued growth.

Over the week starting 30 January, iGB will release H2 Gambling Capital’s latest in-depth analysis of the US sports betting market. Read part one here.

H2 Gambling Capital have assessed the major trends and developments of the past year of US sports betting which has seen over $85bn legal bets made across 33 states – 90% of which has taken place online.

The gross win generated over the same period totals over $6.3bn but H2 estimates that free-bets make up around 39% of this, indicating that net win came in at $3.8bn.

Commercially regulated sports betting is now available to 43% of the US adult population across 26 states which have a combined GDP of over $10tn. With this considered, H2 estimates that the average gross win per adult over th..

January 30, 2023

SIS pens 24/7 Live Racing deal with BetConstruct

BetConstruct will feature live racing content from Sports Information Services (SIS) as part a new partnership.

Under the terms of the deal, BetConstruct’s platform will integrate SIS’ offerings, starting with its 24/7 Live Racing Content.

This comprises of over 35,000 horse races and 38,000 greyhound events, taking place at over 170 racecourses across five continents.

SIS said the deal with the London-headquartered supplier represents an important step within its stated ambition of further developing relationships with leading platforms.

Andy Kelly, SIS’ commercial manager for UK and Europe, said: “We’ve been extremely open that SIS has a strategic goal of strengthening its partnerships with platforms and distributors.

“BetConstruct has an excellent global reach that allows for significantly more operators worldwide to have access to the best racing products on the market. It has also been a pleasure working with the BetConstruct team and I am looking forward to a long and succes..

January 30, 2023

Caesars Sportsbook opens at Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino

A new Caesars Sportsbook has launched at Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The new venue marks the first Caesars Sportsbook location in downtown Las Vegas.

The sportsbook offers three betting windows, a number of self-service betting kiosks, an LED TV viewing wall and several odds boards.

Downtown Grand celebrated the opening of the sportsbook with a ribbon cutting ceremony and an appearance by author and professional gambler Anthony Curits.

“We’re known for delivering elevated hotel experiences and the new Caesars Sportsbook is no exception,” said Andrew Economon, general manager of Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino.

“We know our guests will enjoy the exceptional offerings of this all-new sports betting venue.”

Last week, Caesars Entertainment entered into a sports betting partnership with Raynham Park in Massachusetts.

January 27, 2023

James Arnold appointed CEO of The Football Pools

Industry executive James Arnold has been appointed chief executive of iconic British betting business The Football Pools.

Arnold began his new role earlier this month, at the start of the business’ centenary year.

He joins from Noel Hayden’s LiveScore Group, which runs the Virgin Bet and LiveScore Bet sports betting brands, where he spent three years first as chief operating officer, then chief commercial officer.

Earlier in his career, Arnold worked for the likes of Betway, Boylesports and SportingBet, holding a number of marketing and executive roles during his tenure with each operator.

He replaces Derek Lloyd, who had served as CEO of The Football Pools since July 2017.

Arnold said he was “delighted” to take charge of an iconic british brand

“I’m delighted to be joining such an iconic British brand at a time of significant change and development,” Arnold said.

“A lot of good work has already been done to reposition the company for growth and I look forward to working w..

January 27, 2023

HKJC blasts proposal to increase football betting duty to 80%

The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) has hit out at a proposal from the New People’s Party (NPP) to increase the region’s football betting duty by an additional 30%, saying the plan lacks “understanding”.

The current rate is set at 50% on net stake receipts, but the NPP proposal would increase this to 80%, which in turn would mean the HKJC would have to pay significantly more tax.

The HKJC estimated that if the duty change were to be approved, the amount it pays in tax would jump from the current HK$25.00bn (£2.58bn/€2.94bn/US$3.19bn) to HK$31.00bn, while revenue would fall from HK15.00bn to HK$9.00bn, a decline of 40%.

“It will result in a zero surplus at best or more likely a negative one, preventing the club from making necessary investments to secure its future and from contributing to the community,” the HKJC said.

“In reality, however, consumer behaviour can be highly dynamic. Any perturbation such as a tax increase, or simply the perception of such, could easily result in a dis..

January 26, 2023

Denmark breaks online casino revenue record as gambling grows in 2022

Denmark saw its gambling market grow in 2022, despite a drop in sports betting.

Spillemyndigheden, the Danish gambling authority, said total gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the year to 31 December 2022 came to DKK6.70bn ($991.4m/€910.1m/£799.8m), which was up 7.5% on the DKK6.23bn recorded in the previous year.

Online casino was the largest segment, comprising DKK2.88bn, which was up 2.1% on the 2021 figure. The segment was worth DKK272.3m in December, which was the largest amount since records began in 2012, and up 3.4% on December 2021.

The second largest segment, sports betting, was down 3.6% to DKK2.32bn despite the Fifa World Cup taking place during the year. December’s GGR figure of DKK135.5bn was the lowest return since October 2021 and down 35.0% on December 2021.

Slot machines generated DKK1.15bn in 2022, which was up considerably on the Covid-impacted 2021. Some DKK99.2m was taken in December 2022, up 44.5% on the same month in 2021.

Land-based casino also saw big gains i..

January 26, 2023

Plotting out the priorities for US sports betting in 2023

Reflecting on the last year, 2022 was another year of growth at breakneck speed in the US sports betting market – particularly from a regulatory perspective.

As of December 2022, sports betting had either been fully legalised, or had approved legislation, in 36 states plus Washington DC, with Ohio kicking off 1 January 2023 with a roar. In fact, opening weekend numbers in Ohio shattered previous records held by New York and Pennsylvania, with 11.3 million geolocation transactions and 783,900 unique accounts created.

Measuring the opportunity

With that growth, we have seen an influx of companies entering the betting space – not just operators but also folks like new platform providers, unique B2B product and service providers and marketing affiliates.

eric frank, ceo and co-founder, odds on compliance

But it hasn’t been all roses and sunshine.

The year 2022 saw a number of sportsbook operator closures, the SPAC market dried up and investment money became tougher to come by. There ..

January 25, 2023

Altenar expands into Belgium with Starcasino

Malta-headquartered sportsbook supplier Altenar has expanded into the Belgian market after securing a new partnership with Starcasino.

Belgian operator Starcasino integrated the full Altenar sportsbook solution at the end of last year and is now offering customers in the country a range of pre-match and live betting.

Other tools include full promotional suite and customer support across risk management, limits and communication, while Altenar will also act as Starcasino’s technology partner.

“Our sportsbook solution is one of the best and most flexible available, and we are thrilled to bring this to our new partner, Starcasino,” Altenar sales manager Alejandro Cazorla said.

“We want to empower our partners, helping them to achieve their goals, launching new markets and the adaptable nature of our solutions allow us to do just that.”

Starcasino board member Stefaan Maene added: “When setting out our plan for launch in Belgium, we hoped to have a partner that not only allows us to o..