Betting News Archives

November 16, 2023

Mississippi sports betting market shrinks in October

The Mississippi Gaming Commission has posted a year-on-year drop in sports betting handle and revenue for October, while the Magnolia State also reported a month-on-month decline.

Betting handle in Mississippi amounted to $49.5m in October. This was 11.9% lower than the $56.2m posted in October 2022 and also 4.1% behind $51.6m in September this year.

In terms of revenue, this reached $7.3m during October. The Commission said this was down 5.2% from $7.7m last year and 9.9% behind September’s $8.1m.

Mississippi players head to the coast

Coastal casinos remained the most popular venues to place sports bets in Mississippi during October. These casinos took the most wagers and also generated the highest amount of revenue in the month.

Players spent a total of $33.8m at coastal casinos in October, with the venues turning $4.5m in revenue for the month.

Elsewhere, central casinos processed $9.7m in sports bets and reported $2.1m in wagering revenue. A further $6.0m was bet at northern ..

November 16, 2023

Arizona sports betting handle hits six-month high in September

Consumers in Arizona spent $610.7m (£492.7m/€563.0m) betting on sports in September, the highest monthly total since March.

The September figure was 13.5% higher than $538.0m last year and 13.3% more than $538.9m in August 2023. It is also the sixth time monthly sports betting handle surpassed $600.0m in Arizona.

Of this total, $605.2m was bet with online operators and $4.0m retail sportsbooks. Players won a total of $550.6m wagering on sports in Arizona in September.

Adjusted gross event wagering receipts before free bets hit $59.7m. This was up 8.2% from September 2022 and almost double the $30.9m reported in August. Online gross receipts amounted to $59.0m and retail just $473,199.

Arizona free bets exceed $27.0m in September

Free bets and promotional credits in September totalled $27.1m, almost all of which came from online operators.

After discounting these free bets, adjusted gross event wagering receipts hit $32.6m. This was 6.2% higher than September 2022 and also 52.3% ..

November 16, 2023

DraftKings smashes more Massachusetts sports betting records in October

DraftKings set new monthly records for sports betting handle and revenue in Massachusetts during October, while the Bay State’s overall market also grew month-on-month.

Players in Massachusetts spent a total of $571.8m (£461.5m/€527.6m) betting on sports in October, up 11.6% from $512.2m in September. It is also the second-highest monthly total since the state launched legal betting in March, just short of the $579.3m bet in April.

Online sports betting spend in October reached $555.7m, with retail wagers at $16.0m.

Massachusetts just misses out on revenue record

Turning to taxable sports betting revenue, this also increased month-on-month following the rise in handle.

Total market revenue amounted to $59.2m, up 18.9% from $49.8m in September. This was also just 3.0% shy of the $61.0m record set in May.

Online betting generated $58.2m in total revenue, with retail’s contribution in October at $979,329.

DraftKings revenue exceeds $300m in October

Breaking down the market by oper..

November 15, 2023

Detroit casinos hit by strikes as revenue slips to $82.8m in October

Revenue from the three commercial casinos in Detroit declined to $82.8m (£66.5m/€76.2m) in October as venues in Michigan felt the impact of ongoing strikes.

Some Detroit casino workers have been on strike since 17 October. This has led to the partial closures of casinos with certain facilities not being available for almost a month.

This inevitably hit monthly performance during October, with revenue down 19.5% from $102.8m last year. The October figure was also 18.5% lower than the $101.6m posted in September this year.

Breaking this down, Detroit tables games revenue amounted to $81.7m, down 18.9% year-on-year. The total was also 18.3% behind September’s total.

The other $1.1m was attributed to sports betting qualified adjusted gross receipts (QAGR), a drop of 46.3% from 2022. Sports betting QAGR was also 28.6% lower than September.

In terms of sports betting handle, Detroit consumers spent $18.1m wagering at casinos in October. This was a sharp drop from $34.2m in the same mon..

November 15, 2023

FanDuel and Genius Sports launch NFL BetVision streaming solution

FanDuel Group and Genius Sports have further expanded their existing partnership with the launch of a new streaming solution, NFL BetVision.

Focused on the National Football League (NFL), FanDuel and Genius say NFL BetVision is designed to improve the live betting experience.

Incorporating BetVision into the FanDuel Sportsbook will allow fans to watch select NFL games inside the app. FanDuel will also be able to add other features such as integrated odds, real-game stats and graphic overlays.

In addition, Genius will continue to provide FanDuel with access to NFL Next Gen Stats (NGS) and the league’s official sports betting data feed. Genius is the exclusive distributor of the NFL’s official league data.

Genius building on early BetVision success

The launch of NFL BetVision comes after Genius unveiled the original BetVision solution in September. BetVision was initially available on the Caesars and Fanatics Sportsbooks, with it now expanded to FanDuel as an NFL offering.

Since B..

November 15, 2023

ESPN Bet launches across 17 US states

ESPN Bet, the newly branded online sportsbook operated by Penn Entertainment, has now officially gone live across 17 states in the US.

Players can now place bets with the sportsbook on the ESPN Bet app and website in states including Arizona, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois and Ohio.

ESPN Bet is the product of Penn’s $1.5bn (£1.2bn/€1.4bn) partnership with Disney-owned ESPN, the largest sports media brand in the US.

As per the agreement, Penn will operate ESPN Bet while ESPN promotes the app across its online and broadcast platforms.

The launch details

ESPN Bet is a rebranding of existing sports betting app, Barstool Sportsbook. In August, Penn said it sold Barstool Sports back to its founder Dave Portnoy for $1.

“We are excited to announce that we plan to simultaneously launch ESPN Bet across the 17 states in which we operate online sports betting, subject to final approvals,” said Penn CEO Jay Snowden, commenting on Penn’s Q3 results.

“This strategic allia..

November 14, 2023

Forging a new path in daily fantasy sports

Amid rapid expansion in all forms of online gambling, one company is attempting to blaze a new trail. Rourke Struthers, CEO of GameBlazers, is carving out a new corner of the daily fantasy sports (DFS) industry, writes Cole Rush.

“It’s a gamified approach to fantasy sports,” Struthers says of GameBlazers. The DFS platform currently offers NFL contests.

Participants receive packs of items – football players – with multipliers. A star running back might come with a 1.3x multiplier, for example. GameBlazers team owners can then use their items to field a roster of players within the salary cap.

The novel approach must contend with existing competition in the DFS space and the proliferation of online sportsbooks and casinos. Struthers says GameBlazers is more than up for the challenge.

“So many of the dollars in this industry have gone to the gambling side,” he says. “But look at video games in general and it’s a bigger category. We wanted to take that underlying concept and iterate on..

November 14, 2023

Australia lower house passes credit card gambling ban bill

The Australia House of Representatives, the lower house of the country’s parliament, has passed a bill that would introduce a blanket ban on using credit cards for online gambling.

The Interactive Gambling Amendment (Credit and Other Measures) Bill 2023 was submitted in September. It seeks to ban credit cards and other credit-related products, as well as digital currencies.

Introducing the bill has led to significant debate in parliament, with several amendments being filed to alter the bill. However, these were ultimately unsuccessful and the bill passed today (14 November) with support from both major parties in Australia.

The bill will now move forward to the Senate, the upper house of parliament in Australia, for further debate.

Breaking down the credit card bill

Aside from the ban on credit products, the bill includes a host of other measures that would come into effect.

These include heavy fines for operators that do not enforce the ban. Licensees in Australia could face..

November 14, 2023

Iowa sports betting handle hits 21-month high in October

Sports betting handle in Iowa reached its highest monthly total in almost two years during October, while revenue in the Hawkeye State also hit a 12-month high.

Players in Iowa spent $255.3m (£207.6m/€238.5m) betting on sports in October. This was up 6.9% from $238.8m in October 2022 and 3.9% ahead of $245.8m in September this year.

The total was also the most spent since a record $303.3m was bet in January 2022, some 21 months ago.

Of all bets placed in October, $231.8m were online and $23.5m at retail sportsbooks across Iowa.

Turning to sports betting revenue in Iowa, this amounted to $24.2m in October. This was up 26.7% from $19.1m last year and marginally higher than $24.1m in September this year.

In addition, the October revenue total was the highest monthly amount since $25.4m was generated in September 2022.

Out in front in Iowa with Diamond Jo Dubuque

Diamond Jo Dubuque and partner FanDuel retained their grip on Iowa’s market in October. Revenue from the partnership tot..