Betting News Archives

March 14, 2024

Bally’s planning late Q2 sports betting launch in Massachusetts

Bruce Band, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC)'s director of sports betting, told the MGC on Thursday that Bally’s has plans to launch its Bally Bet platform by the end of Q2.

While Massachusetts consumers have lost two digital sports betting options in the last month, thanks to Bally’s entrance, customers could gain one more choice by the end of June 2024.

Bally’s was initially licensed in Massachusetts in 2023. However it did not launch last year, leading to the company renewing its $1m licence in January 2024. BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, ESPN Bet, Fanatics Sportsbook and FanDuel are currently live in Massachusetts, while Betr and WynnBet recently shut down their platforms.

On 5 March, Bally’s launched its igaming platform in Rhode Island, where it already has a monopoly on digital sports betting. That launch is significant as the company told the MGC last year that it would prioritise Rhode Island before turning its attention to the Bay State.

Bally’s ..

March 14, 2024

Minnesota senate tax committee doubles wagering tax, moves bill forward

Minnesota’s senate tax committee has voted to double the proposed tax rate from 10% to 20% in a bill that would allow for legal statewide mobile sports betting.

The bill, SF1,949, has been through six senate committees, and is now on its way to senate finance. Should it pass out of the senate, the bill would follow a similar process in the house.

Minnesota’s legislature is set to adjourn on 20 May and there is no crossover deadline. Lawmakers have travelled this path before, passing similar legislation in the house in previous sessions, only to have it stall in the senate. A key issue is whether to give the state’s 11 tribes exclusivity for sports betting or include horse tracks. The current senate version of the bill does include the tracks, which the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association opposes. That issue was not raised in the tax committee, but is likely to come again in the future.

Governor Tim Walz has said previously that he will approve a legal sports betting bill.

Senator..

March 14, 2024

Arizona breaks sports betting revenue record again in January

Arizona set a new sports betting revenue record for the second consecutive month in January, with operators in the state generating a total of $69.3m (£54.2m/€63.5m).

The January figure was 51.6% ahead of $45.7m in the same month last year. It was also 4.8% clear of the previous Arizona monthly record of $66.1m in December.

Some $69.0m of this was attributed to online betting. A further $230,662 came from retail sportsbooks and $146,204 from limited event wagering (LEW) operators.

As for handle, players spent $706.4m betting on sports in January. This was 19.5% higher than last year and also 1.2% ahead of $706.4m in December 2023.

Online gross event wagering amounted to $698.0m, with retail betting at $6.3m. A further $2.01m was spent with LEW operators in January.

Some $23.2m in free bets and promotional credits were reported in January, almost all of which were online. When deducting these, adjusted gross revenue for the month reached $46.2m, up 59.3% year-on-year but 4.4% behin..

March 14, 2024

Genius Sports announces move into free-to-play games vertical

Genius Sports has announced the launch of interactive free-to-play games for its operators, which include the likes of Betway and Bet365.

Genius’ free-to-play offering will include weekly and matchday games, tournament games and daily retention games. These are intended to meet purposes such as activating a sportsbook brand and delivering segmented daily player interaction.

Genius will also offer bespoke free-to-play solutions to meet operators’ objectives, including gamification strategy design, as well as custom game development.

Additionally, Genius is integrating its advertising solutions, helping operators to drive players from free-to-play games into their sportsbook. Genius will use advanced analytics and reporting in its advertising sector to assist operators in measuring paid media impact.

Genius aims to enable operators to boost customer acquisition and loyalty.

The provider’s launch aims to enable operators to boost customer acquisition and loyalty. Josh Linforth, Geniu..

March 13, 2024

GeoComply: Expect North Carolina to be a top market

Early returns from North Carolina's sports betting launch indicate the state will be a competitive and potentially lucrative market according to GeoComply's review of the first 48 hours of legal wagering.

Geolocation specialist GeoComply tracked 5.4 million location checks from 370,000 active accounts between noon of 11 March and noon of 13 March.

This beats the two million checks from 134,000 active accounts in the first two days of live betting in neighbouring Virginia in 2021. North Carolina has a population of 10.8 million as compared to 8.8 million in Virginia.

On Monday (11 March) North Carolina regulators launched eight digital platforms for statewide mobile betting.

The majority of the location checks came from accounts in the central part of the state where the major cities, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Raleigh-Durham, form an upside down “U”.

The area is a hotbed of college basketball. As the college basketball season winds down and conference cha..

March 13, 2024

Retail loss fails to halt February year-on-year sports betting growth in Iowa

In February sports betting revenue in Iowa increased 14.3% year-on-year to $13.6m (£10.6m/€12.4m) despite a decline in the retail market.

Revenue was comfortably higher than $11.9m in February 2023. However, the monthly total was 38.5% less than the $22.1m generated in Iowa in January of this year.

Online sports betting revenue reached $13.8m in February, although the final total was dented by a $215,241 retail loss.

As for handle, players in Iowa wagered some $220.6m on sports during the month. This was 13.8% ahead of $193.9m last year but 15.0% behind $259.5m in January.

Of this spend, $203.8m was bet online and $16.7m at retail sportsbooks across the state.

FanDuel and Diamond Jo Dubuque still the ones to beat in Iowa

As has been the case for some time, FanDuel and Diamond Jo Dubuque remain the market leaders in Iowa. For February, the partnership generated $4.6m in revenue from $56.5m in wagers.

DraftKings and partner Wild Rose Jefferson again placed second with revenue of ..

March 13, 2024

Indiana sports betting handle surpasses $400m in February

Indiana reported a year-on-year increase in sports betting handle and revenue for February, although the state also posted a month-on-month decline, despite the impact of the NFL’s end-of-season Super Bowl showpiece.

Total handle for February reached $408.7m (£319.6m/€374.0m). This was 14.7% ahead of $356.2m last year, but down 14.9% from $480.3m in Indiana in January this year.

While Super Bowl LVIII was the sporting highlight of the month, this did not carry over into betting activity. Of all the wagers placed, just $14.1m were specifically for American football.

Basketball was the single most popular sport, drawing $117.6m of bets, with baseball at just $2.1m. Parlay wagering amounted to $191.0m and betting on other sports totalled $83.6m.

As for revenue, this reached $38.0m in February. The monthly total was 37.2% higher than $27.7m in February 2023 but 29.0% behind January’s record $53.5m.

FanDuel retakes the lead in Indiana… just

Blue Chip Casino and FanDuel claimed the top..

March 12, 2024

Georgia Senate sports betting bill gets first look in house

A statewide mobile sports betting bill got its first hearing in the Georgia house on Tuesday (12 March).

With just over two weeks remaining in the legislative session, and more than five weeks since the senate passed SB386, a statewide mobile sports betting bill got its first hearing in the Georgia house Tuesday.

There was no vote in the house’s Higher Education Committee, and there could be more discussion later this week, although the committee chairman said a vote is not imminent.

Several representatives from daily fantasy companies testified that they’d like their contests added to the bill while multiple representatives from faith-based and anti-gambling groups testified in opposition.

The bill would allow for 16 online sports betting licences, including eight that would be tethered to professional sports franchises or organisations in the state.

A further seven free-standing licences would be up for grabs with one licence earmarked for the Georgia Lottery, which would als..

March 12, 2024

Genius Sports set to extend Premier League data deal until 2029

Genius Sports has been chosen as the successful bidder to extend its official betting data partnership with Football DataCo, which holds data rights to the English Premier League (EPL).

DataCo also holds rights to data from the English Football League (EFL), containing the Championship, League One and League Two, as well as all leagues overseen by the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), including the Scottish Premiership.

Genius has now entered into an exclusive period of negotiation with DataCo as it seeks to get the extension over the line. The renewed agreement is still subject to contract and the approval of the leagues and their clubs.

Genius has exclusively supplied low latency data to DataCo from the EPL, EFL and SPFL since 2019. The current deal expires at the end of the 2024-25 season, with the new contract set to last until 2029.

The fresh deal will see Genius Sports continue to distribute data from over 4,000 UK football fixtures per season.

Genius Sports repo..

March 12, 2024

Waterhouse VC: Spotlight on industry leaders

In his latest column, Tom Waterhouse of Waterhouse VC shines a spotlight on three industry leaders and discusses their paths to success.

In every industry, there are prominent figures who stand out and the wagering industry is no exception.

This month, we shine a spotlight on three distinct leaders in the industry: Tim Heath, a crypto wagering pioneer; Peter Jackson, CEO of Flutter Entertainment; and David Walsh, renowned as one of the world’s largest professional horse racing gamblers.

Over the last decade, the online wagering industry has expanded significantly through the proliferation of mobile-focused platforms. Heath and Jackson lead companies at the forefront of digital innovation in the industry.

YOLO

Originally from Australia, Heath is a serial wagering industry entrepreneur and venture capitalist. After university, he started a software development and ecommerce firm, Heathmont.net.

In 2013, he launched Coingaming Group, a crypto wagering operator and supplier which reb..

March 12, 2024

Maryland second state with lower February sports betting handle

Player spending on sports wagering in Maryland reached $442.6m (£345.7m/€404.7m), an increase on the previous year but lower than January’s total.

Handle was up 30.4% from $339.4m in February 2023. However, it was 18.8% behind the $545.0m bet in Maryland during January this year.

The drop in handle follows the same trend as New York, with the Empire State announcing a reduction in February handle despite the Super Bowl. However, this could also be attributed to the shorter month of February and the NBA All-Star break that ran between 16-21 February.

Of the total in Maryland, $428.4m was wagered online, including $13.4m in free bets, and $14.1m at retail sportsbooks.

Sports betting handle was 18.8% behind the $545.0m bet in January

Taxable win – the amount remaining after deducting prizes, promotional wagers and other amounts – reached $28.1m. This was 51.2% ahead of $18.6m last year but 48.9% short of January’s $55.0m.

Mobile taxable win amounted to $27.1m, while retail wagering..

March 11, 2024

Entain, Betfred and Flutter join GC Industry Forum led by Nick Rust OBE

Directors of Flutter, Betfred, Entain and The Rank Group have been named among the nine appointed members of the Gambling Commission’s (GC) new Industry Forum, which will be chaired by Nick Rust, OBE.

Rust, who previously spent six years as British Horseracing Authority chief executive, was appointed as Industry Forum chair in November 2023.

Over a two-year term, Rust will oversee a forum that includes Ashley Padgett, director of compliance and anti-money laundering at Flutter’s UK and Ireland (UK&I) division, as well as Entain’s customer operations director for UK&I Leo Walker.

As well as Entain and Flutter, other UK gambling industry leaders will be represented. Betfred’s head of media Mark Pearson has been appointed to the forum, as well as David Williams, director of public affairs at Rank Group.

Merkur UK’s director of public and political relations, Tony Boulton, and Betsmart Consulting founder and director, Kirsty Caldwell, will also be joined on the forum by Charles Cohen,..

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