Sportsbook Archives

April 12, 2024

Feds say Ohtani “considered a victim” and interpreter stole $16m from star for gambling debts

In an affidavit filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California on Thursday (11 April), IRS criminal investigator Chris Seymour revealed that baseball star Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara fraudulently transferred $16m from the baseball player's account to an illegal bookmaker over the span of 26 months.

According to the affidavit, Mizuhara texted the bookmaker, “Technically I did steal from him. It’s all over for me,” on the day the story first broke.

According to the New York Times, Mizuhara is negotiating for a plea deal.

Throughout the affidavit, Ohtani is referred to as “Victim A” and, in a press conference, US Attorney Martin Estrada said “Mr Ohtani is considered a victim in this case.” Major League Baseball released a statement saying that it “will wait until resolution of the criminal proceeding to determine whether further investigation is warranted”.

Since the story broke 20 March, Ohtani, the two-way Japanese baseball sta..

April 2, 2024

Virginia wagering revenue report: February handle up 26% over last year

Virginians laid down $545.1m in bets in February, a 25.6% increase over the same period in 2023. Sportsbooks paid the state a total of $6.3m in taxes and had a hold of 9.18%.

Sportsbooks are taxed at 15% of adjust gross revenue (AGR). According to the Virginia Lottery wagering revenue report, 11 operators finished the month with “net positive AGR”.

Mobile betting accounted for $540m of the total while bettors wagered a combined $4.9m at retail locations. Promotions and deductions continued to decrease. After one senator proposed a cap on allowing operators to write off deductions in 2023, Virginia’s governor, Glenn Youngkin, went a step further and included a 12-month sunset on promotional deductions in his budget.

In total, four new operators also went live in 2023 in Virginia: Bet365 on 31 January 2023; Betfred on 1 February 2023; Betr on 6 September 2023 and SuperBook on 19 October 2023.

Betr, SuperBook only operators that can deduct promos

Bet365 and Betfred have passed th..

March 27, 2024

Georgia house committee sets up 11th-hour sports betting sprint

If the Georgia general assembly is to become the first in 2024 to legalise sports betting, it will have 15 hours, 59 minutes to do so, beginning at 8am EST Thursday (28 March).

The House Higher Education Committee today (27 March) failed to vote on a package of bills that would legalise statewide mobile sports betting. The hitch, once again, is how to spend the funds the state will get from the new revenue stream.

The session is scheduled to end Thursday night. The committee will meet two hours before the full house meets at 10am local time. No matter how you slice it, Thursday sets up a sports betting sprint.

The decision not to vote Wednesday was the second this week, after the Higher Education Committee laid the bill over Monday (25 March). So far, the committee has had three hearings, dating back to 19 March, and at least one cancelled meeting.

Senate sponsor Bill Cowsert is set to introduce an amendment that will appropriate 15% of tax revenue for problem and responsible gamb..

March 27, 2024

NCAA seeks college prop bets ban

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) president Charlie Baker says the organisation is moving to ban college prop bets from all US markets.

In a statement today (27 March), Baker said that the decision came after there were reports of athletes being harassed in relation to college prop bets.

“Sports betting issues are on the rise across the country with prop bets continuing to threaten the integrity of competition and leading to student-athletes and professional athletes getting harassed,” said Baker.

BAKER SAID THE NCAA WOULD REQUEST OTHER STATES TO BAN PLAYER PROP BETS

He added that some states contacted by the NCAA in reference to the threats outright banned college prop bets. “The NCAA has been working with states to deal with these threats and many are responding by banning college prop bets.”

One of these states was Ohio. Last month, its Casino Control Commission (OCCC) banned player prop bets on college sports following a request from the NCAA. Baker had reached ..

March 20, 2024

Sportradar nears upper end of FY23 revenue guidance with US growth

Sportradar generated €877.6m (£749.6m/$951.5m) in revenue over its 2023 financial year, nearing the upper end of its guidance range thanks to growth in the US.

Revenue was up by 20.2% year-on-year to €877.6m, with Sportradar’s annual outlook for 2023 initially setting a revenue target of €870m to €880m. Revenue growth was powered by increases of 30.0% in the US and 20.0% in Sportradar’s rest of world category.

Significant revenue growth led Sportradar to a total profit from continuing operations of €34.6m, up 229.5% from 2022’s total profit of €10.5m. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 32.6% year-on-year to €166.8m, close to exceeding Sportradar’s outlook range of €162m-€167m.

Adjusted EBITDA margin jumped 177 basis points from 2022 to 19.0%, with Sportradar attributing this to strong operating leverage from sports rights and personnel costs.

As of 31 December 2023, Sportradar had €497.2m in available liquidity, including und..

March 18, 2024

Massachusetts online sportsbooks report $5.98bn handle in first 12 months

In the final month that Betr and WynnBET sports betting platforms were live, Massachusetts retail and online sportsbooks combined take $542.5m (£426.0m/€497.7m) in bets in February, down 16.8% from January.

February also marked the 12th month of live digital sports betting, and the state regulator reported $5.98bn in online bets taken since launch 10 March 2023.

During February, eight digital platforms were live. But heading into March, those in the state now have six choices, after Betr and WynnBET shuttered their Bay State platforms.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission last week announced that it expects Bally Bet to be live by the end of June. BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbooks, DraftKings, ESPN Bet, Fanatics Betting & Gaming, and FanDuel remain live.

For February, Massachusetts’ three brick-and-mortar and eight online sportsbooks reported $52.55m in adjusted gross gaming revenue (GGR) and paid the state $10.5m in taxes. Since the state’s three brick-and-mortar sportsbooks went live 3..

February 16, 2024

Super Bowl Sunday: Stats showdown

On 11 February, the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers faced off in Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, for Super Bowl LVIII. iGB brings you a comprehensive analysis of the game's most interesting betting data.

Many in the industry had high hopes for the 58th edition of the Super Bowl. And they were right too – Sunday’s game was the most-watched American television broadcast since Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.

While loyal American football fans and cheerful once-a-year viewer types undoubtedly tuned in, the hype around the final was no doubt amplified by the presence of Taylor Swift. According to Apex Marketing Group, Swift has generated a hefty $331.5m (£264.0m/€309.5m) for the National Football League (NFL), simply by showing up to watch her boyfriend Travis Kelce, the Chiefs’ tight end, play.

A survey by the American Gaming Association projected that a record 67.8 million American adults would bet $23.1bn on this year’s Super Bowl, marking a 35% rise in bettors from 2..

February 14, 2024

Study finds New York generates over 37% of all US sports betting tax

A study has revealed that New York contributes more than 37% of the total tax revenue generated from sports betting in the United States.

The Quarterly Survey of State and Local Tax Revenue (QTAX), carried out by the United States Census Bureau, recently added sports betting to its list of tax sources.

QTAX for Q3 of 2023 found that sports betting accumulated national tax and gross receipts of just under $506m (£403.5m/€473m). This was up 20.5% from Q3 2022 but significantly lower than the $571.5m generated in Q2 2023.

New York dominated the tax generated via sports betting in the third quarter of 2023, with its $188.5m nearly five times higher than Indiana’s $38.6m in second. No state has a higher tax on gross gambling revenues than New York’s 51%.

Ohio and Illinois ranked third and fourth with $32.9m and $32.4m respectively, while Pennsylvania rounded out the top five with $28.8m.

New York breaking record after record

new york has consistently been breaking sports betting recor..

February 13, 2024

Nevada breaks state record for Super Bowl bets with $185.6m wagered

The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) has revealed $185.6m (£146.6m/€172.3m) was wagered on Sunday’s Super Bowl in the state's 182 sportsbooks, breaking the previous record.

The game, played between the San Francisco 49ers and eventual champions Kansas City Chiefs at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, exceeded the $179.8m wagered on the 2022 Super Bowl.

However, a 3.7% hold percentage meant sportsbooks’ total win was just $6.8m. Since 2015, only three editions of the Super Bowl have generated a lower sportsbook win than the 2024 game.

In the NGCB press release, chairman Kirk Hendrick said: “The Nevada Gaming Control Board congratulates and thanks all the stakeholders involved for successfully delivering such a spectacular event from the state of Nevada.”

AGA expecting Super Bowl bets to reach record numbers

the american gaming assocation was predicting all-time high numbers for super bowl bets

The NGCB’s numbers should not come as much of a surprise. The American Gaming As..

January 30, 2024

Caesars agrees tribal deal to launch online sports betting in North Carolina

Caesars Entertainment has announced it will launch mobile sports betting in North Carolina after expanding its relationship with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

The operator is set to go live when North Carolina launches its online sports betting market on 11 March. Ahead of the launch, the Caesars Sportsbook app will start accepting sign-ups and deposits from 1 March.

On 24 January, the North Carolina State Lottery Commission approved the launch date of online sports betting. The market will be live for those aged 21 and over in time for March Madness. Charlotte in North Carolina is set to host some of the tournament’s early-round games.

Caesars already has two land-based locations with the tribe, with Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort in Cherokee and Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel in Murphy. As part of the expanded deal, Caesars will now hold exclusive rights to mobile sports wagering at those two casinos, as well as on Eastern Band of Cherokee tribal lands in w..

January 25, 2024

Data is the new oil

Simon Trim, strategic consultant at 10star explores how optimising data can improve business for sportsbooks.

Nearly 20 years ago, the mathematician Clive Humby coined the phrase “data is the new oil”. For the industry and economy, data was to become the new wealth creator in the same way that oil has enabled new technologies and products since the mid-19th century.

For the sportsbook industry, this comment was well ahead of its time. In 2006, the in-play offering that is ubiquitously driven today by real-time game state data largely didn’t exist. Most operators at the time offered little betting action after the start of an event, even on football. Some didn’t offer in-play at all.

Fast forward to 2024 and you could be forgiven for thinking that sports betting operators – and more pertinently the supply chain that feeds them – are fully utilising the data that is available to them.

Simon Trim says sports betting operators aren’t fully utilising data

The perception exists that th..

January 8, 2024

Kambi CEO Kristian Nylén announces resignation

CEO and co-founder of Kambi, Kristian Nylén, has notified the board of his intention to step down from his current position during the year, upon the appointment of a successor.

Nylén co-founded Kambi with Anders Strom in 2010. He has since built the company into one of the industry’s leading sportsbook suppliers.

It is understood that Nylén’s decision to resign is driven by his desire to spend more time with his family.

Commenting, Nylén said: “The decision to stand down from my position at Kambi after so many enjoyable years has been difficult, but one predominantly driven by my desire to spend more time with my young and growing family.”

Nylén plans to stand down from his current position during the year, upon the appointment of a successor.

The market has so far not reacted too heavily to the news. At the time of writing, Kambi’s share price was down 1.83%, to SEK160.50 (€14.79/ £12.29/ $15.69).

Timing of Nylén’s resignation

Nylén’s announcement follows a period of sustai..

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Tag: Sportsbook