Daily Archives: September 23, 2024

ESPN Bet aiming to launch within days after getting NYSGC licence approval

On Monday (23 September) the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) voted to transfer the Wynn Resorts digital sports betting licence to Penn Entertainment. This means that ESPN Bet could be live in the state by the weekend.
Penn Entertainment and ESPN have been waiting for the vote and the go-ahead to launch. Executives from both companies had previously pointed to a launch by the end of August. But the NYSGC declined to call a special meeting to vote and the last meeting was in June.

The state of New York has a cap of nine digital wagering licences. All nine were accounted for at the beginning of 2024, but WynnBet decided to get out of the digital betting business and exited the state in July. In February, Penn made a deal to buy WynnBet’s NY licence for $25m (£18.7m/€22.5m).

At Monday’s meeting, Penn executive vice-president, chief strategy and legal officer and secretary Chris Rogers told the commission that his company still has “a couple of boxes to check” on technology. But ..

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US August round-up: Louisiana, New Hampshire and Wyoming

Rounding up some of the latest monthly sports betting results in the US, iGB takes a look at how Louisiana, New Hampshire and Wyoming performed in August.
Handle and revenue growth in Louisiana
Starting in Louisiana, spending on sports betting in August hit $234.5m (£176.3m/€211m). This is 52.3% higher than in August last year and also 27.1% ahead of July this year.

Online handle jumped 57.1% year-on-year to $218.2m, while retail spend was 8.2% higher in August at $16.3m.

As for revenue, the market total in Louisiana was $25.4m, up 49.5% from last year and 5.9% more than July. Online revenue jumped 51.2% year-on-year to $22.7m, with retail rising by 36.4% to $2.7m.

Louisiana does not publish a breakdown of individual operators. It does, however, set out where revenue came from, with parlay betting the main source of revenue across online ($13m) and retail ($1.4m) In August.

This meant an overall hold of 10.8%, with online at 10.4% and retail 16.5%. As for tax, some $3.7m was colle..

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Weekend Report: Labour MP urges Channel 4 to stop gambling ads, Caesars expands reach in Washington

Welcome to the Weekend Report, where iGB looks at the news that you may have missed over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This week, a Labour MP urges Channel 4 to lead the way in halting gambling adverts in the UK and Caesars extends its sports betting reach in Washington.
Labour MP calls on Channel 4 to drop gambling adverts
First, Labour MP Alex Sobel has written to UK broadcaster Channel 4 urging it to become the first channel to stop airing gambling adverts. Sobel has targeted Channel 4 as it is in public ownership, allowing it more freedom over such issues.

According to the Independent, Sobel referenced Channel 4 as a broadcaster that challenges “the status quo”. He also said he would be willing to work with Channel 4 on the initiative in the longer term.

“Removing gambling advertising from broadcast and on-demand television would provide another layer of protection for those vulnerable to gambling-related harms, and help [curb] the increase in gambling activity among new demograph..

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SI Sportsbook’s Colorado exit another example of squeeze on the small guys

Colorado has long been the testing ground for small or alternative sports betting operators in the US. But SI Sportsbook is now the seventh platform in about a year to announce that it is exiting the state.
The last 12 to 18 months have seen more contraction than expansion in the wagering world. No US jurisdiction in 2024 has expanded gambling, whether that be sports betting or online casino. In November, Missouri voters could approve legal wagering. If they do, Missouri will be the only state this year to legalise. If they do not, 2024 will go down as the first year since the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was overturned during which no US locales legalised.

Legislators from Georgia to Minnesota tried again in 2024 to legalise digital wagering, but ran into a variety of issues from moral objections to trying to tie legal wagering to other issues like video lottery terminals to managing charitable or tribal gaming.

Choices dwindling
Even in states where onl..

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Grupo Silvio Santos partners OpenBet for new betting brand in Brazil

Grupo Silvio Santos has announced it will partner with OpenBet for the launch of its Todos Querem Jogar (TQJ) venture in Brazil, deploying the provider’s end-to-end betting ecosystem.
The new long-term agreement will see Grupo Silvio Santos, a conglomerate that includes the Brazilian Television Network (SBT), offer OpenBet’s responsible gambling technology, its player account management (PAM) system and its managed trading services.

Grupo Silvio Santos applied for a licence on 19 August, the day before the 20 August deadline for the initial 90-day window of preference. Operators that applied for a licence during that period will be guaranteed to have their applications processed by the legal market launch date of 1 January 2025.

The TQJ platform will aim to leverage Grupo Silvio Santos’ extensive media reach, with the conglomerate claiming its shows on SBT reach over 113 million Brazilians every month with an average per day viewership exceeding 29 million.

José Roberto Maciel, Grup..

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Spain online gambling revenue up 11% in Q2

Online gross gambling revenue (GGR) in Spain amounted to €346.3m (£290.1m/$386.4m) in Q2, an increase on the previous year but slightly lower than the opening quarter of this year, despite the opening of UEFA's Euro 2024 in June.
The Q2 total is 10.8% higher than €312.6m in Q2 of last year, according to Spain’s regulator Directorate General for Gambling Regulation (DGOJ). However, the figure – covering the April-June period, is 1.2% behind the $350.7m revenue reported in Q1 this year.

Casino was again the main source of online GGR in Spain, generating €171.7m, or 49.6%, of all Q2 revenue. This is 14.6% more than last year and also a 2.3% increase from Q1’s total.

Within online casino, slots GGR increased by 19.5% from last year, while live roulette revenue was also up 9.6%. Slots and blackjack revenue also improved quarter-on-quarter but both conventional and live roulette revenue were down.

Mixed results for sports betting in Q2
Looking elsewhere in the market, sports bettin..

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