Betting News – Page 11

October 10, 2024

US September round-up: Tennessee, West Virginia and Detroit

Rounding up some of the latest monthly sports betting results in the US, iGB analyses figures from Tennessee, West Virginia and Detroit for September.
Tennessee sets new gross wagers record in September
Starting in Tennessee, the Volunteer State saw gross wagers hit an all-time high of $524.8m (£401.8m/€480.3m). This figure is narrowly higher than the existing record of $517.4m in November last year.

The September total also surpasses last year’s amount by 25.5% and is 52.5% higher than August this year. This is according to data published by the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council.

Tennessee does not publish data on monthly revenue. It does, however, detail gross handle, with this at $520.8m. This is after accounting for $3.9m in undisclosed adjustments.

As for tax, Tennessee was able to collect $9.6m in privilege tax from sports betting during the month. Tennessee operators are taxed at 20%.

West Virginia narrowly misses revenue record
Turning now to West Virginia, revenue fell ju..

October 9, 2024

US sports betting round-up: Banner September for DC, monthly records tumble in Maine

Rounding up some of the latest monthly sports betting results in the US, iGB takes a closer look at how Washington DC and Maine fared during September.
In the month that heralds the return of NFL betting, Washington DC’s newly liberalised market smashed records, while Maine kicked off football season strongly.

DC smashes sports betting records in September

Starting in DC, both sports betting revenue and handle reached all-time highs in September. Gross gaming revenue for the market reached $8.2m (£6.3m/€7.5m), up 82.2% from August and 331.6% ahead of last year.

In terms of player spending, this topped $58.8m, a new record for DC. The total is up 44.8% from August and 305.5% more than in September of 2023. This represents a total market hold of 13.95%

FanDuel still the one to beat in DC
Data from the DC Lottery and Office of Lottery and Gaming covers all operators licensed in the market. This includes several online brands that have launched in DC in recent months.

The DC Council i..

October 9, 2024

G2E: Lobbyists predict Texas’ odds of 2025 gaming expansion now “greater than 50%”

Numerous years of political progress in Texas have made it so that the chances of passing gaming legislation in the 2025 session are better than ever, according to a panel of lobbyists on Tuesday (8 October) at Las Vegas' Global Gaming Expo (G2E).
Tuesday’s discussion drew a packed house to hear about the latest progress in the Lone Star State. David Rittvo, principal at Tailored Hospitality Advisors, moderated the discussion alongside three heads of governmental relations: Andy Abboud of Las Vegas Sands (LVS), Rick Limardo of MGM Resorts and Caesar Fernandez of FanDuel.

Abboud was the most bullish of the group, proclaiming several times that Texas gaming expansion is “inevitable”. Even if 2025 isn’t the year, he said, it will still be “another session of great progress”. When asked about the probability of passage next year, he asserted that it is now “greater than 50%”.

The path to legalisation is not easy – it requires a constitutional amendment, enabling legislation and pa..

October 9, 2024

North Carolina bounces back in September as sports betting handle and revenue rise

The North Carolina sports betting market recovered from the quieter summer months in September, with gross revenue, handle and hold nearing record levels.
Starting with gross revenue, September’s hit $70.1m (£53.5m/€63.9m), according to data from the North Carolina State Lottery Commission.

Revenue is 107.4% ahead of August and only the second highest monthly amount since the state opened its legal market in March. Gross revenue totalled $105.3m in April, the first full month of regulated betting.

As for player spending, total bets in September amounted to $575.4m. This is 55.3% up from August and not far off the $659.3m and $648.9m wagered in March and April, respectively.

Paid wagers totalled $538.4m and promotional bets $37m in September. Both contributed to the total handle.

The Commission also noted $3.8m in cancelled and voided bets, while players won a total of $501.6m in September. Tax-wise, North Carolina generated $12.6m during the month.

In terms of hold, this hit 13.01..

October 9, 2024

South Africa gambling revenue reaches record ZAR59.3bn in 2023-24

Gross gambling revenue in South Africa hit a record ZAR59.3bn (£2.58bn/€3.07bn/$3.37bn) in the 2023-24 financial year, while player spending also reached an all-time high.
Revenue was 25.7% higher than ZAR47.12bn in 2022-23, the existing yearly record for South Africa. The latest report from the country’s National Gambling Board covers the 12 months to 31 March 2024.

Sports betting leads the way in South Africa

Sports betting was again by far the largest source of revenue, generating ZAR35.91bn, or 60.5%, of all revenue. This is 51.2% more than in the previous year.

Of this, ZAR28.97bn was revenue from online betting, with the vertical accounting for 49% of overall revenue in 2023-24. Online sports betting is currently only legal in the Northern Cape, Western Cape, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West provinces.

Retail betting revenue for the year amounted to ZAR6.94bn, accounting for 19% of all betting revenue or 11.7% of total market revenue.

Revenue flat across other gambling typ..

October 9, 2024

With ESPN Bet live in New York, Penn executives bullish and focused on ESPN-ESPN Bet integration

Penn Entertainment presented a positive outlook for the Penn Interactive digital business at its Investor Day on 7 October. Highlights included green shoots already showing in New York, merely a week after ESPN Bet’s launch, and continued efforts to integrate the app with ESPN to up-sell users and cut down on time spent away from the ESPN Bet product.
Despite criticism from analysts and investors earlier in the year and claims that a Boyd takeover was on the horizon, CEO Jay Snowden is sure ESPN Bet can turn its luck around.

“Net-net, we remain positive on the ESPN Bet opportunity,” Truist analyst Barry Jonas said of the presentation.

Early signs of success in New York
New York is already showing signs of success for ESPN Bet in its first week. The presentation showed daily handle per ESPN Bet user in New York is already 296% higher than any other state it operates in.

In the first three days, ESPN Bet took $3m in bets, according to the New York State Gaming Commission. For com..

October 8, 2024

G2E: California betting initiative could be as soon as 2026, but “probably” 2028

Two years after a pair of California legal sports betting initiatives lost in spectacular fashion, a key tribal leader teases what's coming next and when.
On Tuesday (8 October) James Siva, chairman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, said that Indian Country is restarting discussions about what a tribal legal sports betting initiative would look like. As for timing, he said “maaaaaybe 2026, but probably 2028,” at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas.

Siva was on a panel titled ‘Tribal Sovereignty and Sports Betting: A Delicate Balance’. He was joined by Washington Indian Gaming Association chair Rebecca George, Minnesota Indian Gaming Association executive director Andy Platto and Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association board chairman Matt Morgan. Indian Gaming Association convention chair Victor Rocha moderated the panel.

California would be the biggest online gaming market in the US and the fight to legalise sports betting has been fierce and protracted. It ..

October 8, 2024

G2E: When it comes to integrity, industry should “celebrate its wins”

In 2023, 10 NFL players were suspended for violating league gambling rules and a college baseball scandal involving insider information was uncovered. An outcry questioning the legal industry followed. But those who specialise in integrity monitoring say that instead, the industry – and others – should celebrate.
“Let’s not fool ourselves – matching fixing and integrity issues aren’t new,” Jim Brown, head of integrity services & harm prevention in North America for Sportradar, said. “This brings better protections.”

The NFL and NCAA examples were among many in 2023 and 2024 that involved the gambling industry policing itself and uncovering banned or illegal activity.

Brown was speaking as part of the ‘Tackling Match Fixing: Gaming and Global Sports Cooperation’ panel at G2E in Las Vegas on Monday (7 October). Jess Feil, OpenBet VP of regulatory affairs and compliance and Matt Fowler, head of global operations for the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA), joined Brown a..

October 8, 2024

Online casino drives Denmark gambling revenue to DKK571m in August

Gross gaming revenue (GGR) in Denmark reached DKK571m (£64.2m/€76.6m/$84.1m) in August as online casino growth offset declines elsewhere in the market.
The August total was 4.3% ahead of last year, according to data from Denmark regulator Spillemyndigheden. It was also 3.1% more than DKK554m in July of this year.

Growth was driven by a 20.8% year-on-year increase in online casino revenue to DKK299m in August.

This was also ahead of July by 5.3% and not far off the all-time monthly revenue record for the vertical. Spillemyndigheden reported DKK309m in online casino GGR in March of this year.

However, all other segments of the Danish market reported declines in August. The largest drop came in the sports betting sector, where revenue was 14% lower at DKK147m during the month. This was also 1.3% lower than in July.

Land-based woes continue in Denmark
As for the land-based sector, declines noted in recent months continued in August. Physical slot machine GGR was down 0.2% to DKK96m dur..