Betting News – Page 16

September 23, 2024

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..

September 23, 2024

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..

September 23, 2024

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..

September 23, 2024

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..

September 23, 2024

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..

September 20, 2024

NCPG says US states failing to meet online wagering safety standards

Connecticut, New Jersey, and Virginia lead, but still fall short of passing grade.
The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) — a group that takes great pains to state its neutrality on the subject of gambling itself — Thursday (19 September) issued a report on the state of online responsible gambling. Specifically, the report addresses how states are managing player protection standards in the realm of online sports betting.

And if the findings were graded like a high school class, the states would be looking at some summer school.

The analysis — US States’ Online Sports Betting Regulations: An Evaluation Against National Council on Problem Gambling Standards — compared how 30 states and the District of Columbia were doing on the matter of player protection standards the NCPG created in 2012 (and continuously update).

The benchmarks — known as the Internet Responsible Gambling Standards (IRGS) — “reflects best practices in responsible gambling, emphasizing safeguards for indiv..

September 20, 2024

State of the Union: Status of ESPN Bet in NY, North Caroline retail, OK bill coming?

Welcome to iGB's State of the Union, a look at the biggest North American sports betting stories we've covered over the week and briefs on others we found interesting.
ESPN Bet about to get closer to NY launch?
The New York State Gaming Commission Monday (23 September) will consider Penn Entertainment’s application to take over the WynnBet New York licence. The plan has been in the works since WynnBet exited the New York market earlier this year. Should Penn get approval, it will be able to launch its ESPN Bet platform in the biggest competitive market in the US. New York law caps the number of platforms at nine. Licences only come available if a company exits the state.

Penn executives on the company’s second-quarter earnings call pointed to a September launch, potentially by the start of football season. Should the regulator approve the licence transfer, Penn will still have a few steps to take before it could launch ESPN Bet.

Every major US operator is live in New Yor..

September 19, 2024

US sports betting round-up: Kansas, Connecticut and Delaware in August

Rounding up some of the latest monthly sports betting results, iGB analyses how Kansas, Connecticut and Delaware performed during August.
Handle growth drives revenue up in Kansas
Starting in Kansas, total revenue from online and retail sports betting in August hit $6.6m (£5.0m/€5.9m). This is 37.5% ahead of August last year, but 28.3% less than in July.

Online betting drew $6.5m of all revenue in August, with retail’s share at just $123,489.

Spending-wise, total handle for August topped $147.0m. This is some 55.7% ahead of last year and 20.5% higher than July.

As for hold, total hold for the Kansas market in August was 4.5%. Online hold also hit 4.5%, with retail at 3.0%.

DraftKings remains the one to beat in Kansas
Looking to operators in Kansas, DraftKings continues to lead the online market. Partnered with Boot Hill Casino, DraftKings posted $3.0m in revenue off $67.7m in bets, a 4.4% hold.

FanDuel again placed second with $2.6m off $43.8m in handle via its partnership with Ka..

September 19, 2024

Pennsylvania igaming revenue falls just short of monthly record in August

Pennsylvania reported a year-on-year and month-on-month increase in gambling revenue in August, driven by a near-record performance from the state’s igaming market.
Total gambling revenue in Pennsylvania in August hit $525.5m (£397.1m/€472.1m). This is 14.9% ahead of last year and 4.9% more than July’s total for this year.

Ongoing igaming growth in Pennsylvania

The stand-out figure in August was igaming revenue, which amounted to $183.7m. Not only is this 29% more than last year but also the second-highest monthly total on record, just short of March 2024’s $191.1m haul.

Breaking this down, online slots generated $138.3m of all igaming revenue in August. Table games drew $43.2m, with poker revenue topping $2.2m for the month.

As has been the case for some time, Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course is still the market leader here. For August, it posted $72.1m in online casino revenue. Valley Forge Casino Resort remains second with $46.0m, then Rivers Casino Philadelphia on..