Betting News – Page 66

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..

March 15, 2024

Caesars-licensee BIG Brazil nearing lottery accreditation in Rio de Janeiro

BIG Brazil, a licensee of Caesars Sportsbook, has announced it will look to achieve accreditation with the Rio de Janeiro State Lottery (Loterj).

André Feldman, president of BIG Brazil International Games, visited Loterj president Hazenclever Lopes Cançado on Thursday. While declaring his interest in operating sports betting with Caesars in Brazil, Feldman also requested information on becoming accredited by the Loterj to offer lottery in Rio de Janeiro.

In February 2023, BIG Brazil International Games partnered with Caesars to introduce sports betting in Brazil when legalised. After Bill 3,626/2023 was approved in December, sports betting is expected to be regulated by late 2024.

“Expectations are high,” Feldman said. “We intend to enter the Caesars Sportsbook brand in Brazil, starting in Rio de Janeiro. We are already working on composing all the technical documentation to, in the next few days, officially enter into the Loterj accreditation.”

Cançado added: “We are very happy wi..

March 15, 2024

ATG calls on banks to help combat “worrying” Sweden channelisation rates

Aktiebolaget Trav och Galopp’s (ATG) channelisation report for Q4 has shown a continuation of worsening channelisation rates in Sweden.

ATG’s report estimated channelisation rates for gaming to be between 69%-82% in Sweden during Q4. This falls well behind the Swedish’s government’s target of 90% channelisation to legal operators.

The channelisation rate has fallen since the third quarter of 2023. ATG believes there is little sign of the trend being halted.

ATG found visitor traffic to unlicensed operators has increased tenfold since 2019. The research also highlights that out of 20 unlicensed sites with the highest Q4 visitor traffic, 19 shared the same platform providers as licensed operators.

Additionally, of the 20 black-market sites included in the report, none were on the Swedish regulator Spelinspektionen’s banned list.

“It is a very worrying development and our investigation shows that more still needs to be done to keep the unlicensed companies away,” ATG chief executive ..

March 15, 2024

Kansas reveals year-on-year sports betting growth in February

Consumer spending on sports wagering in Kansas increased 4.6% year-on-year to $203.0m (£159.3m/€186.6m) in February, while revenue in the state rocketed 8,405.8%.

Total handle in February, across online and retail, was clear of the $194.0m wagered in the same month last year. However, it was 15.3% behind January’s $239.6m in Kansas.

Of this total, $193.9m was bet with online sportsbooks while the remaining $9.1m was spent at retail facilities.

Turning to revenue, this amounted to $3.1m in February, up significantly from just $35,916 in the previous year but 48.3% behind $6.0m in January.

Almost all revenue came from online betting ($3.0m), with just $5,025 being generated by retail sportsbooks. Kansas was also able to generate $305,494 in tax during the month.

DraftKings and Boot Hill take the lead in Kansas

Looking at individual operators, DraftKings and Boot Hill Casino became the new online market leaders in February. The partnership generated $2.0m in revenue from $87.7m in t..

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..