Betting News – Page 85

January 8, 2024

Iowa reveals year-on-year sports betting growth in December

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC) reported a year-on-year increase in sports betting handle and revenue during December.

Player spending in December amounted to $282.7m (£222.5m/€258.3m). This was 23.0% up from $229.9m in Iowa in December 2022 but 2.4% behind $289.7m in November 2023.

Of this total, $258.3m was spent betting on sports online, with a further $24.4m wagered at retail sportsbooks across Iowa.

Turning to revenue, this amounted to $26.3m in December, which was up 28.9% from $20.4m in the previous year and also 86.5% ahead of November’s $14.1m haul.

Online betting accounted for $23.6m of all revenue and retail wagering $2.7m.

Iowa players won a total of $256.5m from sports betting in December. The state was able to collect $1.8m in tax from wagering.

Diamond Jo Dubuque and FanDuel ahead of the pack in Iowa

Looking at individual operators, Diamond Jo Dubuque and partner FanDuel remain out in front in Iowa. Revenue from the partnership in December amounted to..

January 5, 2024

Betfred extends sponsorship of Derby Festival

Bookmaker Betfred has agreed to extend its title sponsorship of major UK horseracing event the Epsom Derby by an additional year.

Betfred sponsored the Derby Festival for the first time in 2023 in an initial three-year deal. This has now been extended by a further year, covering each event until at least 2026.

As part of the new deal, the bookmaker will now hold naming rights on each day of the two-day event

Betfred will also expand its backing of races during the festival. The bookmaker will support a total of six races at each edition of the event, with the existing deal only covering two races.

Betfred boss hails “memorable” first year

“Following on from a memorable two days at Epsom last year we are delighted to further develop our support of the Betfred Derby Festival,” Betfred boss Fred Done said. “We very much look forward to working with the team to keep the fixture at the forefront of world racing.”

Amy Starkey, managing director for the east region at Jockey Club Raceco..

January 5, 2024

BetMGM to become new sponsor of Premier League Darts

BetMGM will become the new sponsor of Premier League Darts for 2024 after an agreement was announced on Thursday.

BetMGM and the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) reached a deal for the operator to replace Cazoo as the new title sponsor of darts’ “biggest roadshow event”.

With a total of £1m (€1.2m/$1.3m) in prize money available, eight players will face off across 17 nights primarily in venues across the United Kingdom and Ireland. Rotterdam, Berlin and Dublin will also host events before the play-offs in London in May.

The partnership between the PDC and BetMGM comes in the wake of the 2024 World Darts Championship. Wednesday’s final became the most-watched non-football event in Sky Sports’ history with 3.75m viewers.

PDC chief executive Matt Porter said: “The Premier League will reach a huge live audience and a massive global television audience across four months, and we’re delighted to welcome BetMGM as our new title sponsor.”

Sam Behar, UK director of BetMGM, added: “We a..

January 5, 2024

Portugal sets €215.3m online gambling revenue record in Q3

Online gambling revenue in Portugal hit a new quarterly high of €215.3m (£185.6m/$235.4m) in Q3, helped by record figures from the igaming segment.

Total market revenue in the three months to 30 September 2023 surpassed the existing record of €122.0m, which was set in Q2, by 4.6%. The Q3 figure was also 36.1% higher than €158.2m in Portugal in the same period in 2022.

PORTUGAL’S PREVIOUS RECORD WAS €122.0m SET IN Q2 2023

Some €133.4m of revenue in Q3 came from online games of chance, up 50.5% year-on-year. This was a new segment record and also represented 62.0% of all online gambling revenue in the quarter.

Consumers spent €3.65bn on this form of gambling in Q3, up 47.2% and another new record for Portugal. Slots accounted for 82.3% of this total spend, with French roulette at 6.4% and blackjack 6.2%.

Portugal online sports betting revenue continues to decline

The overall increase in online revenue in Portugal comes despite an ongoing decline within the sports betting market.

January 5, 2024

New York smashes online sports betting revenue record in December

New York set a new online sports betting revenue record of $188.3m (£148.7m/€172.3m) in December, while the state’s handle fell just short of November’s all-time high.

December revenue surpassed the existing New York record of $166.3m, set in October 2023, by 13.2%. The figure was also 24.8% higher than $150.9m in November and 32.8% up from $141.8m in December 2022.

NEW YORK’S PREVIOUS RECORD WAS $166.3M IN OCTOBER 2023

As for handle, this amounted to $2.04bn in December, just 3.2% shy of November’s record of $2.11bn. The total was also 25.7% higher than the $1.62bn bet in December of the previous year.

December also marked the third consecutive month that New York players spent more than $2.00bn on online sports wagering. New York in October became the first state to report an online monthly betting handle higher than $2.00bn.

FanDuel stretches lead over DraftKings in New York

Flutter Entertainment-owned FanDuel remains the frontrunner in New York, extending its lead over Draft..

January 4, 2024

GambleAware CEO “welcomes” statutory UK industry levy

GambleAware’s chief executive Zoe Osmond “welcomes” the establishment of a statutory industry levy, believing it will help to fund gambling harms research.

Proposed as one of a host of measures in the Gambling Act white paper, the new levy would be set as a 1% fee on gross gambling yield for online gambling operators. Traditional betting shops and casinos will pay a proposed fee of around 0.4%.

The government says the levy would raise an estimated £100m (€115.5m/$121.7m) per year.

The operators would pay the levy to the Gambling Commission. The hope is this will ensure all licensed operators in the UK pay their fair share. The current voluntary levy system allows operators to pay a chosen sum.

With the consultation on the statutory levy ending in mid-December, Osmond has hailed its introduction, saying: “GambleAware welcomes the introduction of a statutory industry levy to fund gambling harms research, prevention and treatment (RPT).

“This is something we have long called for and..

January 4, 2024

Arkansas generates $3.8m in gambling revenue for December

Arkansas reported $3.8m ($3m/€3.5m) in gambling revenue for December, outperforming the state’s monthly forecast.

While Arkansas had estimated gaming to generate $3.7m in revenue for December, it surpassed that figure by an additional $100,000. The month’s above-expectation results take the state’s year-to-date gaming revenue up to $25.8m, 4.5% above the forecast of $24.7m.

In total, Arkansas’ gaming revenue for December was 7.5% higher than the same month last year. The year-to-date revenue is also an 11.2% increase on 2022’s numbers.

Arkansas: betting journey

SPORTS BETTING WAS LAUNCHED IN ARKANSAS IN JULY 2019

Sports betting launched in Arkansas in July 2019, following approval from the Arkansas Racing Commission. Arkansas became the ninth state to begin taking bets since the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was struck down.

Online sports betting was introduced in April 2022, when a collaboration between Gaming1 and Delaware North led to the launch of Be..

January 4, 2024

ITIA bans four more tennis officials over corruption charges

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has handed lengthy bans to four officials after they were found guilty of a series of corruption offences.

Bans were issued to Edvinas Grigaitis, Givi Khudoiani and Arsen Movsisyan after being sanctioned by an independent anti-corruption hearing officer. The ITIA also said Manuel Sperger was also banned after being convicted of tennis match-fixing activity in an Austrian criminal court.

Breaking down the bans, Sperger an Austrian, a national-level official, will serve a seven-and-a-half-year ban. This is effective from 18 December 2023 until 17 June 2031. He will also pay a fine of $25,000 (£19,708/€22,860), with $18,750 suspended

Sperger was the subject of match-fixing-related proceedings in a criminal court in Austria. He admitted to manipulating scores in 2016 and 2017 for betting purposes.

The ITIA charged Sperger with 12 offences under its Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP). These included manipulating the entry of scoring ..

January 3, 2024

Episode 25: Predictions for gaming regulation in 2024

The World Series of Politics is back from its festive break with the lowdown on what sort of regulatory progress the gaming industry can expect in 2024.

Happy new year listeners! Brendan Bussmann and Brandt Iden are back to discuss a Festivus miracle in Brazil, as well as setting out their predictions for US sports betting growth and whether 2024 will finally be the breakthrough year for US igaming.

brazil has the potential to be huge, but integrated resorts are not part of the mix

We come back after Brazil sports betting and igaming finally makes it over the finish line, giving the industry an early Christmas present. The market has potential to be huge, Brendan Bussmann says, especially after the 18% tax rate was cut to 12% of GGR.

There’s one thing missing, he adds. Integrated resorts are not part of the mix. This could bring billions in revenue into the local economy and, after the sports betting saga, we know Brazil isn’t one for rapid progress.

Regulatory predictions for 20..