Retail sports betting – Page 6

July 31, 2024

Bill to repeal US gambling excise tax filed

On Wednesday (31 July) a pair of US senators filed a bill calling for the repeal of the US federal excise tax on gambling. The 0.25% excise tax on the amount of any legal wager is levied above and beyond state taxes.
Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mississippi) filed the bill. Called the “Withdrawing Arduous Gaming Excise Rates Act,” the acronym is “the WAGER Act.” The American Gaming Association (AGA), a trade group, almost immediately came out in favour of the bill. The legislation, the AGA said, would save operators tens of millions of dollars per year in taxes.

“The federal sports betting excise tax was enacted more than 70 years ago as a tool to prosecute illegal sports betting operators,” the AGA wrote in a statement. “Today, with sports betting legal in 38 states and Washington DC, this antiquated tax puts legal operators at a competitive disadvantage and rewards illegal offshore bookmakers that pay no federal or state taxes, offer no responsible..

July 30, 2024

Analysts: Sports wagering calendar gives insight to markets, revenues

The US sports betting calendar is the same every year and handle and revenues typically follow suit. But there are other trends to be gleaned from the cycles as well, analysts said on a webinar on Tuesday (30 July).
The session, entitled “A Year in the Life of Sports Betting”, was presented by Geoff Atkinson and Matt Roob. Atkinson is the marketing research manager for Management Science Associates and Roob is senior vice-president of financial analysis for Spectrum Gaming Capital. Throughout the presentation, the analysts used graphs and data compiled using the Spectrumetrix data service.

Atkinson began the discussion by breaking down graphs from states that report wagering figures for individual sports. The examples included Illinois, Mississippi, Nevada, South Dakota, Oregon and Montana.

Overall, the states showed similar patterns according to the US sports schedule.

Totals are lowest in the summer when baseball is the only major sport in season. Then in the fall, the start o..

July 30, 2024

Improved online hold helps Colorado sports betting GGR soar in June

Gross gaming revenue from Colorado sports betting increased 206.5% year-on-year thanks to a much improved hold, while there was a significant increase in amounts wagered on soccer that coincided with the start of the second Copa América held in the US.
Handle for June increased 12.8% year-on-year to $350.4m according to the Colorado Division of Gaming. Online handle made up $348.9m of the total with $1.5m wagered through Colorado retail sportsbooks.

While baseball ($104.5m) and basketball ($59.2m) generated the highest handle, soccer enjoyed a particularly strong month. Amounts wagered on soccer more than doubled to $27.6m, with the Copa America kicking off from 20 June, while table tennis also increased significantly to $15.1m.

High hold leads to revenue spike for Colorado sports betting
After winnings of $322.2m were paid out, gross gaming revenue came to $28.2m for the month, an 8.05% hold. That far surpassed the $9.2m in GGR and 2.97% hold recorded for June 2023.

Once free bet..

July 30, 2024

Insider who tried to wager $100,000 on Alabama baseball sentenced

The Indiana businessman who attempted to wager $100,000 on an Alabama-LSU college baseball game last year was sentenced on Monday (28 July) to eight months in prison and three and a half years of supervised probation.
Bert Neff, who received a text from former Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohanan saying that Alabama had pulled its starting pitcher, walked into an MGM casino in Ohio on 28 April 2023 and attempted to place a $100,000 bet based on the information.

MGM employees refused the bet, but allowed Neff to lay down $15,000 on LSU to win. The attempt to wager $100,000 and the ensuing $15,000 bet were considered suspicious by MGM employees. The bets were quickly flagged and, within days, markets on LSU-Alabama baseball were suspended. Within a week, Bohanan was fired.

Bohanan has not been charged. But the NCAA sanctioned him for 15 years.

Neff, whose son played baseball at Cincinnati when the bet was placed, wasn’t charged for wagering with inside information. Federal authorit..

July 29, 2024

Investment year paying off for BetMGM as H1 NGR hits $1bn

With revenue reaching $1bn in the first half of 2024, BetMGM expects growth to accelerate in H2, underpinned by Angstrom’s product capabilities and leveraging its omnichannel opportunities through MGM Resorts.
In a trading update published today (29 July), BetMGM chief executive Adam Greenblatt described 2024 as an investment year, focused on improving customer acquisition and enhancing player experiences.

Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, iconic quarterback Tom Brady and Hollywood star Vince Vaughn starred in BetMGM’s Super Bowl commercial
Net gaming revenue (NGR) for the six months to 30 June grew 6% year-on-year. Despite no new state launches revenue grew 9% year-on-year in Q2, following a slower first quarter.

This showed the strategy of investing in players gain momentum, Greenblatt said, with BetMGM exceeding its acquisition and retention targets for the six-month period. This was helped by a successful Super Bowl campaign featuring Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky and Vince Vaughn and a ..

July 25, 2024

Arizona reports yearly sports betting revenue and handle growth in May

Sports betting revenue and handle in Arizona increased year-on-year during May as FanDuel remained the state’s leading operator by some distance.
Total spending on sports betting in May hit $568.5m (£441.3m/€523.8m), according to the Arizona Department of Gaming report. This is 25.9% more than in the state in May 2023, but 13.4% behind April’s total this year.

Of all wagers placed in Arizona, $563.2m was bet online and $4.1m with retail sportsbooks. The remaining $1.2m was wagered through limited event wagering operators during May.

Players won a total of $506.0m from sports betting in May, resulting in $61.1m adjusted gross receipts (AGR) prior to promotional deductions. This figure is 25.7% higher than last year and only marginally behind $63.3m in April despite the lower handle.

After accounting for $17.2m in free-bet and promotional deductions, AGR amounted to $43.2m. This amended figure is 27.4% ahead of last year and 0.5% behind April.

May’s $42.7m AGR came from online bet..

July 23, 2024

DraftKings announces plans for DC sports betting launch

The pool of sports betting operators in Washington, DC got a little bit bigger on Tuesday (23 July) when DraftKings announced intentions to launch its platform in the newly opened competitive market.
With the addition of DC, DraftKings will have launched in 29 North American jurisdictions.

“We would like to thank the DC Council for creating a path to bring DraftKings’ top-rated sportsbook to the nation’s capital,” DraftKings’ North American president, Matt Kalish, said in a statement.

“Together with DC United, we look forward to delivering fans a best-in-class experience through our customer-friendly product.”

DraftKings will join FanDuel, BetMGM and Caesars Sportsbook in offering mobile sports betting throughout the District. The latter two operators went live in the nation’s capital on 17 July.

They had expected to launch two days earlier. But there was a short delay related to the city’s FY2025 budget, which included the provisions needed to open the marketplace from a monop..

July 22, 2024

US round-up: online growth drives Louisiana in FY, mixed June for Mississippi

Rounding up some of the latest gambling figures in the US, Louisiana reported a year-on-year rise in sports betting revenue and handle despite a decline in the retail market during its 2023-24 financial year, while Mississippi saw player wagers fall in June.
Starting in Louisiana, players staked $3.33bn, an increase of 32.1% figures from the state Gaming Control Board show. Of this, $3.04bn was bet online, a rise of 37.2%, and $291.7m at retail sportsbooks, down 5.0%.

After promotional spend – something that skewed Michigan sports betting figures in June – of $44.4m, net revenue from sports betting came to $388.1m, up 58.3% on the prior year.

Mobile betting accounted for $358.2m of the total (a rise of 73.2%) although retail’s $29.9m contribution was down on the prior year. Mobile launched in January 2022, months after the first retail bets were placed in October 2021.

American football was the sport that generated most revenue across online ($30.1m) and retail ($3.5m). However, pa..

July 22, 2024

Student athletes face new wave of harassment – how is the NCAA and the betting industry addressing the issue?

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS) are working together to afford collegiate athletes safety in the new world of sports betting.
Dangers for student athletes range from integrity to the illegal betting market, to physical danger to athletes from bettors who lose individual player prop bets said panelists on Friday (19 July) at the NCLGS summer meeting in Pittsburgh.

The NCAA and NCLGS are banding together for a solution, said Clint Hangebrauck, the NCAA’s managing director of enterprise risk management. The two entities have formed a special committee on education to create draft legislation that can address protecting student athletes.

“We have drafted a model legislative framework that starts with really enforcing the unregulated market,” Hangebrauck said. He went on to say that the current situation presents a “clear and present danger to the safety and well-being of our student athletes”.

Wayne ..

July 19, 2024

Bettor perspective? Walters, “Spanky” say US sportsbooks have much to learn

As legal sports betting in the US proceeds in its seventh year, many have expressed concerns about whether the current wagering model is sustainable for the long term.

A panel discussion on Friday (19 July) at the summer meeting of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS) in Pittsburgh featured views on the subject from legendary sports bettors Billy Walters and Gadoon “Spanky” Kyrollos. Both the legendary Walters, 78, and Kyrollos said sustainability depends on treating sports bettors fairly.

That, they said, means an equal playing field for all customers.

Richard Schuetz, a veteran casino executive, regulator and onetime Las Vegas sportsbook operator, moderated the panel. Schuetz hosted Walters when Schuetz ran the sportsbook at the Stardust.

Transparency, betting limits are concerns

One problem threatening the long-term sustainability of legal sports betting, panelists said, is a lack of knowledgeable operators. “The (legal) industry is new in this country..

July 19, 2024

Pennsylvania gaming market shored up by record icasino performance in FY23-24

Pennsylvania reported year-on-year declines in slots, table games, sports betting, VGTs and fantasy sports in its fiscal year ended 30 June, yet a strong performance from online gaming was enough to push the state to record revenue and taxes.

Total gambling revenue for the 12 months to 30 June came to $5.89bn (£4.55bn/€5.41bn), 6.9% ahead of last year’s $5.51bn according to full-year figures from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

This generated $2.36bn in tax revenue for the Keystone state, a record breaking total. Of this total, $1.34bn came from casino slots and $157.6m table games. Sports betting generated $175.2m, video gaming terminals $21.4m and fantasy sports $2.9m.

However, it followed a year in which all verticals – bar one – declined year-over-year. The land-based casino market made the biggest contribution, with slots making up $2.44bn of FY23-24 revenue, down 0.6% from the prior year. A further $958m came from table games, with video gaming terminals (VGT) revenue ..

July 17, 2024

New Jersey: Sports betting decline fails to halt gambling revenue growth in June

A second consecutive month of year-on-year decline in sports betting revenue failed to halt overall growth in the New Jersey gambling market, with total revenue rising 7.4% in June.

Combined land-based casino, igaming and sports betting revenue in New Jersey hit $491.0m (£378.6m/€450.3m) for June. This is clear of $457.2m in the same month last year but 3.7% behind the $510.0m posted in May this year.

Land-based casino again generated the most gambling revenue for New Jersey during June. In total, revenue in this segment edged up by 1.0% to $244.1m. This includes $184.0m in slot machine revenue, a rise of 0.6%, and $60.1m table games, up 2.5%.

Igaming edges closer to New Jersey land-based casinos

By far the biggest area of growth in New Jersey in June was the igaming market. Here, total revenue was 25.2% higher year-on-year at $186.8m. This was $57.3m behind the long-established casino land-based sector.

‘Other authorised games’ drew $184.4m of all igaming revenue, up 25.6%. Howe..

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Tag: Retail sports betting