Sports betting – Page 23

May 24, 2024

State of the Union: A look back at the week that was in North America

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.

PA, MA issue fines

On 22 May the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board announced that it had fined Wind Creek Bethlehem $125,000 (£98,089/€115,156) for allowing minors onto the gaming floor 10 times. The regulator wrote in a press release that the incidents occurred over a 20-month period and involved 11 people.

A day later, on 23 May, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission issued a $10,000 fine to Fanatics Sportsbook for allowing a bet to be placed on a Boston College team. A consumer placed a $50 futures bet on the Golden Eagles bowl game against SMU on 5 December 2023. Fanatics discovered the bet a day later and cancelled it. Betting on in-state college teams is not permitted in most cases in Massachusetts.

SI to exit Michigan by end of 2024

Michigan’s SI Sportsbook will exit the state by the end of the year,..

May 24, 2024

Delaware sports betting growth continues as expansion bill progresses

Delaware reported further year-on-year growth across sports betting handle and revenue in April, while a bill proposing plans to expand the state’s online market beyond its current monopoly has moved forward.

Introduced in April, House Bill 365 is seeking to open up the Delaware online market to more operators. This comes just months after the Delaware Lottery launched its first online sportsbook with Rush Street Interactive and BetRivers.

The Lottery’s sportsbook went live in January and has already had a marked improvement on the Delaware sports betting market. Monthly handle and revenue totals are higher, with this trend continuing into April.

Against this background of early success, lawmakers are already looking at ways to grow the market further.

At the centre of this is HB 365, which this week was assigned to the house appropriations committee. The bill had been assigned to the house administration committee upon its introduction in mid-April, but no further action was take..

May 24, 2024

Wagering tax hikes are all the rage. Will IL be next to approve? MA didn’t

Proposed sports betting tax hikes are quickly becoming the latest trend and Illinois lawmakers continue to wrangle over the issue.

So far, there’s no consensus, which means that the Illinois legislature will extend its session into the Memorial Day weekend.

Governor JB Pritzker earlier this year began pushing to increase the Illinois betting tax rate from 15% to 35%. Pritzker has argued that his state isn’t getting the kind of revenue that bigger states like New York (51% tax rate) and Pennsylvania (36% tax rate) are reaping.

A key difference, however, is that more-comparable Pennsylvania allows promotional deductions, making the effective tax rate 24%, according to Vixio. Illinois and New York do not allow for promo deductions. New York has the biggest competitive marketplace in the US and operators were willing to weather the high tax rate in exchange for the exposure. According to one industry group, at least some legal operators are in the red in Illinois.

Pritzker’s proposa..

May 23, 2024

DC hails FanDuel success as revenue tops $5.0m in opening 30 days

The DC Office of Lottery and Gaming (OLG) has praised the impact FanDuel has had since taking over as the official sports wagering platform in Washington DC, with the brand generating $5.0m (£3.9m/€4.6m) in revenue during its first 30 days of operation.

FanDuel has officially been operating in partnership with the OLG since 15 April. This came after the OLG completed its transition from Intralot-run GambetDC, its long-term partner for sports betting in DC.

For the period from the launch day to 14 May, FanDuel’s online sportsbook reported $5.0m in gross gaming revenue. This is some 887% higher than in the corresponding period in the previous year.

There is also a significant improvement in handle. For the same period, players in DC spent approximately $30m betting on sports, up 673% year-on-year.

The OLG also noted that, as a result of higher revenue, it was able to generate more funds for the district. FanDuel gives 40% of revenue to DC, equating to $1.9m for the 30-day opening per..

May 23, 2024

ACMA orders blocking of more illegal gambling websites

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has requested the blocking of a further eight websites it deems to be offering gambling in the country illegally.

ACMA said each of the sites is operating in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. As such, it is requesting internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to the illegal sites.

Domains flagged include Jogi Casino, Dundee Slots, Lucky Hunter, Lucky Wins, Lukki Casino, Spin Fever, Clubhouse Casino and Winport Casino.

Since the ACMA made its first blocking request in November 2019, some 975 gambling and affiliate websites have been blocked. In addition, over 220 illegal services have pulled out of Australia since the ACMA started enforcing illegal offshore gambling rules.

ACMA committed to protecting players

Website blocking is one several enforcement options to protect consumers against illegal gambling services.

ACMA says it can take such action if a site offers games not covered by Australian law such..

May 22, 2024

Mississippi sports betting revenue drops 8.8% to $3.1m in April

Mississippi reported sports betting revenues of $3.1m (£2.7m/€3.1m) for April, down 8.8% from March’s total.

Sports betting revenue in Mississippi for April fell short of March’s figure of $3.4m, and was 27.9% down on the same month last year, when $4.3m in revenue was reported.

Total handle for the month was $34.3m. This was a 22.9% decrease on the $44.5m in bets taken in March. However, it was 7.9% ahead of April 2023’s figure of $31.8m.

In terms of where bets were placed, Mississippi’s coastal casinos again led the way, reporting $1.5m in revenue and $23.6m in handle.

Central casinos took $6.6m in bets and generated revenue of $1.2m. Northern casinos, meanwhile, reported handle and revenue of $4.1m and $402,880 respectively.

What sports are they betting on in Mississippi?

With the National Football League (NFL) season having ended in February, basketball and baseball were the most popular sports for betting at Mississippi’s coastal casinos over April.

Baseball narrowly led th..

May 22, 2024

Horseracing Betting Levy Board expects record £105m in contributions

The Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) has announced it expects to receive a record £105m (€123m/$134m) in levy payments for 2023-24, with the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) praising the commitment of its member to the scheme.

This contribution, both the BGC and HBLB say, will be £5m more than the previous financial year. It will also be the third consecutive year levy contributions have increased. This total is set to surpass the £100m paid in 2022-23 and £97m in 2021-22.

The additional funding means the HBLB has been able to increase prize money contributions by £3.2m to £70.5m.

“The trend that was seen towards the end of 2022-23 has continued,,” HBLB chairman Paul Darling said. “Betting turnover is lower and bookmakers’ profits higher than recent norms. In the light of reports and analysis from the HBLB executive during the year, the board had been anticipating income of around the total that is expected.

“The effect of this financial outturn gives the board additional comfor..

May 22, 2024

Operators jilt Massachusetts regulator in discussion about limiting bettors

The biggest news that came out of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission's (MGC) roundtable on limiting players on Tuesday (21 May) was what wasn't said. And who wasn't there. Every live operator in the state declined to participate.

As the MGC begins to learn about why and how operators set bet limits on players, the only operator representative was Justin Black of Bally’s Interactive. That platform is licensed, but not live in the state.

BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, ESPN Bet, Fanatics Betting & Gaming and FanDuel requested executive session for the roundtable. The Massachusetts regulator declined. Most operators cited confidentiality concerns and were ultimately left out of the conversation.

Commissioners didn’t hide their disappointment and anger. Interim Chair Jordan Maynard said that the Massachusetts regulator is required by an open-meeting law to have discussion in public and that is sometimes “uncomfortable”. He also said that integrity and transpar..

May 21, 2024

West Flagler to SCOTUS: DoJ laid out why you should hear Florida wagering case

On Tuesday (21 May) West Flagler and Associates (WFA) discounted a recent argument by the the US Department of Justice (DoJ) in the Florida sports betting case. The reply from the pari-mutuels suing the federal government is the final piece needed before the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) considers whether or not it will take the case.

WFA argues that the 2021 Florida-Seminole tribe compact explicitly allows for wagering outside of Indian Country. That allowance, it says, violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). Last week, the DoJ wrote that the validity of the compact isn’t a federal issue and it doesn’t violate IGRA. Further, the DoJ argued that the US Department of the Interior’s (DoI) decision to allow the compact to become “deemed approved” does not violate any laws, state or federal.

WFA filed a writ of certiorari with the supreme court in April. At issue in the Florida wagering case is whether the DoI should have approved a compact that gives the Seminoles exclusivity to..

May 21, 2024

Michigan online gaming revenue drops 8.7% to $234.8m in April

Michigan sports betting and igaming operators reported $234.8m (£184.7m/€216.3m) in April revenue, down 8.7% on March’s total.

March’s revenue figure of $257.1m was the highest total in Michigan so far in 2024, although comparably April’s numbers fell short. Nonetheless, April’s revenue total still beat January and February, which produced $229.6m and $218.5m respectively.

Year-on-year, April revenue was 20% ahead of the same month last year, when Michigan’s sports betting and igaming operators reported revenues of $195.7m.

Igaming revenue down but sports betting stable in Michigan

Igaming revenue fell from $215.5m in March, Michigan’s strongest igaming month to date, to $192.9m in April.

Sports betting handle, meanwhile, also dropped significantly. Michigan’s online sports betting operators took $399.1m in bets in April, down from $480.4m in March. However, April sports betting revenue stayed stable at $41.9m.

In terms of monthly adjusted gross receipts (AGR), igaming and sports..

May 21, 2024

US April round-up: growth in Louisiana but New Hampshire declines

Casting an eye over the latest monthly US state results, iGB analyses sports betting growth in Louisiana during April and a decline in revenue and handle in New Hampshire.

Players spent more on sports betting in Louisiana, which led to a rise in revenue. However, it was very much the opposite in New Hampshire in April, where the market shrank year-on-year.

Starting in Louisiana, handle amounted to $283.0m (£222.5m/€250.4m), up 34.8% from last year but down 19.1% from March’s $350.0m total. Players spent $263.2m betting on sports online during April, in addition to $19.8m at retail sportsbooks.

As for revenue, this amounted to $33.0m in April. The monthly total is 49.3% ahead of last year and only 2.4% behind $33.8m in March this year.

The state collected $5.4m in tax during the month, with almost all of this coming from the online market.

As for the financial year to date, total player spending in the 10 months to the end of April was $2.86bn. Of this, $2.61bn was bet online, wit..

May 21, 2024

High regulatory costs driving potential for M&A “boom” in Brazil

Economist Adam Patterson believes high regulatory costs will drive an M&A “boom” for Brazil's sports betting market.

Brazil passed Bill 3,626/2023 to regulate sports betting and igaming on 21 December. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva then signed the bill into law later that month.

The country is currently in the process of rolling out its regulations. Licence fees are expected to cost BRL30m (£4.6m/€5.4m/$5.9m) for up to three brands.

Normative Ordinance No 722 outlined regulations on the technology and security requirements of betting systems. Operators must gain certification of their systems from accreditation entities recognised by the ministry of finance. They must also keep their systems constantly updated to maintain compliance.

With operational fees expected to be costly, smaller companies could face obstacles if they are to operate in Brazil.

Patterson is an economist and partner at Redirection International, which specialises in M&A and has a team working in Bra..

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Tag: Sports betting