SportsHandle and friends deliver another round-up of the week’s big developments in US sports betting.
Regulators Armed With Many Tools At Their Disposal In DraftKings’ Messenger Betting Investigation
The last few months have been hectic at DraftKings.
An overlapping sports calendar with simultaneous action in all four U.S. professional sports provided strong tailwinds to the company over the last two months, as for the sports betting industry as a whole. As a result, DraftKings reported pro forma revenue of $132.8 million for its third quarter of 2020, an increase of 41% from the same period a year ago. The Boston-based DFS-turned-sportsbook company has also grown its empire in recent weeks, notching partnerships with Michael Jordan and U.S. Open 2020 men’s golf champion Bryson DeChambeau. In between, DraftKings has dealt with troubling allegations.
Full story here.
Tennessee Sportsbooks See $27 Million In Bets During First Week
It was a good first week for the Tennessee sports betting apps.
According to the Tennessee Education Lottery, which held a meeting Monday with its Sports Wagering Advisory Council, the handle was about $27 million for the state’s four online/mobile sportsbooks from Nov. 1-8.
The books retained about $3.1 million of that total in the form of winnings. Tennessee charges a 20% tax on a book’s adjusted gross income.
The hold percentage from the first week was 11.4%. Under Tennessee’s regulations, sportsbooks must retain at least 10% of the handle in the form of revenue on an annual basis. Regulators are still considering how to punish a book if for whatever reason it doesn’t adhere to that requirement.
Full story here.
Time Getting Short For Legal Ohio Sports Betting In 2021
Sports betting made its way onto the Senate General Government and Agency Review Committee agenda in Ohio on Wednesday, but the third hearing on SB 111 netted little in terms of advancing the bill. Representatives from six major operators and industry group iDEA Growth submitted written testimony favoring the legalization of statewide mobile/online sports betting in Ohio sooner than later, but only one, Adam Suliman of Jack Entertainment, appeared in person at the hearing. There was no vote.
“We are excited about the prospect of adding physical sportsbooks and related amenities at our properties here in Ohio,” Suliman testified. “Although the sports wagering business is an incredibly low-margin business, we feel it’s a crucial amenity. … Our customers tell me regularly that they are looking forward to a day in the near future when they can wager legally on their favorite sporting event.”
Full story here.
FanDuel Sportsbook Director FanDuel’s John Sheeran Talks Going Online In New States, Balancing Books, Branding, And Fast Breaks
For Part I of this two-part series, focusing on players, click here.
In the first installment with FanDuel Sportsbook director John Sheeran, we focused on issues central to the sportsbook user’s experience. This time, it’s down to the business of bookmaking.
Below, FanDuel’s top oddsmaker discusses the challenges of rolling out its sportsbook online to yet another population of five-plus million, addresses a misconception about bookmaking fundamentals, goals for micro markets and more.
This interview was edited lightly for clarity and brevity.
Full story here.
PointsBet Goes Live With Colorado Digital Sports Betting Platform
As promised, just two months after going live online in Illinois, PointsBet Sportsbook this week launched its Colorado sports betting platform. The company soft-launched the site early in the week, and the official launch was Wednesday morning. PointsBet is the first operator to launch in Colorado and have its headquarters in the state. The Australian-based company announced in March that it was relocating its North American headquarters to Denver, and the office opened over the summer.
Colorado regulators launched the first four mobile platforms — BetMGM, BetRivers, DraftKings, and FanDuel — as a group on May 1, and PointsBet becomes the 12th digital operator to go live in Colorado.
Full story here.
October Set Oh So Many Records For Pennsylvania Gambling Activity, Including Sports Wagering
Buoyed by the first full month of Barstool Sportsbook’s operation, Pennsylvania set another new sports betting record in October with $525.8 million wagered.
And gross taxable revenue of $36.8 million from sports bettors helped the state’s gaming industry claim an all-time record of $320.2 million in revenue from all forms last month, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board reported Tuesday. It set the new high even while brick-and-mortar casinos continue to see significant year-over-year decline in slots and table games play due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The sports wagering totaling more than a half-billion dollars for the first time was up 13.6% over the prior record set in September, when Penn National Gaming’s new Barstool app took bets for about half the month after a highly publicized launch.
Full story here.
A US Sports Betting September To Remember With Nearly $2.9B In Handle
Throughout September, there was neither a lack of sporting events nor seemingly any escape from them.
The after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in multiple leagues re-jiggering their schedules, most notably the NBA and NHL extending their seasons into the fall in order to crown their respective champions. The two leagues also brought the phrase “in the bubble” into the sports lexicon as the NBA played out its schedule at Walt Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Fla., and the NHL sent its teams to Toronto and Edmonton in Canada.
Major League Baseball was working its way through a shortened 60-game season, while the NFL season started as scheduled with limited hiccups and varying amounts of fans in attendance, including no fans at some venues.
Full story here.
