SportsHandle: That was the week that was in US sports betting

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SportsHandle and friends deliver another round-up of the week’s big developments in US sports betting.

SuperBook Coming To NJ Via Meadowlands Deal?

The third and final Meadowlands Racetrack mobile sports betting brand partnership — or “skin” — is getting closer to being determined.

Track owner Jeff Gural told NJ Online Gambling Tuesday that it’s his intention that the skin go to SuperBook, the brand name of the iconic sportsbook that is part of the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino near the north end of the city’s “Strip.”

“It’s a good addition for us, given what a big name they are in Las Vegas,” said Gural, who added that the book would go into operation pending approval from New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement regulators.

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Legal Sports Betting In Georgia? Not This Year, Folks

Despite repeated efforts, a source told Sports Handle Tuesday that the effort to legalize sports betting in Georgia is now six feet under. The legislature’s session ends Wednesday, and Democrats in the state are continuing to withhold votes over a controversial voting-rights bill that the Republicans sponsored earlier in the session.

At the start of 2021, Georgia was among a handful of states, along with Arizona, Connecticut, Kansas, and Massachusetts in which many stakeholders felt confident in chances for legalization.

But within the last two days, prospects have dimmed in both Arizona and Georgia. Connecticut’s tribes agreed to a new compact with Gov. Ned Lamont earlier this month, and legislation is starting to work its way through the system. Sports betting legislation remains alive in both Kansas and Massachusetts, though both state legislatures lack a clear consensus on what it will look like.

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DraftKings Acquires VSiN In A Move To Boost Content Offerings

In a “wolf investing in hen houses” type of move, DraftKings has acquired Vegas Sports Information Network (VSiN).

The sportsbook and daily fantasy provider announced Tuesday the purchase of VSiN, although no price was mentioned in the early-morning press release.

VSiN, founded in 2017 by Brian Musburger, nephew of iconic broadcaster Brent Musburger, has been delivering up to 18 hours a day of independent news and analysis concerning the world of sports betting. DraftKings, of course, is in the business of booking sports bets. The combination of the two — although the press release insists DraftKings will allow VSiN to maintain full “editorial independence” — is already leaving a bad taste in the mouths of some of the sports betting world’s more prominent figures.

Full story here.

Latest Arizona Sports Betting Proposal Derailed By A Typo

Arizona lawmakers filed a “strike everything” amendment Friday that would have revived the issue of legal sports betting and allowed WestWorld, a massive Scottsdale convention space that hosts the annual Barrett-Jackson collector car auction, to apply for an operator license. But a typo in the new language appears to have killed the latest attempt at moving a legal sports betting bill.

On March 25, the “strike everything” amendment — which means a bill is stripped of its content and replaced with something else — was filed for SB 1293, which began its life as a refrigerated products bill. The bill had already passed through the Senate and was on the agenda for Tuesday’s House Appropriations Committee as late as Monday night. But prior to the meeting, the bill was pulled from the agenda.

Full story here.

5 Key Issues To Watch As New York Faces Budget Deadline On Mobile Sports Betting

The clock is ticking. Days after New York political leaders finalized a deal that is expected to pave the way for the legalization of marijuana in the Empire State, negotiations on mobile sports betting may head into overtime this week ahead of Thursday’s deadline to pass the state’s fiscal year budget.

Online sports wagering has been linked inextricably to recreational marijuana in recent weeks since Gov. Andrew Cuomo pointed to both as mechanisms for curbing a historic budget deficit, at a time when residents are leaving the state en masse due to COVID-19. But the potential legalization of mobile sports betting in New York is rife with complexity, as negotiations between the governor’s office and legislative leaders go down to the wire this week.

Full story here.