SportsHandle and friends deliver another round-up of the week’s big developments in US sports betting.
Single Game Parlays Have Taken The Sportsbook World By Storm
If we’re going to rank the most momentous moments in the history of the business of sports betting, there are a few that stand out.
PASPA being overturned certainly ranks at or near the top, as does the invention of the point spread. That was thanks to Charles K. McNeil, a Chicago fella back who came up with the idea in the early 1940s.
But in recent months, a new item on the menu for sports bettors has taken hold, and based on early returns, it’s not so far-fetched to say the single game parlay will one day be held up as a shining example of, well, massive profit for sportsbook operators, but also as a turning point for the sports betting industry.
Full story here.
NJ’s Quest For $1B In Betting Handle In A Single Month Becomes Reality
The long build toward New Jersey sportsbooks handling $1 billion in wagers in a single month finally reached that mark with the $1,011,114,311 for September announced on Monday by state regulators.
The progress toward becoming the first state in the U.S. to clear that remarkable threshold wasn’t all that linear.
Two weeks of action in the launch month of June 2018 produced a modest $16.4 million in wagers, which more than doubled that July, and that more than doubled in August, only to nearly double again in September 2018, when more than $183.9 million represented the first triple-digit figure for handle.
Full story here.
NJ Collecting More Tax Dollars From Online Casinos Than Brick-And-Mortar
Online casino games in New Jersey have a long way to go before they ever catch up to revenues (in a non-pandemic era) produced the old-fashioned way: from customers showing up at the nine Atlantic City casinos and doing their gambling there. But the online version has taken the lead in an important way for state residents, as more tax dollars are flowing into the New Jersey Treasury that way.
Since the launch of online casino play in 2013, operators have paid 15% of gross online casino revenue in taxes. In September, for instance, a record $122.6 million in revenue produced a record $18.5 million in taxes, per the state Division of Gaming Enforcement report released Monday.
Full story here.
Everyone Can Wager In Connecticut Now That Soft Launch Is Over
Nineteen days after the first bet was taken and seven days after the first mobile wager was made, operators in Connecticut have opened digital sports betting and iCasino to anyone in the state who wants to play.
The Department of Consumer Protection took off any remaining restrictions on time, bets allowed, or number of people allowed to play on each platform at 6 a.m. Tuesday, so Connecticut is officially among the nearly 30 totally live and legal sports betting jurisdictions in the U.S.
Full story here.
Betting On Successful Expansion, Penn National Completes Purchase Of TheScore
Penn National Gaming announced Tuesday that it had completed its $2 billion acquisition of theScore, which is intended to vastly broaden its penetration of the North American sports betting market.
“We’re excited to be creating this powerful new entertainment flywheel that will provide us with multiple growth channels that transcend our current business verticals,” Penn National President and CEO Jay Snowden said in a statement accompanying the announcement.
Full story here.
Books Face Deadline To Conform With N.Y. Tax Rate Matrix Amid Collusion Warnings
As the NFL season nears its midway point, the New York Gaming Commission is about to complete a key procedural step in the state’s competitive mobile sports betting bidding process by early next week.
Bidders for a coveted mobile license in the Empire State will have until 5 p.m. on Monday to amend a so-called “pricing matrix” enclosed in the applications submitted by participating sportsbook operators in early August. The modified pricing matrix within the amended applications must conform with the commission’s “final tax rate matrix” for selecting bidders, according to a statement released by the commission Wednesday night.
Full story here.
Caesars Sportsbook Planning Louisiana Soft Launch In Next Few Days
After becoming the first sportsbook to partner with a Power 5 program and scoring the naming rights to the Superdome, it appears Caesars sportsbook will be the first to go live with digital wagering in Louisiana. Sources said that, on Monday, the company shared that it expects to go live as soon as this coming weekend.
Louisiana voters legalized sports betting in 55 of 64 parishes last November, and Gov. John Bel Edwards signed off on legislation detailing tax rates and some framework in June. Since then, the Louisiana Gaming Control Board has approved emergency rules and the state police have been reviewing license applications. The new law allows for up to 40 digital platforms tethered to the state’s 20 existing casinos and horse racetracks.
Full story here.
One Florida Sports Betting Lawsuit Thrown Out; Two More In Play
In what is being touted as a victory for the Seminole Tribe and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a U.S. District Court judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit seeking an injunction against the start of legal sports betting in Florida. The lawsuit is one of three filed since DeSantis negotiated a compact giving the Seminoles a monopoly on sports betting. Lawmakers approved the compact in May.
Full story here.
