SportsHandle and friends deliver another round-up of the week’s big developments in US sports betting.
Soo Kim Makes Power Play To Acquire Bally’s As Sports Betting Industry Hits A Crossroads
Disparate factors from soaring customer acquisition costs to skepticism from institutional investors on the long-term viability of industry heavyweights has led to a considerable sell-off in sports betting stocks, pushing top names to near 12-month lows.
On Tuesday, Soo Kim decided the timing was apt to make a power play for Bally’s Corp., where he is presently chairman. Kim, managing partner of Standard General LP, the largest shareholder of Bally’s, made an offer to purchase the remaining shares of Bally’s in a takeover attempt that values the company at approximately $2 billion.
Full story here.
Why Isn’t Online Poker Getting Dealt Into The Gambling Expansion Game?
There was a time when online poker was the dominant form of online gambling. As far as many Americans knew — those who were unaware of offshore sports betting operators but who regularly saw TV commercials for PokerStars or Full Tilt Poker or PartyPoker — it was the only form of online gambling that existed throughout the first decade of the current millennium.
Back then, nothing was regulated in the U.S., although online poker wasn’t explicitly illegal to play either. Fast-forward to 2022, when online gambling in one form or another is fully legal and taxed in 22 states plus Washington, D.C., and online poker is an afterthought.
Full story here.
Louisiana Regulator: Digital Wagering Platforms Can Launch Friday Morning
On Wednesday morning, the Louisiana Gaming Control Board announced that it would launch mobile sports betting operators beginning at 8 a.m. local time on Friday.
The three-line press release does not indicate how many platforms would start, though sources put the number at about six. Including the Louisiana Lottery platform, the state could ultimately have as many as 41 digital options. It seems likely that Caesars, BetMGM, and WynnBet, all of which made announcements about the launch, will be in the initial group.
Full story here.
Will Other States Follow New York’s Lead And Tax Sportsbooks Out The Wazoo?
It was a seemingly innocuous quote, as these things go.
“What we did was copycat New York’s law. We wanted to follow New York but go with a higher tax,” Rep. John Mizuno of Hawaii told Sports Handle. “We said, ‘Hey, New York got it passed, so let’s do what they did.’ That was my request for the bill drafters.”
There was a slight twist, however, in the tax rate of the bill Mizuno filed last week in his attempt to bring sports betting to the island state: New York’s rate is a nation-high (along with Rhode Island) 51%. Mizuno’s bill bumps that to 55%.
Full story here.
Wynn Resorts Reportedly Seeks To Sell Online Sports Betting Business
Wynn Resorts reportedly wants out of the increasingly competitive online sports betting game, and is even willing to dump its online sports betting platform WynnBET at a substantial discount.
WynnBET, which is among the dozen digital platforms in Michigan, is partnered with the tribal Kewadin Casinos. WynnBET also has retail sportsbooks at all five of the tribe’s brick-and-mortar locations.
Full story here.
PointsBet Launches In New York, Becomes State’s Sixth Online Sportsbook
PointsBet has arrived on the New York online sports betting scene. Having met the statutory and regulatory conditions required by the New York Gaming Commission (NYGC), PointsBet processed its first bet at 10:09 p.m. Monday and became the sixth mobile sportsbook to go live in New York.
PointsBet now offers online sports betting in nine states, headlined by operations in New Jersey, Illinois, and Michigan. PointsBet is also expected to launch in Pennsylvania within the next few weeks, after the state’s gaming control board granted the company a sports betting license on Wednesday.
Full story here.
Ohio Regulators Lay Out Timeline, Release First Batch Of Proposed Sports Betting Rules
The Ohio Casino Control Commission last week released its first batch of proposed sports betting rules as well as a timeline for regulations and applications. The upshot is that legal sports betting by the 2022 NFL season is probably more of a dream than a probability.
While Ohio does have an existing casino infrastructure, a CCC spokesperson said the regulatory process for most anything in the state averages about six months, which would mean that could be completed by mid-July if there are no hiccups. In addition, operators must complete the application process, which in most jurisdictions takes at least three months.
Full story here.
PointsBet, FanDuel Discuss Best Way To Crack Ontario Sports Betting Market
With the highly anticipated launch of Ontario‘s open iGaming market in the coming weeks and months, private sportsbook operators are busy firming up their plans and strategies to compete against each other for the sports betting dollars of Canadian consumers. With dozens of sportsbooks applying for licenses to operate in the province, which is home to roughly 15 million Canadians, the competition will be fierce.
PointsBet and FanDuel are among sportsbooks aggressively positioning themselves to compete in the Ontario market, with approaches that have both similarities and differences. PointsBet Canada Chief Commercial Officer Nic Sulsky and Conor Murray, the senior growth director at FanDuel, both took the virtual podium Saturday on a sports betting panel organized by Western University, which is located in London, Ontario. The hour-long discussion focused on the challenges each company is facing entering the Canadian market, and what some of their strategies will be to attract Ontario sports bettors.
Full story here.
