SportsHandle: the week that was in US sports betting

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

PENN Exercises Option To Purchase 100% Of Barstool Sports

PENN Entertainment exercised its option to fully own Barstool Sports on Wednesday, bringing the valuation of Dave Portnoy’s upstart media outlet to $450 million and solidifying its controversial founder as the definitive face of PENN’s sports wagering platform, Barstool Sportsbook.

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Confused In California: Overwhelming Messages In The Fight Over Legal Wagering

When California voters weigh in Nov. 8 on whether to legalize retail and/or online sports betting, their decision will cap what is expected to be the costliest initiative campaign in U.S. history. And if experts in politics and sports betting are right, the hundreds of millions spent may all have been for naught.

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Jason Robins, Twitter Burner Accounts, And A New School In Pakistan

Well, if you’ve heard one “false tweet leading to a $100,000 donation by the CEO of a major sports betting company leading to a school being built in Pakistan” story, you’ve heard ‘em all, but this one is a doozy.

It was Nov. 30 of last year that Alex Frantz — AFrantzie on Twitter, and a former PointsBet oddsmaker — inadvertently started the process that culminated in some 50 children in Pakistan getting a brand new school and an education they would not have otherwise received. His since-deleted tweet read, “Is this the most obvious Jason Robins burner of all time? 39 tweets all responses to negative things about Jason/DK. 10 followers with Jason being one lol.”

In short: It looked like DraftKings CEO Jason Robins had a burner account.

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Hard Rock Northern Indiana A Formidable Baccarat Juggernaut

The first thing that comes to mind for most people upon hearing “baccarat” is the iconic opening scene of Dr. No, in which Sean Connery makes his James Bond debut in 1962 and calmly bests Sylvia Trench in multiple hands. Though revisited in 1995 to introduce Pierce Brosnan as Agent 007 in GoldenEye, that first shot of Connery as Bond, lighting his partially dangling cigarette, endures.

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Midterm Election Odds Swinging To The Left In Swing State Pennsylvania

The midterm elections are a dozen weeks away, and two of the races garnering the most nationwide interest are being contested in Pennsylvania.

Among the ways to quantify that interest? Betting volume at the trading-style site PredictIt, which is being forced to pull up stakes (yes, multiple meanings intended) in February 2023, but is for now continuing to take action on all of the markets that will be decided in November.

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Ohio Commission Approves 200 Applicants For Type C Sports Wagering Host Licenses

The Ohio Casino Control Commission moved another step closer on Wednesday morning to getting things in order for launching sports wagering in the Buckeye State.

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Yankees President Hopes For Lowered Sports Betting Tax Rate, Casino In Coney Island

Like most major sports teams based in states with legal mobile sports gambling, the Yankees — who have partnership deals with FanDuel, DraftKings, and Bally Bet, among other relationships — have a stake in making sure the industry thrives in the long run.

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NYC-Area Casino Outlook: Not Particularly Soon, Not In Manhattan

A nearly hour-long discussion at the Racing and Gaming Conference in Saratoga Springs on Tuesday wrapped up with a sobering 2-2 split among experts on whether a single casino will open in the New York City area by the end of 2023.

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Retail Gaming Revenue At AC Casinos Surges To $299 Million In July

Garden State casinos beat the heat in epic style during July, generating their highest monthly revenue total in eight-plus years, according to figures from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement released Tuesday.

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Kansas Operators Can Go Live With Digital And Retail Wagering Sept. 1

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced Thursday that operators can launch retail and digital sports betting Sept. 1, making it the second-fastest state to go from legalization to live digital wagering since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018.
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