SportsHandle and friends deliver another round-up of the week’s big developments in US sports betting.
Rihanna’s Super Bowl Outfit Creates A Wild Sports Betting Tale
Gina Fiore has lived quite the gambling life.
If you want to hear the whole story, I highly recommend Gamblers, a podcast from The Ringer. She was featured in the very first episode, and it seems almost ridiculous that Jessica Chastain hasn’t optioned this for Hollywood. I don’t want to give anything away, just trust me.
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Monthly Stock Watch: Strong Start To ’23 As Books Guide To Profitability In Second Half
From a business perspective, it is no secret that 2023 will be a critical year for the nation’s top sportsbook operators.
After years in the red, leading sports betting companies are feeling the heat from investors. Encumbered by costly promotional wars, sportsbooks smartened up last year by taking a more disciplined approach to marketing — and the cost-cutting measures are finally paying dividends.
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Minor League Pitcher Cries Foul Over MLB Suspension For Baseball Bets
Major League Baseball is pushing back on complaints by a minor-league player that he has been unfairly blacklisted for three years because of bets he placed on the sport during the 2020 COVID era.
In a series of posts on social media platforms, pitcher Pete Bayer said he placed the wagers only during the COVID pandemic after the 2020 minor league season was canceled. He said he made the bets in Colorado, his home state, while he was still a member of the Oakland A’s organization.
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Intralot Ready To Pick Up The Pace With Sports Betting Kiosks
Scott Hoss knows the money wagered on sports betting kiosks in bars and bowling alleys across Ohio won’t come anywhere near the volume on people’s smartphones and computers, but that’s not a concern.
Hoss’ company, Intralot, is by far the major source of Ohio Lottery-approved betting kiosks for the new industry that started Jan. 1. It has been a slow rollout in phases in terms of activating the equipment to start accepting wagers, which drew some complaints last month from businesses expecting to start sooner.
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Media Notebook: Could Some MLB Teams Soon Broadcast Their Own Games?
Is Major League Baseball on the path to broadcasting many of its games without the help of any regional sports networks?
Speculation in the industry lately is that that could be the upshot of Diamond Sports Group’s distressed financial position, with Bloomberg reporting that the company is on the verge of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Because MLB teams are among the company’s primary creditors, they could be positioned to take over broadcasting many of their games direct-to-consumer via streaming on MLB.com and local media rights.
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DraftKings, PENN Agree To Pay Hefty Fines Tied To Promoting Ohio Launch
DraftKings and PENN Entertainment agreed to pay a combined $750,000 in fines to the Ohio Casino Control Commission Wednesday to settle violations related to marketing of their online sportsbooks.
DraftKings will pay $500,000 under a settlement agreement covering two different violations and PENN will pay $250,000 as a penalty from improper marketing of the Barstool Sportsbook in its interactive division.
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In Key Rebranding, Magic City Jai Alai Is Now The World Jai Alai League
Magic City Jai Alai has a new name. It’s now known as the World Jai Alai League.
While that might not sound like a big deal to those unfamiliar with jai alai’s history in the United States, where it went from a popular (and glamorous) parimutuel sport to the endangered species list, the man who singlehandedly revived it recognizes the significance of the rebranding.
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AGA Reports Record $60.4 Billion In Total Gaming Revenue For 2022
American Gaming Association President Bill Miller struck an optimistic tone about the U.S. gaming industry Wednesday after reporting a record $60.4 billion in commercial operator revenue for 2022 from combined casino gaming, sports wagering, and internet casino gambling.
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Georgia Legislature Juggles Multiple Sports Wagering Bills
Georgia’s legislative session lasts through the end of March, and sports betting figures to be a hot topic in the statehouse over the next month. Two different bills were discussed in committees Thursday, and another bill to legalize sports betting in the state was discussed earlier in the week.
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