SportsHandle and friends deliver another round-up of the week’s big developments in US sports betting.
Jeremy Levine: From His Parents’ Attic To Zeroing In On The Sports Betting Industry
There was almost never an Underdog Fantasy, there was almost never a world in which FanDuel was bought by Flutter, and Underdog co-founder Jeremy Levine was almost in charge of running FanDuel’s products.
The story picks up in the spring of 2017, when Levine — who had founded and was running Draft, a daily fantasy platform — met Breon Corcoran, then the CEO of Paddy Power Betfair (now Flutter)
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Ohio Senate Puts Early Sports Betting Tax Hike In Picture Again
The possibility of doubling Ohio’s sports betting tax to 20% in the state’s first year of sportsbook operations is back on the table, as the Ohio Senate included it without discussion as part of an omnibus budget bill approved Thursday.
Gov. Mike DeWine first proposed raising the tax from 10% in his budget announcement in February, which was just the second month of legalized sports betting in the state.
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New York Hits More Sports Wagering Revenue Milestones With May Report
The New York State Gaming Commission reported $152.6 million in sports wagering revenue for May, lifting the Empire State to a pair of milestones as mobile betting there remains unmatched.
The revenue total was the second-highest in state history, behind the $163.6 million generated in March, and third-highest nationally in the post-PASPA era. It was enough to push all-time gross revenue above $2 billion, a status shared only by neighboring New Jersey.
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North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper Signs Mobile Sports Wagering Bill
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper put pen to paper Wednesday, signing HB 347 into law and officially legalizing mobile sports betting in the Tar Heel State.
“Let’s face it, sports wagering is already happening in our state … this legislation allows the state of North Carolina to regulate it and to put safeguards on it as well as providing funding for helping people with problem gambling,” Cooper said at a press conference Wednesday.
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It’s Official! Vermont Governor Signs Sports Betting Bill Into Law
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott Wednesday made his state the third this year to legalize sports betting when he signed H127, a digital sports betting bill that will allow up to six platforms in the Green Mountain State. Scott’s signature made it so that every New England state has legalized, and New Englanders will be able to wager from Connecticut to Maine once both Maine and Vermont launch betting.
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Rhode Island Lawmakers First In 2023 To Legalize Online Casino Games
On the final day of the 2023 session, Rhode Island’s legislature became the first in the nation this year to approve a legal online casino bill.
The legislation approved by the House Thursday, which would extend the Bally’s monopoly in the state to include iGaming, now goes to Gov. Daniel McKee for his signature. Rhode Island would join six other states that offer online casino. Rhode Island was among the first adopters of legal retail and digital sports betting, and it also has long had brick-and-mortar casinos.
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