Industry News of the Day for April 4, 2024

By iDEA | April 4, 2024

Industry

  • Legal Sports Report: Bally’s Investors Slam ‘Woeful’ Takeover Bid, Urge Sports Betting Halt
    • Standard General‘s latest bid to take Bally’s private is an attempt to exploit the stock market’s low confidence in the company and acquire a vast casino portfolio at a cheap price, K&F Growth Capital said in a letter to the Bally’s Board of Directors Tuesday. The firm advised alternative measures to restabilize the company, which it claims could return twice as much for shareholders. Led by Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim, Standard General’s offer values the company at roughly $684 million, or $15 per share. That is roughly 8% higher than where Bally’s shares closed Monday, though a fraction of the $2 billion offer Bally’s rejected in 2022. Shareholders could lose out on double their money if Kim’s bid is approved.
  • TheLines: How Sports Betting Growth Has Mirrored Increased Interest In Women’s Sports
    • “We have seen an incredible uptick in betting on women’s sports as fans show unprecedented interest, and we look forward to seeing how fans engage during the Final Four,” said Karol Corcoran in an e-mail to CNBC. Corcoran is a senior vice president and general manager of FanDuel Sportsbook. It is easy to dismiss the claims of growing interest in the overall popularity of athletes like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. While it is true the Iowa vs. LSU rivalry did aid viewership and sports betting numbers, the increase in interest in women’s sports is not a one-off occurrence.
  • CDC Gaming Reports: FanDuel Executives Talk Nevada Sports-Betting Prospects
    • FanDuel executives raised the prospects that the sports-betting and fantasy-sports operator could have a greater presence in Nevada beyond its current minimal role, but that it would take an acquisition within the state to do so. Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson, chief financial officer for Flutter Entertainment, FanDuel’s parent company, said FanDuel is looking at building its business in each state, including Nevada. “Our challenge in relation to Nevada is we have very developed risk and trading from a sports perspective globally,” O’Riordain said. “Without acquiring something and having different licensure here, we can’t bring that in. For us, we need to work out how we’re going to solve that issue. It’s under consideration.”

Arizona

  • Gambling Insider: Fanatics Sportsbook Launches In Arizona
    • Fanatics Betting and Gaming has launched the Fanatics Sportsbook in its 18th state in the US, after going live in Arizona. It secured market access for its online sports betting platform through a partnership agreement with the Tonto Apache Tribe, the owner and operator of the Mazatzal Hotel & Casino. Fanatics Betting & Gaming Chief Business Officer Ari Borod added: “We are thrilled to partner with the Tonto Apache Tribe and Mazatzal Hotel & Casino to bring the Fanatics Sportsbook to Arizona.  Arizona is a state with tons of options for sports fans, from baseball, to hockey, to golf to football to racing, making it the ideal destination for the most rewarding online sportsbook.”

Louisiana

  • SBC Americas: Louisiana The Latest State To Pull The Plug On College Prop Bets
    • TheLouisiana Gaming Control Board announced today that the bets will not be allowed in the state after Aug. 1. The order went out to operators on April 2. The move comes less than a week after NCAA President Charlie Baker publicly called for states still offering the market to consider shutting them down. Louisiana joinsOhio and Maryland as states to reverse course on this in 2024. Critics of the move suggest that eliminating the betting markets will drive bettors back to offshore operators.

Maryland

  • PlayUSA: Maryland Online Casino Hopes Die With State Budget Exclusion
    • The Maryland legislature completed budget negotiations Wednesday, leaving out online casino as expected. The last chance for online casino to get a victory this year is for lawmakers to move just the referendum to put the question of legalization in front of voters in November. Then legislators can come back and work out the implementation details next year rather than needing to wait for the 2026 general election. However, after the budget announcement, Sen. Ron Watson told PlayUSA that passing the referendum before the legislature adjourns Monday is “unlikely.”

Minnesota

  • SportsHandle: Third Minnesota Sports Betting Bill Focuses On Problem Gambling
    • A third bill to legalize sports betting in Minnesota was filed Thursday by Sen. John Marty, and the legislation comes with a large tax rate and a heavy emphasis on problem and responsible gambling. The bill, SF 5330, features a minimum tax rate of 40%, a jarring difference compared to SF 1949 (20%) and HF 2000 (10%). The bill will allow up to 11 sports betting apps to go live in the state, with an open application process for the operator licenses. Minnesota’s legislative session ends on May 20, giving legislators well over a month to come to an agreement on the best way to move sports betting forward.

New Jersey

  • PlayNJ: New Jersey Regulators Will Begin Breaking Down Monthly Gambling Revenue By Individual Operators
    • According to the Division of Gaming Enforcement, the state will change the way it presents revenue reports for online casinos in New Jersey and NJ sportsbooks. In order to “increase transparency” regarding those reports, the DGE will begin breaking down revenue by each individual skin rather than by license holder. “By providing more detailed, skin-level revenue information,” the DGE said in a statement, “stakeholders and the public will have a clearer understanding of the performance of individual iGaming and sports wagering operators.”
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