Industry News of the Day for April 5, 2023

iDEA Growth Member News

• CDC Gaming Reports: Sightline Payments Providing Data For UNLV International Gaming Institute Research
  • Sightline Payments recently released data to the University of Nevada Las Vegas International Gaming Institute (UNLV IGI) that identifies various clusters of payments behavior. The data will help understand how payments behavior can support responsible gambling efforts.

• SBC Americas: FanDuel TV Signs Up The Ringer For Sports Video Content
  • FanDuel has expanded its partnership with Spotify’s The Ringer to bring the latter’s video content to FanDuel TV. Penning a multi-year deal, both parties have widened their existing relationship in a move that will see selected Ringer podcast content go live on FanDuel TV, including both existing and new programming.

California

• Legal Sports Report: Tribal Leaders Sound Off On CA Sports Betting Future On IGA Panel
  • The legalization of online CA sports betting in the Golden State may take awhile, perhaps until 2028. State gaming tribes sound perfectly content with that. “Nothing’s going to happen in 2024 on their end. These guys can retool everything and bring it in front of the voters, but it’s going to flop again,” Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro told LSR and PlayUSA.

Connecticut

• PlayUSA: Connecticut Restaurant’s Sports Betting Plans Hit Delay
  • For any business, change means risk. A new restaurant that is considering adding Connecticut sports betting to its menu might want to do some more market research after a public meeting resulted in negative feedback about the plan. The town of Westbrook, Connecticut’s zoning commission has shelved the matter for the time being. That gives all parties involved about a month to think it over.

Kentucky

• Gaming Today: Kentucky Sports Betting Will Be Regulated By A Racing Commission – What Will That Mean?
  • Kentucky is a state of 4.5 million people. It has no federally recognized tribes and no casinos. But it does have horse racing. And soon it will have legal online and in-person sports betting through up to 27 branded sportsbooks under a sports betting bill signed into law by Gov. Andy Beshear on March 31.

Massachusetts

• PlayMA: Our Top 10 Takeaways From Massachusetts Gaming 2022 Annual Report
  • The Massachusetts Gaming Commission hasn’t just been working diligently to launch and regulate sports betting in 2023. On Monday, the MGC took a detailed look back as it released its 2022 Annual Report, which examines activities by the commission from Jul. 1, 2021, through Jun. 30, 2022.

Pennsylvania

• The Philadelphia Inquirer: A Third Of Online Gamblers In State Feel They’ve Had A Problem With Their Gambling, A New Survey Finds
  • More people in their 20s and 30s in Pennsylvania are seeking help for gambling problems, state officials say, and a new survey shows that one in three Pennsylvanians who gamble online feel their gambling habits are a problem. In 2022, about 11% of Pennsylvanians had gambled online, according to an annual survey intended to gauge the impact of legal online gambling in the state.

• PlayPennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Rep. Moves Bill Forward To Legalize Esports Betting
  • Pennsylvanians are used to betting on the state’s sportsbooks and PA online casinos. Now, a new form of gaming could enter the playing field. State Rep. Ed Neilson, D-Philadelphia, is moving the ball forward on legalizing esports betting. What exactly is esports, and what could its betting market look like in PA?

Texas

• SBC Americas: Texas Sports Betting And Casino Measures Out Of House Committee
  • Not quite two weeks after a committee hearing on casinos and sports betting, the Texas House State Affairs Committee has advanced the pair of sports betting bills, HB1942 and HJR102, out of committee along with HB2843, a bill to legalize casinos in the state in addition to sports betting.

• PlayTexas: Texas Sports Betting, School Choice Could Be On Collision Course
  • Rice University political analyst Mark Jones sees a potential tradeoff whereby the Texas House gives ground on school choice programs in exchange for Lt. Gov. Patrick’s endorsement of casinos and sports betting. Patrick told Lubbock’s KFYO talk radio last week that “we don’t have the votes in the Senate as we sit here today” to pass casino or sports betting legislation.

West Virginia

• PlayWV: West Virginia Sportsbooks Handle $43 Million In March
  • March is typically one of the most bet-on months of the year, but West Virginia sports betting did not follow that trend. Per the West Virginia Lottery, the weeks ending in March produced a total handle of about $43.1 million. While these numbers are an 8.3% increase from February’s $39.8 million, they represented a 22.6% decrease from the approximate $48.5 million in March 2022.