Industry News of the Day for August 1, 2023

By iDEA | August 1, 2023

iDEA Growth Member News

  • Legal Sports Report: FanDuel Executive: Some Fantasy Sports Operators ‘Running Illegal Sportsbooks’
    • The scrutiny around daily fantasy sports companies offering sports betting-like products continues to grow in the US as media outlets and major sportsbook operators focus in. This week, the Wall Street Journal published an article outlining the PrizePicks strategy to target users, including in non-legal US sports betting states. The piece comes on the heels of a pointed comment about some daily fantasy sports operators from FanDuel Head of State Government Relations Cesar Fernandez at the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States summer conference in Denver this month.

Industry News

  • SBC Americas: Betr Debuts New DFS Offering, Betr Picks, In 24 States
    • Betr is about to do a huge US rollout but it is not exactly what you might be expecting. The upstart micro betting-focused sportsbook company will continue to offer sports betting in Massachusetts and Ohio as well as launch in Virginia later this year. However, the focus of the brand for football season will be on its new daily fantasy sports venture, Betr Picks. Starting July 31, Betr Picks is now available in 24 US states.
  • Sports Handle: Flutter, Fox Corp. Winding Down FOX Bet Amid Low Market Share
    • Flutter Entertainment and Fox Corp. announced plans Sunday to “wind down” FOX Bet, officially pulling the plug on a sports betting platform that struggled to gain market share in the shadow of Flutter’s industry-leading FanDuel brand. Over the next several weeks, FOX Bet will be shuttered in a phased closure that is scheduled to be completed around Aug. 31, the companies wrote in a joint statement. FOX Bet is currently available in several legal U.S. sports betting states, including Colorado, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

Illinois

  • Aurora Beacon-News: Oswego Looks At Restrictions On Future Video Gambling Sites
    • The Oswego Village Board is looking at options to regulate future video gambling sites in town. The Village Board in May 2013 approved video gambling in Oswego. The number of video gambling establishments currently in the village was one of the topics in the municipal election in the spring. Ryan Kauffman defeated incumbent Troy Parlier in the April 4 election for village president. Kauffman listed video gambling licenses as one of his top five concerns during the campaign.

New Jersey

  • PlayNJ: NJ Legislature Contradicts Itself On Atlantic City Casinos, Online Gambling
    • There seems to be some mixed messaging coming out of Trenton as it relates to Atlantic City casinos and New Jersey online gambling. On one hand, the State Legislature has taken extraordinary steps to ensure the viability of AC’s nine casinos. The 2016 casino payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, program was presented to the public as a necessary measure toward accomplishing that goal. The 10-year PILOT was amended in 2021 in such a favorable manner that two separate legal challenges to the state’s changes have made headway in the judicial system.

North Carolina

  • NC Sharp: Nash County Wants To Put Casino Question To Voters
    • The Board of Commissioners in Nash County, one of three proposed counties to receive a commercial casino in North Carolina, decided Friday to hold a voter referendum on the issue. Under a draft proposal by the North Carolina State Senate, a single developer would develop casinos in three North Carolina counties – likely Nash, Anson and Rockingham –based on their locations and levels of relative economic distress.The proposal does not require a referendum in any of the selected counties.

Ohio

  • PlayOhio: Paltry Promo Spend By Ohio Sportsbooks In June Exacerbates Summer Slowdown
    • Ohio bettors had their best month on record in June, while sportsbooks had their worst. Sportsbooks in the Buckeye State saw all-time lows in handle, hold and revenue. Ohio sports betting handle came in at $362 million in June, a 19% decline from May. Declines heading into summer are nothing new for U.S. sportsbooks, but Ohio books in June continued to pull back on promotional spending (which pads their handle figures) and also posted their lowest hold of the year at 9.0%.

Pennsylvania

  • PennLive.com: EDITORIAL: Gambling In Pennsylvania Needs The Strong Oversight Only Casinos Can Guarantee
    • The American Gaming Association makes a strong case for why Pennsylvania should ban “skill” machines and get them out of restaurants, bars, convenience stores, American Legion halls or anywhere outside of casinos. They argue the machines are multiplying like rabbits, and there’s no real skill required to play them. It’s a misnomer, they insist. The machines are just another way to gamble, and they’re taking customers away from casinos whose tax dollars fill state coffers.
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