Industry News of the Day for August 14, 2020

iDEA Growth Member News:

• Online Poker Report, 8.14.20 – Evolution Gaming Signs Deal With PointsBet, Confirms Live Dealer Coming In PA, Michigan
  • On Thursday, Evolution Gaming announced a deal with Australian bookmaker PointsBet. Evolution will provide live dealer games to the latter’s upcoming online casino in New Jersey when it launches next year.

Overall Industry News:

• Sports Handle, 8.13.20 – AGA: Commercial Gaming Revenue, Including Sports Betting, Sees Steep Decline In Q2
  • The American Gaming Association on Thursday morning shared news that the sports betting and gaming industry should have been expecting — commercial gaming revenue was down 79% for the second quarter of 2020 as compared to the same period in 2019.
• Gambling Compliance, 8.14.20 – Coronavirus Pandemic, Changing US Demographics Pushing Adoption Of Cashless Gaming (subscription paywall)
  • The coronavirus pandemic and changing demographics in the U.S. are pushing regulators and gaming companies to support cashless wagering systems in an effort to get cash out of the casino, Bill Miller, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association (AGA), said Thursday.

Federal News:

• Legal Sports Report, 8.13.20 – IRS: Daily Fantasy Sports Companies Are Subject To Federal Sports Betting Tax
  • New guidance from the Internal Revenue Service says that the federal excise tax on sports betting also applies to daily fantasy sports.
• Gambling Compliance, 8.14.20 – IRS Says Daily Fantasy Operators Are Subject To Federal Excise Tax (subscription paywall)
  • A U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) memorandum has said that daily fantasy sports (DFS) are subject to the same federal excise tax as sports betting, and perhaps even a higher amount in states where DFS are no explicitly permitted.

New Jersey:

• PlayNJ, 8.13.20 – NJ Gaming News: Online Casinos Celebrate Record July; NHL Playoffs In The Spotlight
  • The NJ online casino industry had a big month, with $87.4 million in revenue, good enough for a new all-time high. And this is with eight of the nine Atlantic City casinos open for most of July.
• The Lines, 8.13.20 – Betting On New Jersey: New Documentary Looks At The Past And Future Of Legalized Sports Betting In the Garden State
  • PlayNJ released a mini-documentary this week on YouTube that chronicled the rollout of sports betting in New Jersey. It details the impact that legalized sports wagering has had on the casinos in Atlantic City, online providers, workers, and professional patrons.

Pennsylvania:

• Online Poker Report, 8.13.20 – The Newest Pennsylvania Online Casino Doesn’t Even Have A Physical Casino Yet
  • The newest Pennsylvania online casino began its soft-launch testing phase this week.
• Penn Bets, 8.13.20 – College Football Betting Menu Is Shrinking, But It Hasn’t Disappeared
  • The outlook for NCAA football in 2020 is a haphazard mess at this point, but that doesn’t mean you can’t bet on it in Pennsylvania.
• PlayPA, 8.13.20 – PA Gaming Review: Tracks Losing By A Nose, Online Lottery Success, New Casino App
  • The Pennsylvania Lottery has done well despite shutdowns at retailers, thanks to online sales.

West Virginia:

• PlayWV, 8.13.20 – WV Sportsbooks Rebound To Take $15 Million In Bets In July
  • The West Virginia sports betting market is back up on its feet. After a few difficult months with limited markets at WV sportsbooks, wagers in July were almost back to normal.

Michigan:

• PlayMichigan, 8.13.20 – When It Comes To Casino Revenue, Detroit’s Loss Is Toledo’s Gain
  • Well, there was at least one winner while Detroit casinos were shut down.

Indiana:

• PlayIndiana, 8.13.20 – BetMGM Could Rise In Indiana’s Sports Betting Market With IAC As New Investor
  • Billionaire Barry Diller is getting in on the gambling business. IAC, Diller’s tech and media conglomerate, just bought a big stake in MGM Resorts.

Iowa:

• PlayIA, 8.14.20 – Which Storyline Was The Biggest In The First Year Of Iowa Sports Betting?
  • Saturday marks one year since legal sportsbooks first accepted wagers in Iowa. When retail, and then online, Iowa sportsbooks started taking action, it’s unlikely any of them could have predicted most of what has happened in the year since Aug. 15, 2019.

Colorado:

• PlayUSA, 8.13.20 – By Adapting Approaches And Expectations, Colorado Sportsbooks Begin To Thrive
  • Since voters legalized sports betting in Colorado in fall 2019, casinos and sportsbooks worked tirelessly to launch the regulated industry by the following spring. That included rolling out online sportsbooks as well as opening retail operations.