Industry News of the Day for February 13, 2024

Industry News

• Legal Sports Report: Barstool Sports Inks Rumored DraftKings Sports Betting Deal Right After Super Bowl
  • Barstool Sports officially signed a multi-year sports betting deal to promote DraftKings, Founder and CEO Dave Portnoy announced on social media minutes after the Super Bowl on Sunday night. First rumored last month, it is the first Barstool gambling partnership since Penn Entertainment sold the company back to Portnoy in August in favor of a deal with ESPN worth up to $2 billion. DraftKings is expected to pay Barstool a “low-eight-figure” sum per year under the agreement, according to a Sportico report. When Portnoy repurchased the company, it was revealed that he would owe Penn 50% if he sold it again. The deal, however, only prevented Barstool from partnership in the space for six months.

• Gaming Today: Super Bowl Betting Mobile Activity Increased 22%
  • Mobile sports betting activity increased by 22.3% in the United States over Super Bowl 58 weekend, according to GeoComply, which is contracted by jurisdictions to ensure bets are being placed where they are legal. The figure marked an increase over the 2023 Super Bowl, with four more states having launched mobile sports betting markets since last February. Florida, the largest of the group, was not accounted for in this figure, however. The GeoComply tabulations don’t correlate directly to a 22% increase in bets. They represent “geolocation checks” after mobile sportsbook account holders attempted to log in.

• SBC Americas: Playson Continues US Growth With High 5 Casino Collaboration
  • Playson, the fast-growing digital entertainment supplier, has teamed up with US social casino brand High 5 Casino. The key strategic agreement between the two companies is a continuation of Playson’s growth plan in the US and will see High 5 Casino’s 31 million users introduced to Playson’s gaming experience and its portfolio of products. Games such as “Power Crown: Hold and Win,” “Jelly Valley,” and “3 Pots Riches: Hold and Win” have been adapted for the social casino space and are free to play with integration through Relax Gaming’s API platform.

• US Bets: Tipico Considers Gender-Based Betting Habits
  • This past September, gambling industry observers were either stunned or tickled when Eilers & Krejcik named tiny Tipico’s online casino app the best in the U.S. The following month, Tipico launched an improved version of this app in New Jersey, the only state where its iCasino is live. (Tipico’s sports betting app is live in Colorado, Iowa, New Jersey, and Ohio.) At the time of the Eilers & Krejcik report, Tipico accounted for a mere 0.1% of U.S. mobile casino market share. There’s only one way to go from there, and that’s up, a fitting inclination considering how bullish Tipico is on the U.S. market.

• Bonus.com: International Live Dealer Studios Partner With US Sweepstakes Social Casinos
  • Live dealer table games are no longer an exclusively real-money phenomenon for US online casinos, as some sweepstakes-model social casinos have joined the trend in partnership with international games suppliers. McLuck Casino recently became the latest site to offer casino-style live dealer table games, and others are likely to follow. Social casinos allow users in most US states to play casino-style games like slots and blackjack for fun without making a purchase. Those using the sweepstakes model—like McLuck—also offer the chance to win cash prizes and provide a reasonable alternative to real money casinos in states lacking a regulated market. Live dealer table games aim to duplicate the casino floor experience for online play.

Maryland

• PlayUSA: Maryland’s January Sports Betting Brings In A Record $8.2 Million In Taxes
  • Influenced mainly by the NFL playoffs, the Maryland sports betting market had a good month overall, producing solid numbers in January. Last month, sports betting handle (total bets, including free promotional wagers) reached $544,971,369, a 23.4% annual increase and a 2.7% monthly drop. Of the January handle total, 96.9% of the action came from online gambling: $527,778,629 came from 12 MD online sportsbooks and $17,192,740 came through Maryland’s 13 retail locations.

Nevada

• SportsHandle: Super Bowl LVIII Generates Record $185.6 Million Handle In Nevada
  • The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported a record $185.6 million in statewide sports betting handle for Super Bowl LVIII, with operators eking out a small victory for the second straight year. The previous record for handle was set in 2022 at $179.8 million when the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in Super Bowl LVI. Sunday’s 25-22 overtime victory by the Kansas Chiefs over the San Francisco 49ers featured the Chiefs rallying from a 10-point deficit and three second-half lead changes. It also included almost a full extra period of play with both teams scoring, which provided additional opportunities for live betting that contributed to the record wagering amount.

New York

• PlayNY: PENN Reaches Agreement To Acquire Wynn NY Sports Betting License, To Roll Out ESPN Bet This Year
  • New York may not be issuing more sports betting licenses. But the Empire State will soon have a brand new online sportsbook. PENN Entertainment announced on Tuesday that it reached an agreement with Wynn Interactive Holdings to acquire the company’s sports wagering license in the state. As a result, and pending regulatory approvals, PENN will introduce ESPN Bet to the New York sports betting landscape in 2024.

North Carolina

• NCSharp: First Round Of North Carolina Sports Betting Suppliers Receive Licenses
  • The North Carolina State Lottery Commission has issued the first provisional licenses associated with sports betting in the state. The state plans to launch NC online sports betting on March 11, with multiple sportsbooks expected to go live that day. Beginning March 1, NC bettors can begin downloading apps and funding accounts in preparation for launch. Seven companies with expertise in sports betting services received provisional licenses on Feb. 9 by the NCSLC in the category “Sports Wagering Suppliers.”  Sports betting suppliers represent one of three wagering license types offered in North Carolina. Typically, sports betting suppliers provide needed assets for sportsbooks to do business.

Vermont

• Vermont Public: Vermont’s Initial Sports Betting Revenues Beat Expectations
  • Online sports betting has gotten off to a robust start in Vermont. Liquor and Lottery Commissioner Wendy Knight says that during the first three weeks of operation after sports betting became legal on Jan. 11, almost $20 million was wagered. The average bet was roughly $23. Knight says the state received approximately $1.1 million in revenue, which is considerably more than projections. “There is far more revenue earned and far more gaming than I had expected,” she says. “We’re also seeing the majority of the sports wagering activity that’s taking place in Vermont is from out-of-state players.”