Industry News of the Day for February 5, 2019

By iDEA | February 5, 2019

Industry News:

  • Sports Handle, 2.4.19 – Super Bowl: Nevada A Winner, New Jersey Not
    • Super Bowl Sunday may have been a win for the Patriots and a loss for the Rams, but when it came to sports betting, the results were just the opposite. According to revenue reports posted by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement and the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the East Coast lost while the West Coast won.

Washington, DC:

  • Washington Post, 2.4.19 – The D.C. Council’s sports-betting spectacle
    • The District of Columbia’s haste to get into sports betting is a sickening spectacle. D.C. Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey DeWitt, who oversees the D.C. Lottery, testified last week before the city council’s Finance and Revenue Committee on behalf of legislation that would award a sole-source contract to the international gaming contractor Intralot to operate the city’s new sports betting system. Intralot operates the city’s gaming system under a different contract with the DC Lottery.
  • Legal Sports Report, 2.5.19 – Concerns Linger As Council Takes Up DC Sports Betting Operator Bill
    • A bill that essentially hands the DC sports betting contract to current lottery provider Intralot comes before the district council Tuesday morning.

Virginia:

Nevada:

  • Legal Sports Report, 2.4.19 – Nevada Sports Betting Suffers Biggest Super Bowl Handle Drop In A Decade
    • For just the second time in 10 years, Nevada sports betting handle on the Super Bowl fell from the previous year. Nevada sportsbooks took nearly $146 million in Super Bowl wagers this year — more than four times the $35 million bet in New Jersey. Last year, Nevada operators saw more than $158 million in handle on the big game.
  • US Poker, 2.4.19 – Nevada Poker Revenue For 2018 Proves Less Is More For Number Of Tables
    • The constant announcement of poker‘s death seems to be a bit premature, at least in Nevada. Nevada poker rooms generated just over $120 million in 2018. That figure is the state’s highest total in five years.

New Jersey:

  • Legal Sports Report, 2.4.19 – New Jersey Sportsbooks Take $4.5 Million Loss On First Super Bowl Sunday
    • Super Bowl Sunday did not prove kind to NJ sports betting operators in their first crack at the big game. Statistics released Monday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show New Jersey sportsbooks absorbed a $4.5 million loss on Super Bowl betting.
  • Legal Sports Report, 2.4.19 – Patriots Cost FanDuel Sportsbook In New Jersey $5 Million On Super Bowl Betting
    • If you feel like the Patriots ruined all the fun of Super Bowl Sunday, try being FanDuel Sportsbook today. The Patriots 13-3 victory over the Rams easily covered the spread and helped deal an “estimated net loss” of $5 million to FanDuel Sportsbook in New Jersey, according to a FanDuel spokesman. That estimated net loss includes free bets, as well as payouts on the game.
  • ESPN, 2.4.19 – New Jersey sportsbooks lost $4.5 million in Super Bowl bets
    • The first Super Bowl with legalized sports betting in New Jersey was likely one Garden State bookmakers will want to forget. New Jersey sportsbooks lost a net $4.5 million on the New England Patriots’ 13-3 win over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII, according to numbers released Monday by the Division of Gaming Enforcement.

Pennsylvania:

  • Sports Handle, 2.4.19 – Greenwood Gaming Seeks Approval For Third PA Sportsbook
    • Greenwood Gaming, owner of the Parx Casino in Philadelphia, on Friday applied for a second “non-primary” sports betting location, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Greenwood Gaming, which has already launched legal sports betting at Parx and its South Philadelphia Turf Club, is now seeking approval for sports betting at the Valley Forge Turf Club.

Arizona:

  • AZ Central, 2.4.19 – Arizona tribes could offer sports betting at your local bar under bill in Legislature
    • Arizona gamblers could place sports bets on machines at their local bar and at tribal casinos under a bill proposed by Sen. Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu City. Borrelli’s bill is one of several around the country being pushed in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that opened the door to state-regulated sports betting.

Maine:

Texas:

  • Austin Statesman, 2.4.19 – Bill filed to legalize sports betting in Texas
    • Sports snoozers like Sunday’s Super Bowl would likely be a lot more interesting for many Texans if a state lawmaker has his way. State Rep. Eddie Lucio III, D-Brownsville, has filed a pair of measures to make it legal in Texas to bet on professional and some college sporting events, with a 6.25 percent tax levied on each wager going to help fund public schools.

Iowa:

  • CBC Online, 2.4.19 – At Least One Local Legislator Supports Sports Betting In Iowa, But In Controlled Locations
    • As we enter into another week, legislators in Des Moines will continue to work toward moving bills through committees to ensure they live through the first funnel on March 8. One of these would allow sports betting to take place legally here in Iowa. House Representative for District 12, Brian Best, says he is in favor of this bill.

Connecticut:

  • Journal Inquirer, 2.4.19 – Casino Indians’ monopoly doesn’t cover political pull
    • Connecticut’s two casino Indian tribes complained last week to a General Assembly committee that their rival MGM, operator of the new casino just over the Massachusetts line in Springfield, had unfairly induced the U.S. Interior Department not to approve the tribes’ plan for an “interceptor” casino just south of Springfield in East Windsor.

Sports League News:

iDEA Growth Member News:

  • Legal Sports Report, 2.3.19 – Super Bowl Reminder: Patriots Owner Also Owns A Piece Of A Sportsbook
    • Robert Kraft is the CEO of the Kraft Group, which owns lots of things, including the New England Patriots. Kraft Group is also an early investor in Boston-based DraftKings, which in the past year has evolved from a daily fantasy sports company into one with a sports betting presence in New Jersey and Mississippi.

Overall Industry News:

  • Online Poker Report, 2.4.19 – Appetite For Legal Online Gambling Modest Amid Sports Betting Expansion
    • As 2019 settles into its stride, it has become increasingly evident that the new year will be the busiest one yet for sports betting legislation. Our sister site Legal Sports Report is already tracking more than 60 bills across 25 states.
  • AP, 2.4.19 – Fans in 3 states legally bet almost $185.5M on Super Bowl
    • Football fans in three states legally bet almost $185.5 million on the Super Bowl this year, with sportsbooks ending Sunday with mixed results and Nevada operators seeing the first drop in the total amount wagered on the game since 2015.
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