Industry News of the Day for July 17, 2020

iDEA Growth Member News:

• Legal Sports Report, 7.17.20 – LSR Q+A: Sportradar Exec Says Official League Data Debate Is Over
  • It’s not entirely clear what the NFL betting season will look like this year, but that hasn’t stopped operators from getting ready for it.
• Sports Handle, 7.16.20 – Rumors Abound As Sports Betting Data Provider Sportradar Weighs Potential IPO
  • With the NFL regular season scheduled to begin in less than two months, Sportradar made waves earlier this week when a report surfaced that the global sports betting data provider is considering plans to go public, through a so-called reverse merger.
• PlayMichigan, 7.16.20 – Golden Nugget Strikes MI Online Casino Deal With Ojibwa Casino
  • What began as a disjointed and unclear picture is now a little sharper. One potentially major player in the future Michigan online casino marketplace has secured the necessary access to the market.
• PlayUSA, 7.16.20 – Legal Online Casino Comes To West Virginia Via DraftKings
  • Make it four! West Virginia officially joins the exclusive club of states offering legal online casino gambling.
• US Bets, 7.16.20 – Online Casino Gambling Kicks Off In West Virginia With DraftKings Product
  • Hollywood Casino at Charlestown Races and DraftKings became the first duo to launch online casino gambling in the state of West Virginia.
• SBC Americas, 7.17.20 – DraftKings Partners With Premier Lacrosse League In Exclusive Deal
  • The Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) has exclusively designated DraftKings as its Official Sports Betting Partner.
• SBC Americas, 7.16.20 – Ezra Kucharz: US Sports Betting Has Only Scratched The Surface
  • With the final day of the inaugural SBC Digital Summit North America getting into swing, opening duties fell to Ezra Kucharz, Chief Business Officer at DraftKings. Offering a ‘state of the nation’ style address, he focused on the emerging US sports betting market and how it will adjust to the challenges posed by the pandemic.
• iGB, 7.16.20 – New Research Shows Casino Market Has Almost Tripled Since 2001 (Catena Media)
  • The global casino market has almost tripled in size over the last two decades according to new research into the vertical.

Industry News:

• Gambling Compliance, 7.17.20 – US Lottery Directors Hopeful About Online Expansion Following Pandemic (subscription paywall)
  • Many gaming industry executives have expressed their hope since the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak that the effects of the pandemic would lead to more states adopting online sports betting and casino gaming, and that hope extends to lottery directors as well.
• SBC Americas, 7.16.20 – Lovell Walker: Esports And Traditional Sports Bettors Are Separate Entities
  • If esports, as some suggest, has helped fill some of the void left by the pandemic-led shutdown in major sports betting activity, what does the future hold for the genre when those traditional sports return, as they inevitably will?
• SBC Americas, 7.17.20 – Erika Nardini: Barstool Will Break Betting’s Algorithmic Nature
  • Bringing the inaugural SBC Digital North America Summit to a close this week Erika Nardini, CEO of Barstool Sports, held a one-on-one interview with SBC’s US VP Sue Schneider. During the discussion she detailed her firm’s intent in reshaping all dynamics and standard practices related to sports betting.
• SBC Americas, 7.16.20 – Maximize Data, Drive Engagement And Enrich The Sports Betting Experience
  • The topic of how data and technology can be maximized was brought to the fore at the SBC Digital Summit North America in a panel moderator by Ryan Knuppel, the Founder & CEO of Knup Solutions LLC.

Sports League News:

• ESPN, 7.16.20 – NCAA Issues Extended Guidelines To Help Navigate Return To Fall Sports During Coronavirus Pandemic
  • The NCAA Sport Science Institute on Thursday released extended guidelines to help schools continue to navigate a return to fall sports amid the coronavirus pandemic, including testing and results within 72 hours of competition in “high contact risk sports,” but NCAA president Mark Emmert conceded the virus is trending in the wrong direction.

Rhode Island:

• Legal Sports Report, 7.16.20 – House, Senate Advance Rhode Island Sports Betting Remote Registration
  • Mobile sports betting registration in Rhode Island is a signature away from legalization. HB 8097 and SB 2919 both hit Gov. Gina Raimondo‘s desk after they overwhelmingly passed their chambers of origin and passed to the governor in concurrence Thursday evening.
• WPRI, 7.17.20 – RI Lawmakers Approve Dropping In-Person Sign Up For Mobile Sports Betting
  • The R.I. General Assembly approved a bill, making it easier to participate in online sports betting in the Ocean State.

Pennsylvania:

• Legal Sports Report, 7.16.20 – Promising PA Sports Betting Report Still Not Quite On Par With Neighbor
  • PA sports betting handle grew for the second consecutive month despite the third straight full month without major sports.
• PlayPennsylvania, 7.16.20 – PA Online Casino Stays Hot With $50 Million June, Over $1 Billion In Slot Wagers
  • Land-based closures for pandemic precautions in mid-March accelerated legal online gambling traffic and revenue. In Pennsylvania, it has translated into record numbers for the state’s ten online casinos.
• PlayPennsylvania, 7.16.20 – After A Lukewarm June, PA Sports Betting Operators Ready For Major Sports Return
  • Pennsylvania sportsbooks started heating up again in June. But unlike temperatures in the Commonwealth, they are more lukewarm than blazing.
• Associated Press, 7.16.20 – Pennsylvania Casino Revenues Down 18%, Hammered By Pandemic
  • Pandemic-related shutdowns in Pennsylvania, the nation’s No. 2 commercial gambling state, helped knock casino revenue down by 18%, state regulators reported Thursday, and it would have been much worse without the advent of online gambling and sports betting.

New York:

• New York Post, 7.16.20 – Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie Eyes Legalizing Mobile Sports Betting In NY
  • Leadership in the New York Assembly is polling members on whether they’d back the legalization of mobile sports betting, The Post has learned.

Virginia:

• Sports Handle, 7.16.20 – Virginia’s Proposed Sports Betting Regulations Don’t Raise Major Red Flags
  • The Virginia Lottery on Wednesday rolled out its proposed sports betting rules, and it appears to be taking direction from legal sports betting states regulated by gaming boards, rather than lotteries.
• WAVY, 7.16.20 – VA Lottery Board Gives Initial OK To Norfolk, Portsmouth Casino Projects, Releases Proposed Sports Betting Rules
  • The Virginia Lottery has given initial approval to four developers seeking to develop casinos in the commonwealth and has announced they are seeking input on proposed sports betting rules.

Colorado:

• PlayColorado, 7.16.20 – On The Table: Colorado Casinos Begin Process To Bring Back Table Games
  • Colorado casinos that are still reeling from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are working on getting another boost.

Washington:

• Online Poker Report, 7.17.20 – Social Gambling Draws Legal Scrutiny As Big Fish Games Settles Washington Lawsuit
  • A long-running legal battle between social games publisher Big Fish Games (BFG) and two of its customers has finally come to an end.

California:

• Los Angeles Times, 7.16.20 – Competition Has Begun To Capture Market For Legalized Sports Gambling In California
  • Legalized sports gambling in California is still at least two years away. But to those in the gambling community, the Golden State already looks like a potential golden goose.