Industry News of the Day for March 19, 2020

iDEA Growth Member News:

• NJ Online Gambling, 3.19.20 – Lawyers, Props, And Money: The Oral History Of The First DraftKings Sports Betting Championship
  • Thursday, March 19 was the scheduled start date of the four-day 2020 DraftKings Sports Betting Spring Championship.

Industry News:

• Gambling Compliance, 3.19.20 – Regulators Reject Apocalyptic Scenario For US Casinos
  • As doomsday projections continue to define the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. gaming regulators are keeping a stiff upper lip even after ordering their casinos to close their doors.

Overall Industry News:

• Online Poker Report, 3.18.20 – 2020 SCOOP Coming Early For PokerStars Players In Pennsylvania, New Jersey
  • The COVID-19 outbreak has thrown the majority of global industries into sharp decline, but online poker is one of the few exceptions.

Federal News:

• Legal Sports Report, 3.18.20 – How Is It That Leagues Are Still Fighting The State ON NJ Sports Betting?
  • Somehow nearly two years after the fall of PASPA, New Jersey and sports leagues are still in court.

Sports League News:

• The New York Times, 3.19.20 – Close The Schools And Bars And Stay Home, But Keep The Horses Racing
  • In places like California and New York, where state governments are urging social distancing, horse racing is still happening for fans betting online.
• ESPN, 3.19.20 – Amid Deadly Pandemic, Racing Is The Only Game In Town
  • In the days since the coronavirus pandemic brought America to a standstill, a pastoral sporting scene in Southern California has offered an idyllic atmosphere to overtake apocalyptic thoughts, if only for a moment.
• US Bets, 3.18.20 – Can Horse Racing Fill The Void For The Traditional Sports Betting Crowd?
  • NBC Sports Network, a cable channel available to 80 million households, on Wednesday announced plans to beef up its horse racing coverage in light of the near-blanket shutdown of U.S. sports nationwide due to coronavirus.

Pennsylvania:

• PlayPennsylvania, 3.18.20 – PA Gaming Review: Coronavirus Closures Statewide; PGCB Says Online Casinos To Stay Open
  • Tom Wolf ordered a state shutdown of all nonessential businesses on Monday, meaning all racetracks and brick-and-mortar casinos, some of which had already shuttered, beginning with Valley Forge Casino. That property is in a virus outbreak hotspot.
• Legal Sports Report, 3.18.20 – PA Sports Betting Handle Stands Up For Super Bowl As Hold Sinks
  • PA sports betting handle continued strongly in February with its fourth straight month of more than $300 million.
• Penn Bets, 3.18.20 – PA Sportsbooks Saw Drop In Betting Action For First Time Since May
  • Pennsylvania’s young sportsbook industry experienced its first month-over-month decline in betting handle in nine months in February, with wagers of $329.8 million down 5.3% from January.
• PlayPennsylvania, 3.18.20 – PA Sports Betting February Figures: Strong But Bracing For Impact
  • In February, Pennsylvania sportsbooks took nearly $330 million in bets and made $4.7 million in revenue. The majority of wagers, 89%, were placed online.

Connecticut:

• CT Mirror, 3.18.20 – The Night COVID-19 Silenced The Slots At Foxwoods
  • After 28 years and one month of non-stop gambling, defying blizzards and hurricanes, through bull and bear markets, the shock of Sept. 11, 2001 and the election of four presidents, Foxwoods was about to pause.

Maryland:

• 3.18.20 – Maryland To Put Sports Gambling Before Voters In November
  • With little time to waste before a virus-driven legislative shutdown, the Maryland Senate voted unanimously to put legalized sports betting on the ballot in November.
• Sports Handle, 3.18.20 – Maryland Lawmakers Send Sports Betting Referendum To Governor
  • In these unusual times, the Maryland General Assembly did something unusual, too. Between late Tuesday and noon on Wednesday, lawmakers stripped a sports betting bill of key details and overwhelmingly passed it in both chambers, ahead of an early Wednesday session adjournment. The bill, SB 4, will now to go to Governor Larry Hogan.
• Gambling Compliance, 3.19.20 – Maryland Sports-Betting Bill Clears Legislature, But Remaining States Unlikely To Act So Quickly (subscription paywall)
  • Since 2018, the U.S. sports-betting industry has had the momentum of a boulder rolling downhill, but that boulder has encountered a roadblock of historic proportions in the form of the coronavirus pandemic.

Kentucky:

• Louisville Courier Journal, 3.18.20 – Poll: Kentuckians Favor Legal Sports Betting, Though Bill Currently ‘On Life Support’
  • A poll conducted last week showed a large majority of Kentuckians support legalizing sports betting to create new tax revenue, though legislation to do so remains stalled in Frankfort and may have to wait until next year.
• The Lane Report, 3.18.20 – Big Majority Supports Allowing Sports Betting In Kentucky
  • Sports betting is a political winner in Kentucky. Two-thirds of voters support allowing sports betting in the Commonwealth, according to a new survey from Republican pollster Public Opinion Strategies.

Mississippi:

• iGB North America, 3.18.20 – Mississippi Sports Betting Revenue Falls In February
  • Sports wagering revenue in Mississippi amounted to $2.1m in February, representing both a year-on-year and month-on-month decline for the state’s market.

Oklahoma:

• Tulsa World, 3.18.20 – Tribe Claims State Violated Exclusivity Agreement With Lottery, Gaming Changes
  • The state’s expansion of the lottery and other forms of gaming violates the compacts tribes have with the state, the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes said in a court brief filed Tuesday.