Industry News of the Day for May 16, 2019

iDEA Growth in the News:

  • Sports Handle, 5.15.19 – Pros, Cons Of Legalizing Sports Betting Fast Versus Taking It Slow (iDEA Growth’s John Pappas quoted in article)
    • One year after the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, sports betting has been legalized, or operations have launched in 12 jurisdictions outside of Nevada. Of those 12, eight passed new legislation to authorize sports betting. The other four were either already grandfathered in to allow sports betting with nothing further deemed necessary (Delaware), already had laws on the books to allow sports betting (Mississippi, Pennsylvania), or operations launched at Indian casinos regardless of whether or not the state legislature made a determination that sports betting was legal (New Mexico).

New Jersey:

  • AP, 5.15.19 – Year After Supreme Court Win, New Jersey Sports Bets Thrive
    • The anniversary of New Jersey’s victory in a U.S. Supreme Court case clearing the way for legal sports betting across the nation was a happy one for the state’s casinos and racetracks, which reported taking in more than $300 million worth of sports bets for the sixth month in a row.
  • NJ Online Gambling, 5.15.19 – Atlantic City Casino Industry Continues To Rebound; Is Sports Betting Playing A Role?
    • It’s no secret that online gambling and sports betting (81% over the internet) in New Jersey are thriving, but what about the brick-and-mortar casino floors in Atlantic City? According to figures made public by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement on Tuesday, April winnings from slot machines and table games inside the casinos was $207.58 mm, up 8.4% compared to April 2018.
  • NJ Gambling Sites, 5.15.19 – Everything Is Still Golden At The Top Of April’s Revenue For NJ Online Casinos
    • The magic number is $30 million. New Jersey online gambling revenue hit the mark for the first time in January. And Atlantic City’s internet casino operators have not looked back since. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement released April numbers on Tuesday, and the seven online license holders reported revenue of $36,582,934.
  • The Philadelphia Inquirer, 5.14.19 – After March Madness, New Jersey Sports Betting Took A $59 Million Dip In April
    • New Jersey’s online and retail sports betting declined 16 percent in April in the aftermath of college basketball’s March Madness. The state’s sportsbooks accepted $313.7 million in bets in April, down from $372.5 million in March, according to data released Tuesday by state regulators.
  • iBusiness Gaming, 5.15.19 – NJ iGaming And Sports Betting Revenue Dips In April
    • New Jersey has reported a month-on-month decline in both sports betting and online gaming revenue for April, after the state was boosted in the previous month by the March Madness collegiate sports series.

Illinois:

  • WTTW, 5.15.19 – Pritzker Makes Push for Legal Sports Betting
    • Legal sports betting could soon be coming to Illinois. Last year, the Supreme Court struck down a law that banned sports betting outside the state of Nevada. As a result, legal sports betting has quickly spread. Nine states now have it and many others are considering it.
  • Capitol News Illinois, 5.15.19 – Sports Gambling Options Include Allowing Bets To Be Placed At Wrigley, Other Stadiums
    • Sports betting could take place at the home of the White Sox, Bears, Bulls and Cubs, depending on which details emerge in a final bill to legalize the practice in Illinois. Rep. Michael Zalewski (D-Riverside) has championed this year’s effort to bring sports wagering to the state, and several different plans for doing so have been filed in recent months.

Washington, DC:

New Hampshire:

  • Legal Sports Report, 5.15.19 – New Hampshire Senate Poised To Pass Amended Sports Betting Bill
    • New Hampshire is drawing closer to becoming the next US state with legalized sports betting. Lawmakers in each chamber tell Legal Sports Report that the Senate will pass a sports betting bill on Wednesday with at least one amendment. The House already passed H 480, but it needs to return to its chamber of origin for concurrence on the changes before heading to the governor’s desk.

iDEA Growth Member News:

  • Cheddar, 5.15.19 – One Year After SCOTUS Sports Betting Ruling, DraftKings Looks To A Mobile Future
    • One year after the Supreme Court decided to let states take a gamble on sports betting, DraftKings said the future is mobile. “There’s something about mobile that lends itself to sports betting in that you can do live betting,” Jamie Shea, head of Sports Book Digital at DraftKings, told Cheddar Tuesday. “So you can be betting the game while the game is going on, and you’ve got instant gratification.”
  • NJ Gambling Sites, 5.14.19 – DraftKings Reflects On A Robust Start In NJ Sports Betting Since PASPA’s Fall
    • Today is a day for celebration at DraftKings. It’s exactly one year to the day that the US Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA). The 1992 law was deemed unconstitutional. Once it was out of the way, sports betting got the green light across the US. New Jersey became ground zero for the burgeoning market.
  • Play USA, 5.13.19 – Here’s How Fox Bet Plans To Replicate Sky Bet’s Success In The US (The Stars Group)
    • The Stars Group and FOX Sports announced a blockbuster deal that has sent shockwaves through the fledgling US sports betting market. And with that, FOX Bet has sprung into existence. The deal was described by TSG CEO Rafi Ashkenazi as a “first of its kind, fully integrated national media partnership for sports wagering in the US,” during an investors call on Thursday morning.

Overall Industry News:

  • Variety, 5.14.19 – Legalized Sports Betting Hits One-Year Mark: U.S. Media Biz In It to Win It
    • It’s been one year since the road was paved for sports betting to become legal across the United States. On May 14, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a decades-old law (the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, or PASPA) that had banned sports betting nationwide and essentially limited gambling activity to Nevada.
  • Sports Handle, 5.15.19 – Q&A With MGM Resorts’ Scott Butera On 1-Year Anniversary Of PASPA Decision
    • Scott Butera vividly recalls his exact location last spring when the Supreme Court transformed the course of global sports gambling by declaring a decades-old federal law unconstitutional. Weeks after the High Court overturned the 1992 federal ban, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), Butera joined MGM Resorts International last June as the company’s president of interactive gaming.