Industry News of the Day for May 23, 2019

New Jersey:

  • The Motley Fool, 5.22.19 – Sports Betting Driving Online Gaming in New Jersey Casinos
    • New Jersey casinos can thank the legalization of sports wagering for the massive growth in online gaming that they are experiencing. After casinos blew away records in March by posting $39.1 million in revenue, a 56% gain over last year, they returned in April to generate another $36.6 million, up 59% from 2018, and the state’s second best showing ever.
  • NJ Online Casino, 5.22.19 – Online Gambling And Mobile Sports Betting: Good Or Bad For The NJ Casino Industry?
    • Online gambling has helped bring the Atlantic City casino industry back from the dead. Plus, the launch of legal sports betting is helping it grow even more. Even though more than 80% of sports betting is happening online, Atlantic City casinos don’t exactly get 100% of the proceeds.

New Hampshire:

West Virginia:

  • Charleston Gazette-Mail, 5.22.19 – Lottery: Next Attempt At A State Sports Betting Mobile App Ready To Launch
    • On-again, off-again efforts to launch sports betting mobile apps in West Virginia appear to be on again, with Hollywood Casino in Charles Town set to have a soft launch of its sports wagering app as early as next week. At Wednesday’s state Lottery Commission meeting, director John Myers confirmed that Lottery officials were on pace to complete testing of the casino’s mobile app as early as the end of the day.
  • Legal Sports Report, 5.22.19 – WV Online Sports Betting Ready To Return? DraftKings Sportsbook App Near Launch
    • DraftKings is apparently close to bringing online sports betting back to West Virginia. The WV DraftKings Sportsbook app has completed regulatory testing, according to WV Metro News, and could launch as soon as next week. A company spokesperson later confirmed the report to LSR but offered no timeline for launch.
  • Play WV, 5.22.19 – Knock On Wood: WV Online Betting Nears Return With DraftKings
    • Online sports betting in West Virginia is inching closer and closer to becoming a reality. According to the WV MetroNews, the West Virginia Lottery began testing DraftKings Sportsbook this week. The DraftKings online betting app and its partner sportsbook, Hollywood Casino Sportsbook, passed its test.

Michigan:

  • The Detroit News, 5.22.19 – Opinion: On Online Gambling, Follow New Jersey
    • When I was the governor of New Jersey in the aftermath of the Great Recession, we had a depressed tourism market in our gaming hub — Atlantic City — that had been left for dead. In addition to taking over a dysfunctional municipal government, I knew the problem could be improved with a new option: sports betting.
  • MI Bets, 5.22.19 – Detroit Casino Gambling Revenue Flat In April
    • Detroit’s three casinos reported $125.2 mm in gross gaming revenue during April, the Michigan Gaming Control Board reported Tuesday. The result was a 0.8% increase over April 2018, so, effectively, a flat month. In a month-over-month comparison, which isn’t very useful but MI Bets is going to give it to you anyway, revenue was down 10.9%. The casinos won a combined $140.3 mm from slots, table games, and poker in March, a new single-month record for the properties.

Louisiana:

  • US Bets, 5.22.19 – DFS Crisis Averted In Louisiana As House Amends Bill Before Passage
    • Louisiana was on the cusp of becoming arguably the most backward state in the nation when it comes to daily fantasy sports regulation, but last-minute changes to the bill avoided the mess. Legislation on the table to flesh out voter-approved DFS had a provision that would have restricted play to brick-and-mortar facilities, and not over the internet in the 47 of 64 parishes that approved the games last fall.