Industry News of the Day for May 3, 2023

By iDEA | May 3, 2023

iDEA Growth Member News

  • CDC Gaming Reports: Sightline Payments Launches New Website Featuring Updated Content, Resources
    • Sightline Payments recently launched a new website with updated content about the cashless payments provider’s products and services. The website also will feature a new resources section providing content on technology’s influence on the gaming industry and a new thought leadership section focused on innovation opportunities for gaming. “Omnichannel is the idea we live our lives within and between something that’s physical and something digital,” said Sightline Payments Co-CEO & Co-Founder Omer Sattar in a statement.

Industry News

  • NBC Sports: NFL Players Association Advises Agents That Sportsbooks Are Snitching On Players Who Use Gambling Apps
    • It’s been obvious that the NFL is catching players who gamble in violation of league policy not by any high-end sleuthing activities but by having the proof fall into its lap, thanks to one or more sports book partners. That seems to be exactly what’s happening. The NFL Players Association has sent an email to all agents alerting them to the fact that recent suspensions arose from players using mobile apps on their phones, either while at work or while traveling with their teams.
  • Legal Sports Report: Bally’s Taps Kambi For Sports Betting App Restart
    • Bally’s is attempting to rebuild its US sports betting app and online gaming presence by tapping third-party technology after more than $3 billion in unsuccessful acquisitions. Bally’s Corporation reached a multi-year agreement with B2B tech provider Kambi to relaunch Bally Bet in seven states by the end of 2023, the companies announced Tuesday. BallyBet will also have access to a range of game aggregation, payment processing and player management features under a separate agreement with White Hat Gaming, used by sportsbooks like Betsson.
  • PlayUSA: MGM Resorts Balance Sheet Trending Up After Q1 Results
    • After releasing its first-quarter earnings report on Monday, MGM Resorts‘ balance sheet continues to trend in the right direction. The sports betting and online casino operator released its financial results for the quarter ending March 31, 2023, saying it was pleased with the results. Consolidated net revenues stood at $3.9 billion, up 36% from Q1 2022. The $731 million in operating income was also up from the $106 million recorded in the first quarter of 2022.
  • SBC Americas: Betfred Supports North American Growth With US Integrity Renewal
    • Betfred has renewed its collaboration with US Integrity in which it receives monitoring services and a proprietary dashboard. Following the renewal of the deal, US Intergirty will offer the UK-based sportsbook its integrity monitoring services which analyze dozens of datasets to identify suspicious betting patterns. The dashboard also searches for irregular levels of contest and officiating.

Colorado

  • Sports Handle: Outgoing Gaming Director Proud Of Colorado’s Competitive Sports Betting Industry
    • Colorado may have had the most awkward sports betting launch in the United States. Proposition DD, which legalized sports wagering in the Centennial State, narrowly passed in late 2019, but by the time regulators were ready for launch the following spring, what were they going to offer? By early March, most major sports leagues had either shut down or radically altered their schedules in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Indiana

  • PlayIndiana: Indiana Could Have The Best Odds To Legalize Online Casinos In 2024
    • Indiana state Sen. Jon Ford, president of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS), recently offered a look ahead at Indiana’s prospects of legalizing online casinos. Ford, speaking remotely via Zoom because Indiana was amid its annual budget negotiations, was a panelist on an East Coast Gaming Congress gaming industry event panel titled, “iGaming: Is 2023 The Year?” That was an easy answer: no.

Kentucky

  • PlayKentucky: Sportsbook Tax Revenue Won’t Solve The Kentucky Pension Crisis
    • Kentucky’s pension crisis has been drawn out by years of underfunding. Across Kentucky’s five public pension funds, $25.1 billion in liabilities remain unfunded. As a result, Gov. Andy Beshear signed House Bill 551 to help fund those shortfalls. HB 551 legalized online and retail sports betting in Kentucky. Beshear campaigned on expanding Kentucky gambling. But it didn’t hurt him politically when the legislation dedicated 97.5% of sports betting tax revenue to Kentucky’s pension fund.

Missouri

  • Gaming Today: Optimism Fades for Legal Missouri Sports Betting
    • Missouri sports betting has passed the state’s House of Representatives twice within the past three years. No sports betting bill has ever passed the Missouri Senate. That doesn’t seem likely to change this year, either. At least not before the Missouri General Assembly ends its 2023 regular legislative session in a short nine days. Sports betting legislation in the Senate apparently remains mired in debate over the legalization of some 20,000 now-unregulated video slot machines at truck stops and other locations statewide.

North Carolina

  • NC Sharp: Casino Talk Shouldn’t Slow North Carolina’s Sports Betting Progress
    • It’s becoming a big year for gambling expansion in North Carolina. The state is already trying to legalize sports betting, and now some lawmakers could introduce a new push to bring commercial casinos to the state. North Carolina already has three tribal casinos but doesn’t have any that traditional gambling companies own. New competition next door from Virginia is stirring up support to change that. Despite that, casino efforts shouldn’t derail the progress that North Carolina sports betting has already made.

Ohio

  • PlayOhio: Ohio Halts Betting On Alabama College Baseball Due To Integrity Issue
    • In a first for Ohio sports betting, the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) issued an emergency order halting bets on a specific team. The Commission’s executive director, Matthew Schuler, issued the order on Monday prohibiting sportsbooks in the state from taking any bets on games involving University of Alabama baseball. The order is effective immediately. Since Ohio sports betting launched on Jan. 1, the OCCC has shown a keen interest in the integrity of Ohio betting markets and issues related to collegiate sports betting.

Ontario

  • PlayCanada: Banning Celebrity Gambling Endorsers In Ontario Has Merit
    • Ontario is considering a ban on the use of celebrities in gambling ads because of concerns of influencing minors. But do celebrity ambassadors actually appeal more to younger people? PlayCanada asked Dr. Antonia Mantonakis, a professor of marketing at Brock University’s Goodman School of Business. Mantonakis specializes in consumer psychology and has studied the role of celebrity sponsorships. She said the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario is right to be concerned about the ambassadors promoting Ontario sportsbooks and online casinos.
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