Industry News of the Day for May 30, 2019

By iDEA | May 30, 2019

Nevada:

  • Legal Sports Report, 5.29.19 – Footsteps Growing Louder Behind Nevada Sports Betting Despite Solid April
    • A record-shattering March Madness performance demonstrated the continued might of Nevada sports betting on the national scene. The competition from the East, though, continues to make strides as well. Nevada sportsbooks posted $21.6 million in revenue on $328 million in handle during April, equating to a hold of 6.6%.

Pennsylvania:

  • The Philadelphia Inquirer, 5.28.19 – SugarHouse Becomes First Pennsylvania Casino To Launch Internet Sports Betting
    • Pennsylvania regulators on Tuesday gave SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia the green light to launch online sports betting at 4 p.m. Tuesday, the first casino in the state to venture into the new frontier of internet gambling.
  • EGR Global, 5.29.19 – Pennsylvania Launches Self-Exclusion Scheme For Online Gambling
    • The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has launched its first self-exclusion programme for online gambling, ahead of the launch of online gambling services in the state later this year. Mirroring the current self-exclusion programme for the state’s land-based casinos, the online version allows players to voluntarily self-exclude for one year, five years or for life.
  • AP, 5.29.19 – Online Sports Betting Goes Live In Pennsylvania
    • Online sports betting is now live at a Pennsylvania casino. Regulators on Tuesday gave approval to SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia to begin a three-day public testing period of its online sports betting systems.

Illinois:

  • Legal Sports Report, 5.30.19 – The Problem For The Illinois Sports Betting And Casino Bill: The Casinos Hate It
    • If Illinois passes a comprehensive gambling expansion bill this week, it likely will be against opposition from its existing casino industry. Tom Swoik, executive director of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association, tells Legal Sports Report that his organization, which represents nine of the 10 casinos in the state, almost certainly would not support the full gambling expansion bill being pushed by Illinois lawmakers in the final days of the legislative session.

Massachusetts:

  • Legal Sports Report, 5.29.19 – Massachusetts Casinos Support Stand-Alone Mobile Sports Betting
    • Months after a bevy of sports betting bills were filed in Massachusetts, state lawmakers finally heard from stakeholders in a two-day hearing in Boston that started Tuesday. Among the key issues that were discussed, according to WBUR, were what mobile sports betting should look like, if patrons should be allowed to bet on college sports, the state lottery, and how quickly Massachusetts should legalize.
  • AP, 5.28.19 – Casinos, DraftKings Voice Differing Views On Sports Betting
    • Gambling companies are voicing differing views on how best to regulate sports betting as state lawmakers hold hearings on legalizing the industry in Massachusetts. Boston-based DraftKings, which has emerged as a major player in the national sports gambling landscape, said in testimony Tuesday that it wants the state to allow it and other online operators to offer sports bets outright.
  • Boston Herald, 5.29.19 – TD Garden Owners Pitch Sports Betting Role Minus Mobile Aspect
    • The company that owns TD Garden said it wants in on sports betting, but retreated from its original idea to serve as a mobile sports betting provider in Massachusetts after state lawmakers raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest.
  • Boston Business Journal (subscription), 5.29.19 – Delaware North Would Seek Sports Betting Partnership
    • The company that owns the TD Garden had an apparent change of heart Wednesday about how it wants to be involved in sports betting if it is made legal in Massachusetts.
  • State House News Service, 5.29.19 – Delaware North, Chaired By Boston Bruins Owner Jeremy Jacobs, Wants Piece Of Massachusetts Sports Betting Market
    • Executives from DraftKings and the state’s three licensed resort casino and slot machine venues in Massachusetts are angling to corner the emerging legal sports betting market in Massachusetts, but another big player also wants a piece of the pie that’s being baked on Beacon Hill.
  • WHDH, 5.29.19 – ‘It’s Very Exciting’: TD Garden Reps In Favor Of Legal Sports Betting In Mass.
    • As the Bruins prepared for the puck to drop in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals Wednesday, just up the road the State House, the owners of TD Garden had a message for lawmakers. They want legal sports betting in Massachusetts. They want an online option, and they want to run their own online betting platform as well.

New York:

  • US Bets, 5.29.19 – Another Reality Check Needed For NY Mobile Sports Betting Backers After Cuomo Creates Hope
    • It would be easy enough to start this story by writing, “New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a radio interview on Tuesday that ‘it’s possible’ that mobile sports betting is coming soon.” After all, Cuomo did say that (just hours, by the way, before Pennsylvania’s first mobile sports betting site launched). But what would be missing is context.

Louisiana:

  • AP, 5.29.19 – Louisiana House Lawmakers Refuse To Legalize Sports Betting
    • The odds of legalizing sports betting in Louisiana grew even longer Tuesday, growing very near to impossible. The House Appropriations Committee voted 14-6 to shelve Republican Sen. Danny Martiny’s proposal to allow sports wagering in the state, and an effort to yank the bill from committee later Tuesday also fell short of the votes needed.
  • New Orleans Public Radio, 5.29.19 – Lawmakers Reject Legalizing Sports Betting in Louisiana
    • An effort to legalize sports betting in Louisiana came to an end in the Legislature Tuesday, after the bill was heavily amended and ultimately defeated in a House committee. “I’m not surprised. I’m disappointed,” said Senator Danny Martiny (R-Metairie), the bill’s author.
  • WWL, 5.29.19 – Sports Gambling Now Faces Long Odds For Passage
    • Sports gambling legalization is on life support as multiple attempts to approve the activity in the House, and a House Committee fell flat yesterday. Louisiana Casino Association Executive Director Wade Duty says future attempts at legalization cannot get weighed down by the same burdensome restrictions that were placed on the bill in committee.

Sports League News:

  • US Bets, 5.30.19 – NBA Commissioner: Legal Sports Betting ‘Good For Us’
    • NBA Commissioner Adam Silver shook up the professional sports world back in 2014 when he came out in favor of legal, regulated sports betting on his sport – but at the federal level. Four years later, his league and others saw their lawsuit against New Jersey’s effort to offer Las Vegas-style sports betting turn into a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that opened the door for all 50 states to offer such betting – state by state.

iDEA Growth Member News:

  • WBFO, 5.30.19 – What Are The Odds Of Sports Betting In NYS? (Jeff Ifrah mentioned in article)
    • It has been a year since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a 1992 federal law prohibiting sports betting in most states. The PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act) decision – as it is called – opened the door to a new multibillion-dollar revenue stream that states have been exploring aggressively since, but a number of legal questions kept it from New York’s budget this year.
  • Play WV, 5.28.19 – DraftKings WV Ready To Reignite A Fledgling Online Sports Betting Market
    • West Virginia sports betting finally has some good news. After another difficult week for WV sportsbooks in terms of generating handle, help is officially on the way. It’s been reported that DraftKings Sportsbook may soft launch in the WV betting market sometime this week. This information couldn’t have come at a better time for the Mountain State.

Overall Industry News:

  • Online Poker Report, 5.29.19 – CBS, Poker Central Tag Team For Expanded WSOP Broadcast Schedule
    • Poker Central and CBS have struck a deal to bring this year’s World Series of Poker to a much wider audience. The agreement will see Poker Central produce 41 days of live WSOP programming, including 25 days of coverage streamed exclusively on CBS All Access. Eight days of action will air on PokerGO, and another eight days will go out across both streaming platforms.
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