Industry News of the Day for May 9, 2023

By iDEA | May 9, 2023

iDEA Growth Member News:

  • PlayUSA: GeoComply Makes First Purchase, Acquires Licensing Platform OneComply
    • GeoComply has announced the acquisition of OneComply, a compliance and licensing management platform provider operating in regulated markets. GeoComply co-founder and CEO Anna Sainsbury said via the company’s release: “From our first interactions with OneComply, we have been excited about the opportunity to welcome them into the GeoComply family, and it gives me great pleasure to have completed that process.”
  • Gambling News: Entain Updates Board, Adds Two Committees
    • Gambling giant Entain has announced major changes to its board of directors. The company will form two new committees that will bolster the board’s effectiveness and sustainability. The newly-introduced changes will further diversify the company’s board, Entain’s chair Barry Gibsion said.

Industry News

  • Associated Press: Americans Bet $220B On Sports In 5 Years Since Legalization
    • Americans have bet over $220 billion on sports with legal gambling outlets in the five years since the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for all 50 states to offer it, and the industry shows few signs of slowing despite some recent scandals that have put a spotlight on wagering safeguards.
  • Legal Sports Report: Analysis: Is Barstool Sportsbook Acquisition Working For Penn?
    • Barstool is back in the news this week, again casting a bit of a shadow over a Penn Entertainment earnings call. Penn reported revenues of $1.67 billion for Q1, up 7.0% from 2022 to beat estimates by $80 million. Adjusted EBITDAR fell 3.3% to $478 million, though, and earnings per share missed the mark to draw a negative reaction from investors. LSR covered Penn’s Q1 2023 presentation in more detail.
  • SBC Americas: State Regulators Band Together To Ask For Offshore Gambling Crackdown
    • Last week the Michigan Gaming Control Board announced several state regulators penned a letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland asking the Department of Justice to do more to curb offshore gambling in the United States. Seven other state regulatory bodies signed the letter. The list of those states is as follows: Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Nevada.

California

  • PlayUSA: Could No California Sports Betting Initiatives Get Filed For 2024?
    • Following last year’s epic battle for California sports betting that filled airwaves for eight months, everyone wondered what the sequel would look like. The answer could be nothing at all. It’s beginning to look like a real possibility that no California sports betting initiatives even get filed for 2024.

Colorado

  • Colorado Public Radio: Lawmakers Outraged As Colorado House Resurrects Casino Loans Bill
    • The apparent death, and subsequent resurrection, of a bill to allow casinos to loan gambling money to customers is provoking outrage from some members of the state legislature. The unusual sequence of events late Saturday night led several lawmakers to criticize the process and, in some cases, their colleagues. The bill in question is SB23-259, which would allow casinos to offer lines of credit.

Iowa

  • Sports Handle: Gaming Commission Investigates Possible Betting Infractions Involving Iowa Baseball
    • The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission is investigating possible sports betting infractions at the University of Iowa, according to a report Monday from Action Network. The university’s baseball team withheld several players from its weekend series against Ohio State, including Keaton Anthony, the Big Ten Conference’s leader in batting average during league play and an everyday starter prior to this weekend.

Kentucky

  • PlayKentucky: DraftKings CEO Jason Robins Expects Kentucky Launch Timeline By August
    • DraftKings CEO Jason Robins directly addressed the sportsbook’s future in Kentucky during his company’s 2023 first quarter earnings call last Friday. Most notably, he told investors to expect more clarity on a launch timeline during the August earnings call. “Kentucky, of course, already passed this year,” Robins said. “We don’t have any update yet on the timing of launch, but we expect by our August call, we’ll have a little bit more clarity there and can factor that into any future guidance to the extent that it’s relevant to this year.”

Massachusetts

  • PlayMA: Betr Going Live In Massachusetts Monday, Fanatics Launching Next Week
    • Micro-betting platform Betr will go live in Massachusetts on Monday night. It will be the seventh online sports betting operator in the Commonwealth. The Massachusetts launch gives Betr its second statewide launch since its founding last year. The app previously launched in Ohio on Jan. 1.

Nevada

  • Las Vegas Review-Journal: Will Nevada Have A Lottery? Opposing Sides Weigh In On State Lottery Proposal
    • There’s a little nook in the casino for vending machines at Encore Boston Harbor in Everett, Massachusetts. The machines don’t sell cigarettes, candy bars or soft drinks. Instead, patrons can purchase packets of lottery tickets from the Massachusetts Lottery. The state’s three major casinos are required to provide space to sell tickets.

North Carolina

  • NC Sharp: North Carolina Sports Betting Bill Allocates $2 Million To Gambling Addiction Resources
    • North Carolina’s sports betting legislation, House Bill 347, addresses responsible gaming in two key ways: it directs $2 million annually from sports betting tax revenue to the Department of Health and Human Services for gambling addiction education and treatment programs, and it sets advertising parameters for sportsbook operators.

Ontario

  • PlayCanada: Bruce Kidd Says Surge Of Sports Betting Ads In Canada A “Public Health Danger”
    • There has been a boom in advertising for online sports betting in Ontario. The sudden increase coincides with the launch of the regulated iGaming market in Ontario last April. However, the surge of online gambling ads on TV appears to be bothering many Canadians. It has gotten to the point that one organization is taking steps to ban these ads altogether.
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