Industry News of the Day for November 8, 2023

By iDEA | November 8, 2023

iDEA Growth Member News

  • SBC Americas: Better Collective Acquires Playmaker Capital To Spearhead Americas Growth
    • Better Collective has acquired Canadian-listed digital sports media firm Playmaker Capital to bolster its consumer-facing brands across the Americas. Terms on the deal sheet reveal that the affiliate marketing publisher has agreed to pay $187.7m for Playmaker Capital, making it the second-largest acquisition in its history. Following the deal’s closure, Better Collective will take control of the firm’s network of sporting websites including FutbolSites, Yardbarker, and The Nation Network.

Industry News

Arizona

  • Legal Sports Report: Arizona Regulator Orders DFS Operators To Stop Pick’em Contests
    • Arizona sports betting regulators last week ordered a stop to DFS pick’em contests that mirror sports betting, joining the growing number of states looking into daily fantasy sports pick’em games. The Arizona Department of Gaming, as well as the Mississippi Gaming Commission, sent letters last week to daily fantasy sports operators regarding prop bet-style pick’em contests that mirror sports betting. An ADG spokesperson confirmed a “guidance letter” was sent Wednesday to all DFS licensees about the “legality of flexible fantasy contests or pick’em fantasy.”

Florida

  • PlayFL: Seminoles Relaunch Online Sportsbook Two Years After Feds Shutter It
    • Nearly two years after it shuttered, online sports betting returned to the Sunshine State. The Florida online sports betting market returned Tuesday morning without any advanced notice. The Seminole Tribe relaunched the Hard Rock Florida online sportsbook, making it the only legal online sportsbook in the state. It marks a major victory for the tribe in the legal battle surrounding the 2021 Florida gaming compact. Gov. Ron DeSantis and the tribe agreed to the deal in April 2021. It was passed by the legislature a few months later. The highlight of the compact was a legal Florida sports betting industry run mostly by the Seminole Tribe.

Indiana

  • PlayIndiana: Despite Failures, There’s Still A Path For Indiana Online Casinos
    • There has been a consistent effort to legalize online casinos in Indiana. However, despite bill after bill, proposal after proposal, lawmakers in support of this form of iGaming have been unable to get it across the finish line. Meanwhile, Indiana’s neighbor to the north Michigan is running a thriving online casino industry. That follows the trend of other Midwestern states. Some, like Indiana, have legalized online sports betting but are hesitant to jump into the online casino waters. This does not mean there isn’t a path forward for Indiana online casinos in the near future. Momentum is beginning to build as the next session of the Indiana General Assembly nears.

Maine

  • WMTW-TV: DraftKings Handles $3.4M On Maine’s First Weekend Of Sports Gambling
    • Millions of dollars in bets were made in Maine over the weekend to DraftKings. Sports betting began in the state early Friday morning. From Friday until Sunday, DraftKings reported more than $3,406,000 in total wagering receipts. Out of that $3.4 million, more than $2.57 million in winnings were paid out. The tax collected from the first weekend of sports betting with DraftKings came out to nearly $82,000. The Department of Public Safety and the Gambling Control Unit are running the system, which began at 9 a.m. on Friday.

Maryland

  • Gaming Today: Maryland Records 25% Decrease In Gaming Revenue For October
    • Based on the latest revenue report issued by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, Maryland casinos experienced a year-on-year revenue decline in the month of October. The state’s gross gaming revenue amounted to $159.8 million, marking a significant 25% decrease when compared to the same period in 2022. Oct. 2022 set an all-time record for the highest monthly revenue in Maryland’s history, with a handle of $212.9 million. Regardless, the most recent figures reveal a 2.9% increase in revenue from September, which had the lowest monthly handle in the fiscal year at $155 million. MGM National Harbor emerged as the frontrunner in October, reporting the highest adjusted gross revenue of $67.3 million, marking a 7.9% increase when compared to the previous month. 

Massachusetts

  • PlayMA: Gaming Commission Signs Off On ESPN Bet’s Nov. 14 Launch In Massachusetts
    • After a debate concerning PENN Entertainment’s request to rebrand its Barstool Sportsbook to ESPN Bet, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission green-lighted the new sports betting app to launch next week in the state. PENN announced in August that it had entered into a long-term agreement with ESPN to change its sports betting app. Since then, bettors in Massachusetts and beyond have waited for the launch date. The day is now Nov. 14 after state regulators were satisfied with PENN’s commitment to follow the rules in Massachusetts.

North Carolina

  • NC Sharp: NCLC’s Second Round Of Sports Betting Rules Brings Parameters Of Industry Into Focus
    • The NC Lottery Commission’s Sports Betting Committee approved a proposed second round of sports betting and parimutuel wagering rules at its meeting on Nov. 7. During the meeting, Sterl Carpenter, deputy executive director of sports betting, put forth the second, more robust, round of sports betting rules and addressed an attendant public comment period. The NCLC agreed unanimously with the proposed rules, and, under the committee’s expedited rulemaking process, started the public comment period which runs until Nov. 27.

South Carolina

  • WRDW: Push Is On For SC Sports Betting
    • With the 30th running of the Fall Steeplechase in Aiken just days away, there’s a fresh push to keep sports wagering at the top of lawmakers’ list. At the close of the last legislative session, House Bill 3514 passed the House Judiciary Committee and is now set to appear before the South Carolina Senate in January. “This is already going on in the state of South Carolina, just by really intelligent people who know how to make their phone think it’s somewhere else. There’s a lot of money that’s being wagered in South Carolina, but we don’t get any cut of it, and we don’t regulate it,” said Frank Mullins, President of the Aiken Steeplechase Association.
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