Industry News of the Day for October 3, 2023

By iDEA | October 3, 2023

iDEA Growth Member News

  • SBC Americas: Entain Closes Angstrom Sports Acquisition
    • Entain has formally closed the deal to acquire Angstrom Sports in a bid to improve the sportsbook capabilities of the BetMGM platform. Terms of the deal sheet see Entain pay a guaranteed £81m to buy the US sports analytics and modeling company. There are an additional $122m worth of performance-based payments payable over the next three years.

Industry News

  • Legal Sports Report: NFL Betting Policy Changes Free Jameson Williams From Suspension
    • NFL betting policies are undergoing a major overhaul, commissioner Roger Goodell said in a Friday memo.  The NFL betting policy, which had been facing criticism, now includes stricter penalties for players wagering on their own team. However, it reduced penalties for players wagering on non-NFL games while at work. Ten players have been handed various suspensions in 2023 for betting violations dating back to last season. These changes mean that Detroit Lions WR Jameson Williams and Tennessee Titans OL Nick Petit-Frere will be reinstated Monday after serving four-game suspensions.

Connecticut

  • PlayUSA: Online Poker Still Not In The Cards For Connecticut
    • Two years after launching internet gaming, Connecticut tribes are no closer to offering online poker. And that’s not likely to change any time soon. Mashantucket Pequot Chairman Rodney Butler spoke to PlayUSA about the missing piece of the iGaming puzzle recently at the Indian Gaming Association Mid-Year Conference, which the tribe hosted at Foxwoods Resort Casino. Butler explained that Connecticut tribes need to figure out how to enter multistate agreements before they could offer online poker.

Kansas

  • Kansas Reflector: Kansas Collects $7M From $1.85B In Sports Bets In First Year Of Legalized Gambling
    • The state’s first year of sports betting brought in $7 million in state revenue from $1.85 billion in wagers. In a Thursday update to committee lawmakers, Kansas Lottery finance director Matt Schwartz said revenue projections were basically on track with expectations. “Sports wagering revenues, we’re now a little more than 12 months in,” Schwartz said. “The state’s share of revenues for the first fiscal year, which was 10 months of operation, was a little more than $5.8 million.”

Maine

  • Maine Public: Maine Is On Track To Launch Sports Betting In November
    • Legal sports betting in Maine is on track to launch anytime between Nov. 5 and Nov. 15. The state attorney general’s office is currently going through the proposed adopted rules for final legal review. “Once they’ve approved it, then I will forward it to the Secretary of State’s office,” said Milt Champion, executive director of the Maine Gambling Control Unit. “They typically take three to five business days and then once [the Secretary of State’s office] posts the adopted rules on their website, then then we go live.”

Massachusetts

  • Sports Handle: PENN Officials Describe ESPN BET Rebrand, Which Won’t Change Its Tech Stack
    • Massachusetts regulators got a first look Monday at what to expect as PENN Entertainment rebrands its Barstool Sportsbook to ESPN BET in November. Top of mind for the commission was advertising and the status of the current Barstool Sportsbook, but PENN executives were clear that the company continues to make changes and will be prepared to rebrand next month, though the company is not ready to commit to a specific date. PENN executives also shared that the reskinning will not affect the current tech stack other than to potentially expand the capability of the hardware to accommodate what PENN believes will be increased interest in its new product.

New Jersey

  • The Press of Atlantic City: Atlantic City’s Casino Tax Fund Generated Record $504M Last Year
    • The city’s casino industry paid more than $504 million in taxes and fees last fiscal year, a record amount that helps fund programs around the state for its most vulnerable residents. Money for the programs is generated from taxing various parts of the casino gaming industry from total gaming revenue to progressive slots. The Casino Revenue Fund was established in 1976 with the provision that state revenues derived from casino gambling would be applied solely for the purpose of “providing funding for reductions in property taxes, rental, telephone, gas, electric, and municipal utilities charges of eligible senior citizens and disabled residents of the State…”

Pennsylvania

  • PlayPennsylvania: PGCB Releases 2022/2023 Annual Report For Record-Breaking Fiscal Year
    • The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) released its FY 2022/2023 Annual Report, which did not lack impressive results. The Pennsylvania gambling industry recorded a record-breaking fiscal year in revenue and taxes generated. The state also opened a new retail casino and launched multiple PA casinos online. With even more ways to gamble, the PGCB has put responsible gambling tools at the forefront, and improved the ways in which people can seek help.

Virginia

  • CDC Gaming Reports: Analyst Impressed By Churchill Downs’s Virginia Presence
    • Truist Securities analyst Barry Jonas went on a company-guided bus tour of Churchill Downs’s current and future Virginia assets. He came away “feeling incrementally positive.” Jonas was accompanied by Churchill Downs CFO Marcia Dall, vice presidents Phil Fourbis and Jack Sours, and Director of Investor Relations Kaitlin Buzzetto. They toured Colonial Downs, Rosie’s Richmond, and the in-progress Rosie’s Dumfries, and discussed the proposed CHDN/Urban One casino project in Richmond, the subject of a November 7 plebiscite.
Posted in Daily Clips