Industry News of the Day for September 14, 2023

By iDEA | September 14, 2023

Industry News

  • PlayUSA: NFL Sports Betting Action Has Never Been Higher, Says GeoComply
    • America loves to bet on NFL football and that enthusiasm doesn’t seem like it’s going to slow down. That’s the conclusion of a report from geolocation and security firm GeoComply, which revealed this week that sports betting activity from Sept. 2 to Sept. 10 was up 56% over the same period in 2022. The NFL season is the linchpin of sports betting revenue in the United States. Online sports betting operators generate roughly 60% of their revenue from the NFL season, according to GeoComply.
  • Barrett Sports Media: DraftKings, FanDuel Increasing Ad Spend On Radio & TV For Football Season
    • Concurrent with the start of the National Football League season is an acceleration in advertising and a quest to broaden overall market share. DraftKings led the way on both national radio and national television outlets, considerably increasing their reach on the former by 77%. The company aired a total of 23,592 spots from the week between Sept. 4 and Sept. 10, ranking No. 12 overall. “This is the most important time of the year,” DraftKings Chief Executive Officer Jason Robins said on an August call with investors.
  • AP News: Online Bets On NFL Games Surged In Week 1 As Legal Sports Betting Continues To Grow
    • A company that most of the legal U.S. sports betting industry uses to verify that its customers are where they say they are is reporting a record number of transactions over the first weekend of the NFL season. GeoComply Solutions, the Vancouver, Canada-based tech company, said Wednesday it recorded 242.3 million geolocation transactions from customers of legal U.S. sportsbooks, representing a 56% increase from the same time period in 2022.

Florida

  • Legal Sports Report: Analysis: Diving Into Florida Sports Betting Rehearing Denial In DC Court
    • After a somewhat surprising ask from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeal requesting a response to West Flagler Associates’ petition for rehearing en banc, the Department of the Interior (DOI) filed that response and recommended that the appellate court kick the Florida sports betting petition to the curb. A mere 11 days after the response, the entirety of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the rehearing. The clock is now kicking as sports bettors in Florida need to wait for at least seven days after this petition is resolved before the Seminole Tribe of Florida can turn the lights back on for Hard Rock Bet.
  • SBC Americas: Underdog Lays Down Legality Case & Launches $2M Giveaway
    • Underdog Fantasy has published a document on its website laying out its case for why its offering is legal in all states it is live in and has said that opponents FanDuel and DraftKings had been “caught flat-footed” in not offering a similar product. Taking to the Underdog website, the firm’s General Counsel Nicholas G. Green outlined that the fantasy sports operator companies with “the letter and spirit of state and federal law everywhere that we offer them”.

Indiana

  • PlayIndiana: Indiana Casino Revenue Down 5.7%; 6 Straight Months Of Decline
    • Indiana casinos have seen year-over-year drops in revenue throughout most of 2023. August brought more of the same. The Indiana Gaming Commission reported $182.1 million in adjusted gross revenue for the month, the lowest total produced this year. August casino revenue represented a 9.2% drop from July’s $198.4 million and a 5.7% drop from August 2022’s $193.1 million. It marks the sixth straight month with year-over-year declines, continuing a trend that casino owners and state legislators could be concerned over.

Michigan

  • PlayMichigan: Michigan Attorney General Shuts Down Illegal Online Casino
    • Attorney General Dana Nessel has shut down an online casino operating illegally in Michigan. On Tuesday, Nessel announced that her office’s Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division had stopped Massachusetts-based Golden Heart Games, Inc. from offering its online gambling platform to Michigan residents. Golden Hearts’ website says it, “operates a real-money promotional games platform that supports charity and where winners receive Redeemable Sweeps Coins which may be exchanged for real cash payouts or digital gift cards.

Missouri

  • PlayNY: Wynn Keeping Its Sports Betting License As It Seeks A NY Gambling Trifecta
    • Wynn Resorts caught a lot of gambling industry watchers off guard last month when it abruptly announced WynnBet online sportsbooks in seven states would be taken offline. Wynn’s list of soon-to-be vacated locales did not include the two states where it has land-based casinos — Nevada and Massachusetts — nor did it include Arizona, Michigan (for now) or New York. Wynn choosing to keep WynnBet open in Nevada and Massachusetts makes sense because of the company’s physical presence.

Pennsylvania

  • PlayPennsylvania: Bally’s Pennsylvania Online Casino Partners With Pragmatic Play
    • After recently launching in Pennsylvania, Bally’s online casino is swiftly going after market share. The operator announced a partnership with the gaming provider, Pragmatic Play, to bring its array of games to the Keystone State. Pragmatic Play is going to help strengthen Bally PA Casino content for players. The operator is just scratching the surface within the state after successfully launching in June.

Vermont

  • Sports Handle: Five Major Operators Submit Vermont Bids
    • BetMGM, DraftKings, FanDuel, Fanatics Betting and Gaming, and PENN Entertainment have submitted bids for the right to offer sports betting in Vermont, where lawmakers earlier this year legalized digital-only betting. The list was published late Monday on the state’s government website after a Request for Proposals was opened in July. The original deadline for bids was Aug. 28, but the deadline was extended to Sept. 6. The biggest operator not on the list is Caesars Sportsbook. DraftKings is the only operator live in every state that borders Vermont.
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