Industry News of the Day for September 19, 2023

Industry News

• USBets: Fanatics Aiming To Launch Online Casino Product By End Of 2023
  • The Fanatics Sportsbook app first launched on March 2 in Tennessee and, as of the start of NFL season, was live in three additional states: Ohio, Massachusetts, and Maryland. None of those four states has legalized online casino, so there’s no urgent rush just yet to get Fanatics Casino up and running. But iCasino is a priority for the operator, and the goal is to launch it in some of the legal online casino states by the end of 2023, Fanatics Betting & Gaming Chief Business Officer Ari Borod explained to US Bets on the latest episode of the Gamble On podcast.

• Legal Sports Report: Business By The Books: Largest Genius Sports Shareholder Selling
  • Apax Partners, the largest shareholder in Genius Sports and investor since 2018, is looking to move some shares. Apax could sell up to 23 million of its 60.2 million shares, the exclusive distributor of NFL betting data announced Thursday. That amount accounted for 27.9% of GENI ownership, according to the Genius 2022 annual report, Those shares are priced at $5.35 each. That represents an 11% discount on Wednesday’s closing price, though the news of the sale sparked a selloff to $5.67 on Thursday, with more than 8 times its average volume.

Illinois

• PlayIllinois: Illinois Sports Betting Hits $2 Billion Milestone Amid Typical July Slowdown
  • Welcome to the Billionaires Club, Illinois. That’s billions plural. Based on numbers released last week by the Illinois Gaming Board on sports betting activity in July, Illinois became the third US state to cross over $2 billion in adjusted gross revenue, joining New York and New Jersey in the exclusive club. Overall, the month of July was small by comparison, largely due to a lack of professional sports events during that period.

Maryland

• Maryland Matters: Maryland Lawmaker Wants Window On Sports Betting Applications Re-Opened
  • Maryland has an abundance of unissued sports wagering licenses that one state delegate says should not be allowed to gather dust. Currently, there are 12 physical sports book locations. The state also has a dozen mobile sports wagering apps in operation. State regulators say instability in the market and ongoing consolidation mean no more are needed yet. Even so, some want to see the Sports Wagering Application Review Commission — sometimes called SWARC — continue to accept applications from businesses who still want to enter the industry.

Massachusetts

• SBC Americas: Fanatics Sportsbook Picking Up Steam In Massachusetts Per Revenue Report
  • There is still a long way to go for Fanatics Sportsbook to potentially challenge DraftKings and FanDuel, but the brand continues to trend upward in Massachusetts per the latest revenue report from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. After going fully live in mid-August, Fanatics ended the month with $4.4 million in handle, $545,000 in revenue, and the best hold percentage in the state at 12.6%.

New Jersey

• PlayNJ: DraftKings Helps Post Record NJ Sports Betting Revenue As Resorts Blows Past Meadowlands
  • For 54 straight months, the New Jersey sports betting world has been run by Meadowlands Racetrack and its online sportsbook partners. That streak ended in August. For the first time since January 2019, NJ sports betting has a new market leader as Resorts, headlined by DraftKings Sportsbook, reported the second-best monthly revenue total – $56.99 million – in the five-year history of legal sports betting in the Garden State.

New York

• Legal Sports Report: FanDuel Sets NY Sports Betting Revenue Record
  • FanDuel set an NY sports betting record with $32.3 million in weekly revenue in the week ending Sept. 10. According to figures released Thursday by the New York State Gaming Commission, FanDuel is the only sportsbook to ever eclipse $30 million in New York sports betting revenue in a single week. All NY sports betting apps combined for $56.6 million in revenue during the first week of the NFL betting season.

North Carolina

• PlayUSA: New North Carolina Casino Language Still Favors One Company
  • New North Carolina casino language seems to open the process to competitive bidding. However, prohibitive applicant restrictions still earmark the contract to one company. The language now instructs the NC Secretary of Administration to independently consider applications for each of the three commercial casinos. Previously, the bill required the Secretary of Administration to award the contract to one company to build all three casinos.

• The Charlotte Observer: What’s Behind The Push For More Gambling In North Carolina? Follow The Campaign Donations
  • What’s behind Republican leaders’ insistent push to legalize multiple forms of gambling — from online sports betting to casino developments — despite resistance from within their caucus and from core Republican voters, particularly evangelical Christians? It could be years before we know the full story. After Democratic N.C. Speaker Jim Black’s conviction two decades ago, new research emerged during his sentencing hearing that helped explain his adamant defense of video poker.