Industry News of the Day for September 28, 2020

iDEA Growth Member News:

• Gaming Intelligence, 9.28.20 – Sportradar Expands Into Mississippi With Pearl River Resort Deal
  • Sports betting and data provider Sportradar has entered into an agreement to enhance Pearl River Resort’s sports betting offering in Mississippi.

Industry News:

• Sports Handle, 9.25.20 – Get A Grip: The Week In Sports Betting: Colorado Handle Up, Michigan And Tennessee Keep Truckin’ Toward Launches
  • Here’s the weekend Sports Handle item, “Get a Grip,” recapping the week’s top U.S. sports betting stories, highlighting some fresh news, and rounding up key stories.
• Bloomberg, 9.27.20 – Online Sports Betting Boom
  • “It’s going to get bigger and bigger and just make more money for a lot of states.”
• SBC Americas, 9.25.20 – Industry Leaders Tackle Hottest Topics At Betting On Sports America – Digital
  • Betting on Sports America – Digital 2020 (BOSA Digital) will feature an eight-track conference focusing on the impact of the rapid post-PASPA growth of the industry, the implications of the Presidential election result, and how operators can adapt to the changing regulatory environment and the tough economic conditions expected in 2021.

Overall Industry News:

• CNN, 9.28.20 – Caesars Could Buy William Hill for $3.7 Billion As Sports Betting Booms
  • Caesars Entertainment is in talks to buy William Hill in a deal that would value the British bookmaker at £2.9 billion ($3.7 billion) and underscore the size of the opportunity in online gaming and sports betting in the United States.
• Business Insider, 9.25.20 – A Recent Wave Of Sports Media And Betting Tie-Ups Shows What The Sectors Hope To Gain From One Another – And Their Reservations About Getting Too Close (subscription paywall)
  • It restarted as if it never stopped. When live sports returned over the summer, deals between US sports-media brands and betting providers immediately picked up steam.

Pennsylvania:

• Legal Sports Report, 9.25.20 – How Much Was Bet At Barstool Sportsbook In PA On Opening Weekend?
  • The Barstool Sportsbook took $11 million in handle on its first weekend live, according to new figures released by Penn National.
• PlayPennsylvania, 9.25.20 – PA Gaming Review: Barstool Sportsbook and Skill Games Dominate Headlines
  • Pennsylvania just had a good gaming week, but a potential political storm is brewing in Harrisburg at the start of October which could reshape gambling in the Commonwealth.
• PlayPennsylvania, 9.25.20 – To Legalize Or Not To Legalize? PA Senate To Address VGT Expansion, Skill Games Legality
  • When the Pennsylvania Senate left Harrisburg for their home districts on Sept. 22, lots of unfinished business remained. Chiefly, that’s passing a state budget for the rest of the fiscal year after having approved a stop-gap spending measure at the end of May covering only part of the year.

Rhode Island:

• Legal Sports Report, 9.25.20 – RI Sports Betting Data Shows It’s Never Too Late To Fix A Mistake
  • It took about a year for legislators in Rhode Island to realize the mistake in its sports betting legislation. Now that it’s been corrected, the RI sports betting market should finally start to pick up.

Michigan:

• Online Poker Report, 9.25.20 – Smooth Sailing For Michigan Online Gambling In Two Hearings This Week
  • Michigan’s progress towards legal online gambling advanced significantly this week. A Senate committee meeting on Tuesday and public hearing on iGaming rules on Wednesday both went off without a hitch.
• PlayMichigan, 9.25.20 – Sportsbooks Popping Up All Over Northern Michigan This Week
  • In what should go down as the biggest week in northwest Michigan sports gambling history, another casino is now taking your sports bets.

Illinois:

• Sports Handle, 9.25.20 – PointsBet Becomes First Sports Betting Sponsor Of The Chicago Bears
  • Continuing to lay the groundwork for its eventual physical sportsbook launch in the Chicago area, PointsBet announced a deal Friday that makes it the first sports betting partner of the Chicago Bears.

Tennessee:

• Tennessean, 9.25.20 – Sports-Betting Operators Shouldn’t Have To ‘Hold’ 10% Of Wagers
  • In November, Tennessee will join 19 other jurisdictions around the country where betting on sports through legal, regulated channels can occur. But it’s doing so with one hand tied behind its back.

Kentucky:

• PlayTenn, 9.26.20 – Kentucky Court’s Ruling On Historical Horse Racing Machines ‘Threatens’ Industry
  • The Kentucky Supreme Court came to a unanimous ruling on Thursday that certain slot-like historical horse racing (HHR) systems cannot be considered pari-mutuel wagering machines.

Arkansas:

• THV11, 9.25.20 – Mobile App Brings Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Games Online The Legal Way
  • Online company Jackpocket worked with the state to allow players to buy and cash tickets without going to a lottery retailer.
• Gambling.Com, 9.25.20 – Arkansas Sports Betting Bounces Back After Loss In July
  • After taking a loss in July, Arkansas reported a positive sports betting revenue for August.

Louisiana:

• KNOE, 9.25.20 – Legalizing Sports Betting In Louisiana Now In The Hands Of Voters
  • It may not be legal, but sports betting has been around for ages. Now, supporters of the measure say the state will benefit from it while others feel there are more negative effects than positive.

Colorado:

• PlayColorado, 9.25.20 – State Of Colorado Continues To Prove It Wants Sports Betting On The Up-And-Up
  • People want peace of mind, regardless of the service or the industry. If a company is able to do that, it has cleared the first major hurdle of trust.
• Gambling Compliance, 9.28.20 – Free Bet Deductions Taking Big Bite Out Of State Tax Revenues (subscription paywall)
  • Colorado gaming regulators reported another month of record high revenues and betting handle in August, but thanks to an operator-friendly financial model, one revenue stream not seeing a steady increase is state tax income.