Wagering Back on Colorado Ballot
Five years after Colorado voters legalized statewide retail and digital sports betting, Coloradans will again consider a ballot initiative related to betting. Up to $29 million tax dollars from legal wagering are earmarked for the state’s water project. But it turns out that legal betting is bringing in more money than expected, and lawmakers want to increase the cap, according to Colorado Public Radio (CPR).
In 2023, the state took in about $27.4 million and CPR said a state analysis predicts that the state will surpass $36 million in the next two years. Per the current law, any tax dollars above those that cover regulation costs plus the $29 million would be returned to operators. Colorado taxes sports betting at 10% of gross gaming revenue.
Here’s what voters will see on the ballot:
Proposition 22
Without raising taxes, may the state keep and spend all sports betting tax revenue above voter-approved limits to fund water conservation and protection projects instead of refunding revenue to casinos?
Athlete Harassment From ‘Angry Bettors’ Most Common
Angry bettors account for 12 percent of social media harassment directed at college student-athletes, reveals a new NCAA study. The organization provided an excerpt to ESPN Oct. 8, with the full study to follow.
The study was done in partnership with data-science company Signify Group. It reviewed more than 3,000 social media accounts belonging to student-athletes, 500 belonging to coaches, 200 belonging to sports officials and 165 belonging to teams during the 2024 College Football Playoff, men’s and women’s March Madness and four other NCAA championships.
“Angry sports bettors” are defined as those who “engage in problematic and intrusive communications due to match events and results contradicting bettors’ predictions.” Sexual abuse, racism and homophobia were common themes in the harassment.
Penn Investor Day: Integration Next Up
Penn Entertainment presented a positive outlook for the Penn Interactive digital business at its Investor Day Oct. 7, per iGB. Highlights included green shoots already showing in New York, merely a week after ESPN Bet’s launch, and continued efforts to integrate the app with ESPN to up-sell users and cut down on time spent away from the ESPN Bet product.
Despite criticism from analysts and investors earlier in the year and claims that a Boyd takeover was on the horizon, CEO Jay Snowden is sure ESPN Bet can turn its luck around.
“Net-net, we remain positive on the ESPN Bet opportunity,” Truist analyst Barry Jonas said of the presentation.
New York is already showing signs of success for ESPN Bet in its first week. The presentation showed daily handle per ESPN Bet user in New York is already 296 percent higher than any other state it operates in.
In the first three days, ESPN Bet took $3 million in bets, according to the New York State Gaming Commission. For comparison, for the week ending 29 September, market leaders DraftKings and FanDuel each cleared $196m in handle. But Bally Bet, Resorts World and Rush Street Interactive all recorded handle of $8.8m or less for the week.
World Series of Politics: NFL, DC, Missouri and more
Check out Episode 34 of iGB’s the “World Series of Politics,” which covers the start of a projected $35 billion season, Washington, DC’s new competitive landscape, the latest on the Missouri ballot initiative and the possibility of iGaming in Arkansas.
Massachusetts Awards $3.1 Million in PG Grants
The Massachusetts Department of Health this week announced that it is awarding $3.1 million in grants for programs that focus on educating youth about responsible gaming.
According to an Office of Problem Gambling Services (OPGS) press release, $2.1 million was awarded to the peer-to-peer Youth Leaders in Problem Gambling Prevention initiative and $1 million was awarded to the “workforce development” Project Build Up 2.0. The program will “recruit and retain employees for outpatient substance use and gambling treatment programs.”
NC Revenue Up, DC’s Best Month
The start of the football and NFL seasons resulted in a major bounce for North Carolina sportsbooks, iGB reported Oct. 9. The state lottery reported nearly record handle, hold and gross gaming revenue in the seventh-month-old market. In other markets, Washington, D.C. and Maine, revenue and handle were the highest in history. For D.C., it was the second full month of an open market.
