DraftKings Bets on Missouri
As proponents of a digital sports betting initiative in Missouri continue to move forward, DraftKings late last week contributed $3.5 million to the campaign, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. DraftKings is the second biggest digital wagering company in the U.S. by market share.
The initiative, which got approved for the ballot earlier this month, would allow for statewide digital wagering. Platforms would have to be tethered to existing casinos and professional sports venues. Digital betting companies and the state’s professional sports teams back the proposal, but it doesn’t have the full support of the state’s brick-and-mortar casinos, sources told GGB.
The proposal would allot one digital skin or platform to each casino company, which differs from bills that had casino support in the state legislature. Previous proposals would have allotted one skin per physical casino, up to three per company. Several companies, including Caesars Entertainment and Penn Entertainment have three or more locations in the state.
Nebraska Digital Sports Betting Hopes Dead
Nebraska lawmakers adjourned their 17-day special session Aug. 20 with no vote on whether or not to send the decision to legalize digital sports betting to the voters. Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen sought property tax relief during the session. He got less than he had hoped for, and a package of bills that would have sent 90 percent of gambling tax revenue to the cause was left on the table.
The Nebraska Legislature was the last one still active in 2024 that was considering expanding gambling or introducing digital sports betting. It seems likely the year will close with no states approving sports betting or online casino.
Studies Reveal Betting Isn’t Good for Financial Health
A group of recent studies show that gamblers are putting their financial well-being at risk by saving or investing less and putting more money toward online gambling or sports betting. Researchers at BYU, Kansas, and Northwestern told Front Office Sports this week that online gamblers take money away from long-term investments. CDC Gaming reported that an Optimove study revealed the sports bettors say they will spend more on NFL wagering this year than last year, and a USC-UCLA study published in early August shows that credit scores can be impacted by sports betting.
“People are basically taking away money from long-term investments, and they’re spending it more in the present,” Scott Baker, a co-author and a finance professor at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, told Front Office Sports. “But then we also see that they are more, maybe, exposing themselves, to some extent, to more financial instability or financial fragility, kind of increasing amounts of overdrafts, running up more debt on their credit card, and things like that.”
According to the Optimove study, 68 percent of bettors said they would probably bet more than they can afford, up from 43 percent in 2023. But 97 percent of those polled said they were aware of responsible gaming tools, while 67 percent said they use them.
How Sports Betting is Changing the Sports Landscape
The Southeastern Conference may well be the next power football conference to make a key decision because sports betting is now legal in many of its member-school states. The conference is considering mandating injury reports, and has support from at least two coaches – Texas’ Steve Sarkisian and Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer.
“I talk to our guys all the time about, obviously the gambling from their end and how that’s not allowed and you can’t get involved in that, but also any information getting out of our program and how that impacts the outside world, outside of our bubble,” DeBoer said after a scrimmage last weekend. “So I get it, and whatever we’ve got to do, whatever they put in place, we’ll abide by it.”
iGB writes that the Big Ten in 2023 became the first major conference to require injury reports while U.S. jurisdictions have made regulatory changes around sports betting this year. Since then, multiple state regulators banned college-player prop bets at the behest of the NCAA while regulators in Maryland and Ohio have implemented penalties for bettors who harass athletes.
NFL Will Have Investigators Looking for ‘Anomalies’
Two weeks ahead of the NFL regular season, the league shared with ESPN that it will have investigators on site at games, searching for “anomalies” that could indicate suspicious betting activity. Since 2018, the league told ESPN, it has had an investigator – a retired FBI agent or “executive-level” police officer – assigned to each team. But in the wake of 10 NFL suspensions in 2023 and the Major League Baseball and the NBA each banning a player for life for gambling violations earlier this year, the league will ramp up efforts.
“They’re looking for anything that is an anomaly, anything that stands out, anything that might raise concerns,” Cathy Lanier, senior vice president of NFL security told ESPN. Lanier is a former chief of police in Washington, D.C.
NFL players are required to go through educational sessions around gambling. The league does allow players to bet, but not on football or their own team. It also does not allow any form of gambling at team facilities.
Genting to NGCB: We Take ‘Any Suggestion of Violations Very Seriously’
Last week, Genting responded to charges filed by the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) that its Resorts World Las Vegas property has a problem with its “culture of compliance.” The NGCB wrote that Resorts World violated multiple anti-money laundering rules, and that employees at every level failed to report or react to known illegal bookmakers gambling on credit at the Las Vegas Strip hotel. The list of violations directly link Resorts World to the sports betting scandal that has been unfolding in California.
Last Friday, Genting, the Malaysian-based owner of the property, released a short statement, reports iGB.
“The allegations relate to operational issues at Resorts World Las Vegas,” the company wrote. “GENT and RWLV LLC take any suggestion of violations very seriously.”
July Online Gambling Revenue Strong Despite Retail Decline
July might be a slow month on the sports calendar, and several jurisdictions reported lower retail casino revenue compared to last year, but overall the month was strong in Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Michigan online gambling and digital sports betting combined for a 3.2 percent increase in AGR in July over June. Both verticals also saw growth against July 2023, the Michigan Gaming Control Board reported Tuesday, per iGB.
Though land-based casinos saw a drop in receipts, growth in the online gambling and digital sports betting meant New Jersey operators combined for year-over-year growth. According to iGB, land-based casinos had a 6.1 percent drop in revenue while iGaming platforms reported 25.9 percent more revenue than last year and digital wagering platforms had 31.2 percent more revenue.
Pennsylvania’s casinos followed a similar trend, with retail casinos seeing a decline in revenue while digital channels saw an increase in July. According to the latest Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board revenue report, the sector in total had a gain of 7.8 percent against July 2023. But physical casinos reported a 4.8 percent revenue decline in both slot machines and table games against 2023.
In Other News …
In Maine, the Portland City Council Monday approved a liquor license for a for a proposed sports bar and sportsbook in the city. It would be Maine’s first in-person wagering location. First Tracks Investments LLC would still need to go through the wagering licensing process.
PrizePicks announced Wednesday that it signed comedian Drew “Druski” Desbordes as a brand ambassador. Druski will create content for PrizePicks, including social skits and an original short-form series for YouTube.
Per CDC Gaming, Alberta Gaming Liquor & Cannabis (AGLC) Tuesday launched the GameSense Info Line, a new responsible gaming tool. Consumers can call 1-833-447-7523 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Thursdays–Saturdays between 1-8 p.m. Alberta does not yet have legal digital sports betting. Provincial leaders have not indicated a launch date, but multiple agencies have been prepping for launch.
