The post Get A Grip — The Week In Sports Betting: Will Big Bet On ESPN BET Work? appeared first on SportsHandle.
It’s information overload everywhere, and there’s not time enough to sleep and eat and stay fully apprised of what’s happening on this crazy blue dot of ours (two out of three ain’t bad). Here’s the weekend Sports Handle item, “Get a Grip,” recapping the week’s top U.S. sports betting headlines, highlighting some fresh news, and rounding up key stories.
Top stories around our network this week
As ESPN viewers, non-PENN Entertainment sportsbook operators, other industry stakeholders, and wide-ranging sports bettors from your office mates to your Uncle Jake await the start of ESPN BET, there remains plenty to discuss about how the new platform will operate and perform.
PENN is in the process of rebranding its Barstool Sportsbook — an underwhelming performer in the online sports betting space — to ESPN BET under its expensive new partnership with ESPN. The joint PENN-ESPN hope is that the site will serve as a much more competitive challenger to the likes of FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM after a relaunch in November.
While there are skeptics of just how successful those aspirations will be, Sports Handle heard a much more optimistic note from a leading venture capitalist, Wayne Kimmel of SeventySix Capital. He believes “ESPN has an amazing opportunity to do something incredibly special” through its ability to integrate its widely watched programming with the ever-escalating interest in sports betting.
One outspoken bettor is Sports Handle’s own slyly astute Jeff Edelstein, who developed a seven-point action list outlining the steps those running ESPN BET can take to assure its popularity with the betting public. This came in the same week that the pending platform’s minty new logo was unveiled.
In Massachusetts, regulators don’t appear all that interested in the logo, for now. The state’s gaming commissioners instead seemed a bit miffed this week that PENN has been short on providing relevant information about the changeover from its relationship with Barstool Sports to one with ESPN, and what that will mean about public (and potentially irresponsible) discussion of sports betting. They’ll be talking more about that at upcoming meetings, in light of licensing requirements.
Sports Handle will be closely following all of the ESPN BET developments in coming weeks, as part of our broad coverage of the entire industry, as shown by the linked stories below. And for additional gaming industry news, be sure to check out US Bets, including its weekly Double Down column and Gamble On podcast.
Legal wheels a-spinnin’ in Florida
Florida Supreme Court extends DeSantis deadline to Dec. 1
DeSantis requests extension in case that could dictate Hard Rock Bet’s Florida future
Next up: Supreme Court ruling on whether or not Seminoles can launch Hard Rock Bet
Who wants an app anyway?
DraftKings opens retail sportsbook at Arizona PGA Tour destination
DraftKings inches toward Maryland retail sportsbook opening
North Carolina inching ever closer
North Carolina Lottery moves forward with preliminary sports betting rules
AGA wants some policing done
American Gaming Association continues push for illegal gambling crackdown
An airplane-to-casino smoking analogy
Schuetz: On testifying at a legislative hearing on casino smoking
Tougher times for some than others
G2E agrees to payment settlement for Israel-based LSports amid Hamas conflict
Some geocompetition on the rise
Radar offers wagering operators a geofencing alternative
Writing about gambling is work, trust us
Media notebook: The rise of the gambling industry newsletter
The cannibals aren’t really coming
Research analyst sees no basis for iCasino cannibalization concerns
Some big states made big money
New York mobile sportsbooks set weekly revenue record at $62 million
New Jersey sports wagering handle surges to $1.3 billion in September
Record promo offers helped boost Pennsylvanians’ betting last month
DraftKings sets monthly handle record in Massachusetts
New Jersey gaming revenue totals $521.5 million for September
Pennsylvania’s iCasinos breeze to record high revenue in September
DraftKings, FanDuel welcome NBA back
Ahead of next week’s start of the NBA regular season, DraftKings announced the launch of a new NBA collection of co-branded merchandise as an official sports betting partner of league. The NBA Collection presented by DraftKings will feature NBA team-branded hats, T-shirts, and hoodies, the company said in a statement.
The collection to be debuted Nov. 2 enables DraftKings to introduce a new vertical into its business model, drawing comparisons with e-commerce giant Fanatics, a sports betting newcomer. “There is a strong affinity toward DraftKings’ crown logo and combining that with designs that feature NBA teams,” said DraftKings President Matt Kalish.
At the same time, FanDuel is recognizing the return of NBA action by offering existing customers three months of free access to viewing of NBA League Pass if they place a $5 bet on a game. And through Oct. 26, new customers wagering $5 can receive that offer plus $200 in bonus bets. FanDuel also announced it will provide live same-game parlay betting on the NBA this season.
— Matt Rybaltowski
Entain looks toward Georgia
Executives from Entain visited with Georgia legislators this week in the hopes of crafting a sports betting bill that could gain some traction, according to the Georgia Recorder. Dating back to 2021 when the Democrats withdrew support for wagering after the Republicans passed a new voting rights bill, Georgia legislators have been unable to come to a compromise to legalize.
It seems pretty clear that lawmakers would need to put the question in Georgia to voters as a constitutional amendment. They also would need to find consensus on what legal wagering should look like, whether horse racing would be part of the mix, and how proceeds would be spent.
“Georgia, as you can imagine, has politically a lot of issues including the Trump indictment, so there’s a little bit of a distraction at the moment,” Entain Trustee Bill Pascrell III told the Recorder. “But I feel pretty positive Georgia is going to move [betting] on next year along with a few other states.”
— Jill R. Dorson
Talking pucks, but not bets
When Hockey Night in Canada debuted for the 2023-24 season last weekend, it had a different look, according to Gaming News Canada’s Steve McAllister. “Unless we missed it while channel surfing or grabbing more peanut butter-filled pretzels from the cupboard during the pregame show, no Kevin Weekes promoting DraftKings’ parlay products, no wagering advice from Andy MacNeil,” McAllister wrote.
The shift is worth noting, as a possible response to a firestorm in Ontario over how wagering advertisements have dominated the airwaves since single-event betting debuted April 4, 2022. One response already is that the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario has new rules set to take effect Feb. 28, 2024, that ban celebrities, athletes, and cartoon characters from shilling for sportsbooks.
Cabral “Cabbie” Richards, a Canadian sports personality, was also absent from the Hockey Night in Canada pre-game show and instead did a Q-and-A with fans. The segment was sponsored by the Sports Interaction sportsbook, for which Richards and several other well-known personalities are brand ambassadors.
— Jill R. Dorson
Tweet of the week
“It’s okay babe, you’ll make it back with a parlay tomorrow. I know you will. You’re still a great sports bettor” pic.twitter.com/xlYMGwwn0b
— br_betting (@br_betting) October 14, 2023
More of the most important, interesting stories
CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS? Breaking the stigma around problem gambling [CDC Gaming Reports]
AND CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS IN MARYLAND? Sports betting booms, but the industry doesn’t contribute to Maryland’s Problem Gambling Fund [Maryland Matters]
COUNTING ON NEXT YEAR IN GEORGIA: Gaming interests ready new legalized gambling push in ’24, sports bets still a favorite [Georgia Recorder]
ALL GIDDY IN SIN CITY: Spurred by F1, Super Bowl, analyst expects strong half-year for Vegas [Las Vegas Review-Journal]
ONE MONTH UNTIL F1 VEGAS
pic.twitter.com/MsLk6G7C0O
— Las Vegas Issues (@VegasIssues) October 18, 2023
MAYBE WE’VE TURNED A CORNER: Analyst: Digital profits “are visible now” [CDC Gaming Reports]
HELP WANTED: President of Kentucky Council on Problem Gambling says the state needs more gambling therapists [Spectrum News 1]
ANY SECOND THOUGHTS? Tennessee collects $1M less in sports gambling taxes despite increase in bets [The Center Square]
IT AIN’T MUCH, BUT IT’S SOMETHING: Mississippi sports betting handle surpasses $50 million in September [iGB North America]
The post Get A Grip — The Week In Sports Betting: Will Big Bet On ESPN BET Work? appeared first on SportsHandle.
