The post Get A Grip — The Week In Sports Betting: What Makes Bettors Bet? 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
Confession No. 1: This author is a sports bettor who is break-even at best lifetime (but, if being honest, almost certainly not).
Confession No. 2: I don’t really know why I bet what I do when I do. I just know it’s in my blood.
No doubt, the mind of the average person involved in a heavy dose of sports betting can be a dark and confused place, with the neurons all contorted from the latest Monday Night Football bad beat or last night’s five-leg NBA parlay that fell one short of success. It would take a really dedicated researcher to want to explore the mysteries compelling bettors to risk hard-earned money, based on performances of young people they don’t know who may have their own twisted issues affecting their play.
Fortunately, such a researcher exists at the University of Memphis in the form of Jan Hanousek Jr., who analyzed data from 45 million bets made by 90,000 gamblers with a certain Czech sportsbook over a seven-year period. He was trying to answer the question of what keeps a sports bettor betting.
His main conclusion, as explained by Jeff Edelstein in a Sports Handle article this week: People are most likely to wager more when they’ve had recent success and can use house money. Sportsbooks must like the sound of that, as it means money keeps getting reinvested on wagers from which the operators can ultimately profit, by virtue of the 52.4% house advantage attached to the vig. There are very few people who can take their house money, make another bet with it, and reliably succeed as well as they did the first time.
We’re glad sportsbook operators can retain revenue in such a manner, obviously, as otherwise, Sports Handle would not exist. And we would not have a full staff broadly covering developments in the sports betting industry week in and week out, as the stories linked below show. (Personally, however, this bettor might just take a cue from Hanousek’s findings and invest his next round of winnings — if they ever come — in something like replacing furniture instead of automatically funneling it all right back into his favorite sportsbook.)
Meanwhile, for additional gaming industry news, be sure to check out US Bets, including its weekly Double Down column and Gamble On podcast.
So many questions surround ESPN BET
Here’s why media survey gave edge to Fanatics over ESPN BET as industry disruptor
Is ESPN BET going to have a Pat McAfee problem?
21+ rule in Massachusetts a possible conundrum for ESPN, Fanatics
ESPN BET logo is a no-go for BroThrow
The Florida Case That Won’t End
Sports betting again legal, but not live, in Florida as court cases continue
Did Tennessee Get It Right Or Not?
Early questions arise about Tennessee’s betting tax structure
No Betway For You, Illinois
Betway withdraws application for online-only sports wagering license in Illinois
Mississippi Could Go Mobile … Or Not
Mississippi task force examines mobile betting legalization pros and cons
Let’s Talk About More Online Casinos
New York online casino and online lottery bill to be filed in time for 2024 legislative session
Report assessing legalization of iCasinos in Maryland nears completion
It Was Bound To Happen In Hockey, Too
Shane Pinto reportedly suspended 41 games, first NHL player to get gambling suspension
Golf Bettors Not Really LIVing It Up
LIV Golf lacks major betting interest through two seasons
Sportsbooks heartened by Houston’s loss
“Mattress Mack” won’t break sportsbooks this year with Astros bets
Nice news for Louisiana’s operators
Louisiana sportsbooks claim record $43 million in revenue for September
Fanatics on schedule with PointsBet
Fanatics is on schedule to complete the transfer on the company’s acquisition of PointsBet’s U.S. assets, PointsBet indicated on this week’s quarterly earnings call.
As of Sept. 30, PointsBet had transferred 10 of its 14 U.S. state businesses to Fanatics Betting & Gaming (FBG), PointsBet said on Wednesday. Earlier this month, the Australian-headquartered company transferred PointsBet New York LLC and PointsBet Wyoming LLC to FBG, the online gaming division of the e-commerce giant. Previously, the company transferred to Fanatics its operations in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.
PointsBet still needs to transfer ownership in four U.S. jurisdictions: Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, and Michigan.
— Matt Rybaltowski
West Flagler makes use of SCOTUS
West Flagler and Associates, the parimutuel operator suing Gov. Ron DeSantis and the legislature in Florida over the state’s compact with the Seminole Tribe, took a denial by the U.S. Supreme Court this week and turned it into an argument for why the Florida Supreme Court should hear and decide its case.
The U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday denied a petition for a court stay that would prevent the Seminoles from launching the Hard Rock Bet platform in Florida. In comments, however, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote, “If the compact authorized the Tribe to conduct off-reservation gaming operations, either directly or or by deeming off-reservation gaming operations to somehow be on-reservation, then the compact would likely violate the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, as the District Court explained.”
The 2021 compact does deem any bet made anywhere in Florida to be considered placed on Indian lands if it runs through a tribal server. West Flagler argued that Kavanaugh’s statement is “pertinent to [the Florida Supreme Court’s] determination” in the case. DeSantis et al are required to respond to the initial filing by Dec. 1. From there, the Florida Supreme Court will decide if it will hear the case.
— Jill R. Dorson
Confused over fantasy in Colorado
A set of proposed daily fantasy sports regulations circulating from Colorado’s state regulator has left some stakeholders unclear what would be legal and what wouldn’t under the proposal.
Colorado’s Division of Gaming will hold a public hearing on the rules Monday to obtain feedback and possibly take a vote. Operators are likely to seek clarity on the phrase “parlay style wagers stacked on different athletes” and will want to know if some language banning playing against the house is specific to these parlay-style wagers or all fantasy contests.
Pick’em-style contests have become controversial in many states, with some banning their use by fantasy operators.
— Jill R. Dorson
Tweet of the week
A player gets a 41-game suspension for sports gambling while forced to wear a helmet with…a sports betting ad.
Make it make sense. pic.twitter.com/SJNgpLSwNF
— Steve · Millionaire Habits (@SteveOnSpeed) October 27, 2023
More of the most important, interesting stories
MOVE OVER, FANDUEL: DraftKings takes market share lead in U.S. online gambling [Front Office Sports]
WHEN THE PERSONAL TOUCH DOESN’T HELP: As sports betting grows, some operators skip Nevada because of in-person registration requirements [The Nevada Independent]
NCAA IN NO RUSH: NCAA issues two-week delay on vote for potential changes to sports-wagering reinstatement guidelines [Des Moines Register]
YOU BET HE’S ON THE MOVE: Ex-ESPN host Doug Kezirian joining upstart gambling media network [New York Post]
Ex-ESPN host Doug Kezirian joining upstart gambling media network https://t.co/jHw3ZPGL2Z pic.twitter.com/dxGLDWKrVm
— New York Post (@nypost) October 26, 2023
COLLEGE … IT’S COMPLICATED: Protecting the quarterback (and everyone else, too) [Nelson Mullins]
GOVERNOR LIKES KENTUCKY’S GAMBLE: Beshear: Nearly $250M wagered on sports betting in Kentucky [WEHT]
CLEVER ALL CAPS BOLD LEADIN: Nevada panel OKs sports wagering at WarHorse Casino Omaha, but no bets until November [Omaha World-Herald]
PARTNERS FOR NBA ACTION: BetMGM strikes deal with Sportradar for NBA optical tracking data [CDC Gaming Reports]
The post Get A Grip — The Week In Sports Betting: What Makes Bettors Bet? appeared first on SportsHandle.
