The last 12 trading days have been a rollercoaster of emotions for sports betting investors, especially those holding DraftKings stock.
The sports betting giant shook the US sports betting world Aug. 1 when it announced a surcharge would be added to winning bets in certain states with a 20% or higher tax rate. That sent the stock tumbling overnight, even before the company could comment on the plans.
The next trading day after the DraftKings earnings call, DKNG opened at $28.83, down 15% from Friday’s open. That is the lowest opening or closing price since the day before the company’s third quarter 2023 earnings on Nov. 2.
Since then, however, DKNG is up 18.4% as the parent owner of FanDuel appeared to force the company’s hand to change its plans on the additional charge.
Flutter says no to sports betting fee
The surcharge announcement created intrigue around Flutter‘s earnings call to see if the leading US betting operator would follow suit.
Flutter, of course, announced it would not be charging winning bettors on its second quarter call Tuesday. DraftKings responded just hours later with a tweet saying the company would not pursue the surcharge, which it planned to implement Jan. 1 in four states.
“We always listen to our customers and after hearing their feedback we have decided not to move forward with the gaming tax surcharge,” the company announced on its news account that evening on Twitter. “We are always committed to delivering the best value in the industry to our loyal customers.”
That statement came after CEO Jason Robins said it would take “quite a lot” to drop the plans on the earnings call.
Stock price trend reverses, too
DKNG clawed some of its share price back before Flutter’s announcement, but confirming it would not move forward with the surcharge swung momentum in the other direction.
DraftKings jumped nearly 6% in after-hours trading Tuesday after announcing it would cancel its plans. It then climbed another 2.4% between Wednesday morning and Friday’s closing of $34.14.
The stock remains down 3.8% from the closing price prior to the surcharge announcement.
BetMGM adds single wallet for sports betting
BetMGM will have its single wallet available across all states as of Wednesday.
That means all a BetMGM customer needs is one account to bet in all of the live BetMGM US jurisdictions. Nevada was the last state to get the tech update.
Having single wallet as a hub-and-spoke operator is a crucial distinction for BetMGM, especially when it comes to Nevada. Now, there are no separate apps or accounts needed when traveling between available BetMGM jurisdictions.
“We are excited, and I am by the idea of omnichannel for the football this coming season for BetMGM,” MGM Resorts CEO Bill Hornbuckle said on its second quarter earnings call. “I think it finally unlocks our database and enables people to take their wallets and go home to places like Colorado and still have funds that they can share.”
Endeavor B2B sports betting tech in play
The owner of the OpenBet sports betting business began actively attempting to sell the segment during the second quarter.
The transaction is part of the Silver Lake acquisition that will take Endeavor private, according to Endeavor’s second quarter earnings release.
OpenBet grew its customer base more than 40% in the first half of 2024 and now has more than 200 partners. New customers include Australian betting giant Tabcorp, Greek gambling company OPAP, and Finland’s government-owned sports betting monopoly Veikkaus.
Work over the last 12 months has led to two new segments for the sports betting B2B provider. OpenBet launched a regulatory technology vertical after buying Neccton and is moving into geolocation as well with OpenBet Locator.
GeoComply adds stake in Hero Group
GeoComply owns 40% of Hero Group after the company closed its $37.5 million acquisition of Betting Hero from FansUnite with financial backing from the geolocation provider.
GeoComply announced the deal in a June 27 press release.
Betting Hero is a live activation affiliate that has signed up more than 500,000 new users for sportsbooks and online casinos while at casinos, arenas or bars.
Kambi reports soccer parlay growth
The Copa América and Euro Cup tournaments each saw more than double the Bet Builder parlays compared to their prior tournament.
Nearly a quarter of all Copa América bets, 24% were completed in parlay builder. That number was just 10% in 2021.
Euro Cup had 18% of its bets come through Bet Builder, up from 8% in 2021. There were more than 17 million unique parlays played in both tournaments combined.
VSiN airing Circa Survivor series
VSiN will air the first episode of a docuseries covering the 2023 Circa Survivor contest Monday night at 9 pm Eastern.
The show can be found on VSiN’s YouTube channel, its website or its Twitter account.
“Our professional sports betting contests continue to get better every year, and 2023 offered our largest prize pool to date,” said Circa Sports CEO Derek Stevens. “This docuseries perfectly captures the excitement and energy surrounding this momentous year for one of the biggest contests in sports betting history, and we can’t wait to share it with the world.”
DraftKings recently sold VSiN back to its original owners after three years.
