Happy Monday and welcome back to the workweek for those of you that enjoy your jobs.
For those that don’t, maybe grab a coffee (with a little something extra) and kick back while we recap the biggest sports betting news from last week.
CA tribes trying to fly solo
Eighteen of California’s gaming tribes decided to take legalizing sports betting into their own hands.
The coalition of tribes filed a referendum for the 2020 state ballot that would allow California sports betting. Revenue would be taxed at 10%.
The referendum calls for retail-only sports betting at Indian casinos and racetracks, which isn’t going to sit well with cardrooms and operators that wanted to launch mobile sportsbooks.
Mobile sports betting isn’t necessarily the sole concern for the tribes – it’s iGaming that’s the issue, Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro said at G2E. iGaming could potentially be a disaster for tribes in the state, he added.
The proposal comes despite a bill from Assemblyman Adam Gray and Sen. Bill Dodd, ACA 16, not even getting a hearing yet.
LSR’s John Holden provided a great primer for tribal compacts and how sports betting fits in.
NY picks a study partner
Spectrum Gaming Group will conduct New York’s market study that could eventually lead to online sports betting in the state.
Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr. is hopeful the study will be a good tool to prove the fiscal impact mobile betting could have on the state to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The study will look at how the state would be affected by sports betting only at commercial casinos, expanding to VLT and off-track betting facilities, and finally online sports betting.
So far, the four retail sportsbooks at commercial New York casinos have gotten off to a paltry start. Revenue was just $2.2 million in October compared to the $46.4 million in New Jersey last month.
The study will begin Dec. 1 as long as the state comptroller approves the agreement between Spectrum and the New York State Gaming Commission. The first draft is due in April.
NJ sets monthly sports betting record
Mobile sports betting continues to roll in the Garden State with October’s handle setting another monthly record.
October’s handle bested September’s record by 9.5%. Mobile is the definitive driver of that growth with 85.5% of all bets coming from online channels.
FanDuel Sportsbook helped lead the way (along with PointsBet) as license partner Meadowlands led the state with $24.8 million in revenue. Resorts Digital, which partners with DraftKings Sportsbook and Fox Bet, came second with $10.6 million in revenue.
Handle for the first 10 months on completed events rose to $3.4 billion with a win percentage of 6.4%.
Yahoo Sportsbook launches
The first media company-sportsbook integration that isn’t owned by the same company launched last week when Yahoo Sportsbook went live with BetMGM.
The two communicate similar to how theScore Bet and theScore’s popular media app interact. When players click on odds in the Yahoo Sports app or on the website, the user will be transitioned to BetMGM to place the bet.
Only bettors in New Jersey can follow through and complete placing a bet so far. Additional states will depend on where BetMGM gets an online betting license.
