Happy Monday, everyone. It’s officially the holiday rush, so prepare to break out those sweatpants Thursday night before dropping the weight in the Black Friday rush the next morning.
Last week was particularly busy in sports betting news, so let’s jump in and recap the biggest developments.
William Hill acquires CG Technology operations
William Hill’s Nevada footprint will increase by six sportsbooks when it closes on the CG Technology acquisition announced late Wednesday night.
The footprint includes some big-name casinos, including the Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas Sands’ Venetian and Palazzo, and Penn National’s Tropicana on the Strip. The books at Silverton and Red Rock Resorts’ Palms are also included in the deal.
CG spent the past year as a rumored sale target following a $2 million penalty last year from the Nevada Gaming Commission for repeated violations of state regulations.
The takeover also brings William Hill to the Bahamas, where CG operates the betting platform and risk management at Atlantis. No terms were disclosed, but William Hill CEO Ulrik Bengtsson told analysts the cost was not material.
William Hill’s footprint will continue to grow next year after Eldorado Resorts closes on the Caesars acquisition.
Pennsylvania handle led by FanDuel
FanDuel Sportsbook took a commanding early lead in Pennsylvania’s sports betting market in October with 48.9% of handle share. That increases to 57.3% when only looking at online handle.
But that could change beginning this month. DraftKings Sportsbook and Kindred’s Unibet will both be vying for that online market share as well. DraftKings is sure to put up a fight, though Unibet’s viability is a little less proven in the US market.
It isn’t a very well-known brand in the states, but it’s already getting some significant exposure from a marketing agreement with the Philadelphia Eagles. Even though the deal is just for the casino, the sportsbook and casino share the same URL.
Revenue reports, so many revenue reports
We also found out October sports betting results for Delaware, Mississippi, Oregon and West Virginia last week.
Oregon: There’s beginning to be a clear disparity concerning states that have full mobile and those without it. For instance, Oregon took $5.6 million in bets in its first half month of mobile-only operations through the lottery. That came despite no college betting, just two NFL Sundays and little promotion.
Delaware: That’s compared to $9.6 million in the four-week period ending Oct. 27 for Delaware, which has just three retail sportsbooks at its racinos. Delaware’s handle was down 34.7% compared to last year, which suggests the mobile launch in Pennsylvania and increased options in New Jersey could be stealing back customers.
West Virginia: West Virginia’s mobile relaunch continued to ramp up last month, 44.7% of all handle now coming from DraftKings Sportsbook and FanDuel Sportsbook.
Both launched mobile in August, ending more than six months without a mobile sports betting app in the state. Delaware North had to pull its app after sports betting supplier Miomni had a dispute with a third-party tech supplier.
Mississippi: Finally, Mississippi had a big month that was padded by some big bets. Handle in the state jumped 46.2% in October after Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale placed multiple millions of dollars in bets at Biloxi casinos.
FanDuel enters Iowa with DFS
FanDuel officially became Iowa’s second daily fantasy sports operator after launching last week.
The launch was about a month after DraftKings formally opened Iowa’s DFS market in late October.
Both of the operators launched their daily fantasy sports products before launching mobile sportsbooks in the state despite having a retail presence.
This could work out well for both as their sportsbooks have quickly taken market share in sports betting states partially due to their database of DFS players.
