Happy Monday, everyone. The holidays are officially over, which means it’s time to get those belts back to the notch they started on at the beginning of November.
So let us keep you company while you ride that stationary bike at the gym. Or, you know, while you finish that second breakfast sandwich because not dieting is way easier.
Either way, a ton of sports betting news came out of last week that we’re here to recap.
There’s plenty more going on this week as well. Be sure to check back daily and follow @LSPReport on Twitter for updates.
Maine sports betting bill vetoed
Residents of Maine could have had legal sports betting had Gov. Janet Mills just done nothing. Instead of letting a delayed 2019 bill pass without her signature, however, Mills vetoed legalized sports betting.
Her reasoning? Legalizing sports betting would justify legalizing all forms of gambling, including betting on spelling bees and school board elections.
Seriously.
Bill Miller, CEO of the American Gaming Association, said Friday he “would have bet” on the bill passing without her signature. After he was told Mills didn’t think a majority of people in the state wanted legalized sports betting, Miller added maybe the AGA needs to do some polling in Maine.
Penn National buying Barstool Sports?
Penn National has been looking for a national sports betting brand and may have found one in Barstool Sports.
The publicly-traded regional casino operator and Chernin Group, the parent company of the sports and pop culture media company, apparently have discussed a transaction.
The deal should value Barstool Sports at much more than a $100 million valuation from more than a year ago.
Penn National currently has casinos in seven states with legal sports betting. It dealt out market access agreements with DraftKings Sportsbook, PointsBet, ScoreBet and The Stars Group but also intends on offering sports betting and iGaming itself through Kambi‘s platform.
First Michigan sports betting deals
It didn’t take long for sportsbook operators to make sports betting news with deals in Michigan.
PointsBet and Stars Group‘s Fox Bet both signed partnership agreements with gaming tribes in Michigan.
PointsBet partnered with the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. Stars Group linked with the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.
More sports betting agreements could come quickly out of Michigan. Each of the state’s three commercial casinos and the other 10 gaming tribes can still sign an online partner.
Who gets the final rose in DraftKings DFS drama?
Let’s be honest: if you’re familiar with this story, you’re probably already sick of this story. If not, feel lucky you weren’t bombarded by it all last week.
DraftKings‘ high-profile Millionaire Maker contest was won by a high-profile player, former “Bachelor” contestant Jade Roper Tolbert.
Right now, it looks like Tolbert might have colluded with her husband, who regularly plays daily fantasy sports. That would be a violation of DraftKings’ terms of service and other state laws.
Both of them entered the maximum 150 entries at $20 each. The publicly available entries showed very little overlap in the entries posted by Tolbert and her husband, who deny any violations.
NH sports betting off to fast start
New Hampshire sports betting launched at the end of December and started outpacing its only New England competition, Rhode Island, right away.
DraftKings Sportsbook took more than $3.4 million in handle in its first week of operations with more than 16,000 registrations.
The New Hampshire Lottery also told The Associated Press that of the 6,000 registrations on day one, a “significant” amount came from Massachusetts.
Rhode Island, meanwhile, as of Dec. 2, had fewer than 8,000 people finish the registration process since the start of the NFL season.
RI sports betting signups are bound to come at a much slower pace since the state requires in-person registration. New Hampshire, meanwhile, allows bettors to complete the entire signup process from their mobile device.
