Happy Monday, everyone. It was a halfway decent weekend for sports betting news with golf, soccer, and NASCAR. Hopefully, news of more sports returning follows soon.
The LSR Podcast touched on those sports coming back and more in the weekly show that expounds on issues throughout the sports betting world. Make sure to subscribe so you never miss an installment.
And make sure to follow LSR on Twitter @LSPReport where you’ll find breaking news updates as soon as we have a story up.
Top sports betting news: DraftKings’ mixed report
There were few surprises in DraftKings‘ first earnings call as a public company.
Everyone expected to see losses, of course, and there were plenty: $74 million for the combined company that includes DraftKings and sportsbook technology supplier SBTech.
Those big losses have not scared off DraftKings investors off however. The DKNG stock rose 15.5% Friday following the call, boosted by positive analyst reports and raised targets. Shares traded upward of $29 by the close of the market.
Here’s an explanation from Canaccord Genuity‘s Maria Ripps and Michael Graham on why their target jumped to $35 from $25:
“While management did not provide Q2 guidance given the lack of visibility relative to the sports calendar being materially disrupted, we see good potential for alternative products like DFS for eSports to soften the impact, and we expect a very strong rebound in the second half with major sports likely returning to normal schedules along with key events like the Masters being pushed to the fall.”
Anniversary of PASPA’s fall, without betting
The news of PASPA‘s fall two years ago was a joyous occasion for anyone interested in legal US sports betting.
But it was harder to celebrate this year, considering the coronavirus pandemic essentially shut down the sports world for two months. The loss of sports betting feels trivial compared to the struggle many have felt throughout that time.
Still, the anniversary is reason enough to look ahead to the good legal sports betting can find in the US. States have reaped more than $205 million in taxes from the $1.5 billion in revenue generated by $22 billion in bets since the end of PASPA.
LSR‘s Brad Allen also took a look at the top takeaways from two years post-PASPA. Those include the lingering black market and the need for media partnerships to still be proven.
Louisiana sports betting gaining momentum
A bill that would ask Louisiana voters this November if they want legalized sports betting passed the Senate last week.
While that’s a positive step, it’s just the first of many to get betting legalized in the Pelican State.
The bill moves on to the House, which is in session until June 1. Should it pass, a majority of its 64 parishes (counties, in the rest of the contiguous US) have to answer positively the question for the referendum to pass.
The legislature would then have to pass two bills next year breaking down the details and taxes for sports betting.
For context, 47 of 64 parishes approved daily fantasy sports in 2018. Major operators still aren’t in the state, however, as those enabling bills haven’t yet passed.
New Jersey handle somewhat positive without sports
The 82.6% dropoff in New Jersey sports betting handle isn’t a good thing for a market that is still ramping toward maturity.
Still, the fact that New Jersey (and New York) residents bet $54.6 million without major sports feels like a bright spot for the industry.
New Jersey doesn’t break out how much handle is bet on each sport, but it does keep a running count of completed events handle. For the “other” category, which includes table tennis, darts and esports, that handle rose $40.9 million in April compared to March.
In other words, 75% of all of April’s bets came from sports that were largely ignored previously.
Based on the completed event handle for football, it looks like $4.4 million was bet on the NFL Draft this year. That’s up more than five times from last year.
