Happy Monday, everyone. Sports betting felt like it was truly back this weekend with news of big bets from sportsbooks across the country.
The return of betting on NFL games should advance the strong rebound that states started to report in August.
The start of the NFL season has led to some interesting alternative betting storylines as well, like one offshore operator leaving the US right before the start of the season and the league’s first betting agreement in Latin America. Each of those topics were discussed on the latest LSR Podcast.
And as always, be sure to follow @LSPReport on Twitter for all breaking-news updates.
Top sports betting news: PointsBet launches in Illinois
The Illinois sports betting market got its fourth online sportsbook when PointsBet launched Saturday.
The unveiling came at a crucial time in the market. There’s no guarantee that remote sports betting registration will continue beyond Sept. 19, so sportsbooks need to push for whatever activations they can get.
PointsBet will be ready to keep fighting for market share even after remote registration ends, though. The company will have four sportsbooks throughout Chicagoland to take advantage of the in-person registration requirement through late next year.
Up next are the fifth and sixth states for PointsBet: Colorado and Michigan.
Betfred, William Hill launch in Colorado
Sports betting in Colorado grew by two more legal sportsbook operators last week when Betfred and William Hill kicked off operations.
That means there are now 14 mobile sportsbooks live in The Centennial State with more to come. Along with PointsBet, PlayUp, another sportsbook brand born in Australia, expects to launch during the NFL season.
All of the live apps will help Colorado’s sports betting market continue to grow since its May 1 launch. Handle jumped 55.2% in July over June to $59.2 million.
Colorado made sports betting news for other reasons last week as well. PointsBet signed the first gambling sponsorship with a US college, the University of Colorado.
Barstool Sportsbook joins PA market this week
Perhaps the most awaited sportsbook launch of the year will begin Tuesday.
Penn National‘s Barstool Sportsbook app will start its testing period in Pennsylvania with a full launch expected by the end of the week.
The app, built by Penn developers on Kambi‘s technology, has prompted ever-growing targets set by stock analysts.
Michigan and New Jersey are next on the list for launch states.
Early August sports betting numbers are strong
Four states showed significant handle growth in August compared to their July performances. That includes the biggest month ever for US sports betting via New Jersey‘s numbers: $668 million in handle.
Indiana handle lept 138.5% to $169 million during the unprecedented month of sports betting action. For the first time in four months the state was led by a major sports category, basketball, instead of the catch-all “other” category.
Iowa and West Virginia also showed strong results. Sports betting in Iowa saw handle more than double while WV sports betting handle nearly tripled.
AGA: Fewer Americans betting on NFL
About 5 million fewer Americans will bet on the NFL this season, according to research conducted for the American Gaming Association.
The survey by Morning Consult found 33.2 million Americans will bet on the NFL this season. That’s down from 38 million last year as 42% of respondents said they were less excited for games this year.
A silver lining for the NFL is the progress it’s making strides in international markets. The league signed Betcris as its first official betting partner for Latin America and added 888sport as an official UK partner.
Is 5Dimes actually withdrawing from US?
Offshore sportsbook operator 5Dimes said it was leaving the US.
But that may only be technically true.
Multiple customers said their open future bets were transferred to Betanysports, which is called a sister site of 5Dimes by review sites.
The company hinted it was ending US business to join the regulated market.
