Happy Monday, everyone. There was plenty of sports betting news for the industry last week, including earnings reports from the two top US sportsbooks.
Make sure to follow @LSPReport on Twitter to stay current on all of the latest news coming out of the sports betting world.
Top sports betting news: NJ handle again sets record
Another month, another national record set in the NJ sports betting market.
Sports bettors in New Jersey wagered $803 million in October. That’s more than $50 million over the record set in September.
New Jersey is on pace to top last year’s $4.6 billion bet on sports despite the slowdown earlier this year from the coronavirus pandemic.
Illinois finally posts strong September figures
After a month and a half of waiting, we finally know how Illinois sports betting did in September.
The state’s sportsbooks took $305 million in handle during September, which was more than double its total from August. That pushed the total US sports betting market to nearly $2.9 billion bet in September.
BetRivers Sportsbook maintained its market share lead from August, though it was eaten into significantly by both DraftKings and FanDuel.
The market’s success hasn’t kept neighboring Indiana down. Sports betting in Indiana hit a record $230.9 million in handle for October.
DraftKings, FanDuel report third-quarter results
The top two US sports betting operators both reported third-quarter results last week with one clearly on track for a better 2020 than the other.
FanDuel Sportsbook is on track for $1.1 billion in gross gaming revenue this year after capturing 46% of sports betting market share in the third quarter. Overall, the company had 29% of the total US online gaming market in the quarter.
FanDuel had 1.8 million active customers during the quarter, 450,000 of which were new. The company raised its expected EBITDA loss in the US to $212 million to $239 million this year, which reflects better-than-expected new customer volumes.
DraftKings Sportsbook, meanwhile, topped the 1 million active customer mark for the quarter but at a heavy cost. The company spent $203 million on sales and marketing during the quarter, which is 250% higher than last year.
The company expects about half of FanDuel’s forecasted revenue this year. DraftKings raised its 2020 revenue forecast to $540 million to $560 million.
Online launches delayed until next year in Michigan?
The start of online casino and sports betting in Michigan could be delayed until after the Super Bowl, according to the most recent update from the state’s gaming regulators.
The industry is waiting on the state’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules to make a move. JCAR has 15 legislative session days to consider the rules. It could also send those rules back earlier if no changes are necessary.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board requested that early return but hasn’t heard anything yet. There also aren’t enough legislative days left on the schedule to complete the required 15-day period by year-end.
The JCAR process restarts during next year’s legislative session if the rules aren’t returned early. Even if the 15-day period was immediately waived in January, that would put Michigan’s regulator into a time crunch to get operators licensed in time for Super Bowl betting.
Virginia gets 25 sports betting applicants
The Virginia Lottery is currently looking through 25 applications from operators that want to offer sports betting in Virginia.
Those operators will not be named by the Lottery, though.
That means that while we have a good guess at who is applying, we might not know the full details. The Lottery hasn’t confirmed if the full list of applicants will be available when winners are selected.
As many as 12 sports betting licenses available. Additional licenses could be approved for major sports teams should they move to the state.
Virginia still intends to launch sports betting sometime in January.
Penn, Wynn lobby for control of Massachusetts sports betting
Two of Massachusetts‘ casino owners want way more control of sports betting than legislators considered.
Leaders of the local casinos owned by Penn National and Wynn Resorts penned a joint letter concerning sports betting. They want all three Massachusetts casinos to get three MA sports betting licenses each.
A 10th license could go to Boston-based DraftKings Sportsbook, the letter added.
Sports betting still has an outside chance to be legalized this year in the Bay State, though next year looks more promising, according a key senator.
