Happy Monday, all. A couple of big states dominated sports betting news last week, with an annual disappointment taking its biggest step yet.
The biggest news of the week broke late Saturday when New York took a significant step toward mobile sports betting. LSR had the story by early Sunday Eastern time for any of the @LSPReport followers on Twitter.
Make sure to check out the latest LSR Podcast for more on Gov. Andrew Cuomo‘s sports betting proposal and more in-depth coverage of last week’s top stories.
Top sports betting news: New York Assembly, Senate support mobile betting
Instead of killing mobile NY sports betting legislation, the state Assembly might actually be its saving grace this year.
The Assembly included mobile sports betting in its budget proposal. The details closely resembled legislation passed by Assembly and Senate committees earlier this year.
Of course, Cuomo has his own idea for sports betting, but also has other issues to deal with right now.
Texas gets another gambling proposal
There’s another effort to legalize casinos and sports betting in Texas this session.
New legislation introduced in both chambers last week focuses mainly on casino gaming but would legalize sports betting as well.
LSR reported in January that professional teams in the state backed legislation to legalize sports betting. The only problem is Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said sports betting had no chance of passage this year.
FanDuel getting US listing?
Flutter is considering spinning off a small portion of its FanDuel ownership in a US listing, the company confirmed after CNBC initially reported the news.
No spinoff is guaranteed, especially considering FanDuel is the star of the company, sources told CNBC.
Flutter owns 95% of FanDuel with Boyd owning the other 5%.
FanDuel Sportsbook is the top overall sports betting operator in the US and reported 40% online sports betting market share in the fourth quarter.
Maryland passes sports betting bill through House
Sports betting in Maryland is a step closer to reality after the House passed its proposal 130-9 Thursday.
The bill includes 37 licenses total:
- 12 retail licenses for casinos, race tracks and stadiums
- 10 retail licenses for competitive bid
- 15 mobile licenses for competitive bid
Sports betting revenue would be taxed at 15%. Once mobile operators make $5 million in revenue, the tax rate increased to 17.5% for the rest of that year.
BetMGM, Buffalo Wild Wings add real-money sports betting
BetMGM and Buffalo Wild Wings finally rolled out the real-money aspect of the betting partnership they signed back in 2019.
Bettors using the BetMGM app in BWW locations throughout Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, New Jersey, Tennessee and West Virginia can get exclusive bets and improved odds.
The partnership still includes free-to-play contests in other states as well.
PlayUp launches in Colorado
PlayUp finally made its US sports betting debut with its launch into Colorado.
The brand, which announced its US intentions in July, is focusing on casual bettors with a simpler bonusing process than other sportsbooks offer.
“We are trying to focus on the events each month which have the largest audiences and reward the casual bettor with more value,” US CEO Laila Mintas said. “All of our promos are simple for the player to understand and they require no complicated ‘Opt-In’ process – if a player has a qualifying bet, they get paid – it’s that easy.”
FanDuel grabs another Inside the NBA personality
Kenny Smith is the latest Inside the NBA personality to sign an exclusive content deal with FanDuel Sportsbook.
Charles Barkley also signed a similar agreement in December.
FanDuel also launched a new free-to-play game, FanDuel Over/Under, last week exclusively with Turner Sports.
FanDuel’s outlined its collection of media partnerships in the release:
Smith is the newest member of FanDuel’s deep roster of exclusive sports betting talent and influencers headlined by Pat McAfee and the PMI Team, in addition to Charles Barkley, World Wide Wob, Cousin Sal and JJ Zachariason. FanDuel has also formed exclusive sports betting partnerships with blue chip media companies like Turner Sports, Bleacher Report, The Ringer, SportsGrid, Entercom and Minute Media. This is all in addition to FanDuel’s own sports betting and daily fantasy content offerings that includes numberFire, The Duel, an extensive podcast network with a total of seven podcasts and More Ways to Win on TVG.
