Happy Monday, everyone. It’s one of the busiest Mondays in terms of sports betting news in recent memory, too, with the second slate of Round of 32 games kicking off today.
There was a lot that happened last week, especially toward the end of the week – and not just March Madness finally kicking off.
The LSR Podcast covered a lot of the top stories of last week, including a potential US listing for FanDuel Sportsbook.
If you follow @LSPReport on Twitter hopefully you enjoyed our live coverage of last week’s biggest story.
Top sports betting news: Action 24/7 suspended in Tennessee
Payday loan company turned local-focused Tennessee sportsbook Action 24/7 had its license indefinitely suspended Friday.
Action 24/7 reportedly failed to stop multiple obvious cases of credit card fraud, according to the Tennessee Education Lottery. The incidents were discovered Thursday morning with Lottery Chair Susan Lanigan suspending the license later that evening after the start of the First Four games.
The rest of the board – without board member John Crosslin, whose business partner directly works with Action 24/7 – upheld and continued that suspension at an unexpected special meeting Friday afternoon.
Action 24/7 CEO Tina Hodges said the company had already implemented changes but blamed “unfounded fears of future speculative recurrences of the activity” for the continued suspension.
This isn’t the first issue for Action 24/7. One of its contracted employees reportedly took part in illegal proxy betting before the Super Bowl, the TEL also reported Friday.
Negotiations begin for NY mobile sports betting
It almost seems fitting that an annual big story like legalizing mobile sports betting in New York is (albeit briefly) overshadowed just when it actually seems possible.
Mobile NY sports betting is closer than ever with representatives from both the Assembly and Senate inclusion in the final state budget. Their ideas are different than that of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who pitched a mobile sports betting proposal of his own and then ran into some other pressing issues.
Both Assemblyman Gary Pretlow and Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. are on the team negotiating for sports betting in NY. The two essentially authored the proposals found in their respective one-house budgets in bills earlier this year.
Their proposal would authorize 14 sports betting skins at $12 million each upfront. Sports betting revenue would be taxed at 12%, though both admitted there’s wiggle room on some of the financial particulars.
There’s still time for significant changes. The NY budget is due April 1.
Connecticut gets Mashantucket Pequot agreement
Another long-awaited agreement took a huge step forward last week with New York’s neighbor in Connecticut.
The Mashantucket Pequot Indians agreed to an expanded gaming proposal with Gov. Ned Lamont and the Mohegan Indians. Mohegan and Lamont announced their agreement at the beginning of the month.
The proposal, which still needs legislative and federal approval, would allow mobile and retail sports betting from both tribes and the Connecticut Lottery.
South Dakota legalizes; other legislative updates
South Dakota legalized sports betting just a few months after voters made it clear they wanted it.
Gov. Kristi Noem signed the legislation into law to allow sports betting at Deadwood casinos. The signature came after her constituents said they wanted sports betting in a referendum last November.
Other states looking to legalize sports betting were busy last week:
- A Kansas sports betting bill from the Senate got its first House hearing, which included a state representative in Barstool Sports attire.
- It sounds like the Maryland Senate has changes in mind for the MD sports betting bill sponsored in the House.
- A gaming bill that would legalize sports betting in Ohio will be introduced this time next month, Sen. Kirk Schuring told his Select Committee on Gaming last week.
- Sports betting in Wyoming remains a possibility after a bill unexpectedly found a second chance and eventually passed to the Senate.
Barstool Sportbook, Bally Bets, Golden Nugget get VA approval
Three more Virginia sportsbooks received their permits from the Lottery, though they aren’t launching anytime soon.
Golden Nugget Online told LSR it’s targeting a summer launch while Penn National said it would launch in the coming months. Bally’s declined to comment but recently detailed a delay to its Bally Bets rollout on a conference call.
The additional approvals mark six mobile-only licenses handed out. That’s half of the maximum 12 allowed.
Mature market handle dips, new markets see upward swings
For New Jersey and Pennsylvania, February represented a slow month. In Michigan and Washington DC, though, new trends were set.
Sports betting handle in NJ and PA both dropped relative to January, which was similar to news out of other states this month. The Super Bowl couldn’t make up for the NFL Playoffs handle from January in either state.
Michigan, meanwhile, reported more than $300 million in handle in its first full month of mobile MI sports betting.
DC sports betting saw a drop in handle for GambetDC. The District’s latest geofenced app from William Hill, however, appears to be picking up steam.
