The Week In Sports Betting News: California Back In The Conversation


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Happy Tuesday, everyone. Sports betting news has not slowed down with summer approaching, with multiple states taking the next step to launch legal sports betting last week.

The latest LSR Podcast tackled a few of those stories including offshore sportsbook Bovada pulling out of the NY sports betting market. That comes as the state prepares to launch legal mobile betting this year or early next year.

Follow @LSPReport on Twitter for any and all breaking news updates in the US sports betting market.

Top sports betting news: California looks at 2022 ballot

A petition to legalize sports betting in California tribal casinos finally received approval for the 2022 ballot.

A yes vote would also give tribal operators the right to offer ball and dice games at their casinos as well.

The proposal does not include mobile sports betting. Tribes want mobile betting to be delayed by at least five years after the start of retail betting.

Other jurisdictions with action: AZ, Canada, CT, MA, OH

Five other North American jurisdictions made headlines with their action (or inaction) on betting last week:

Colorado, Nevada report expected dips

Both Colorado and Nevada joined nearly every other US betting jurisdiction in reporting a dip in their April handle from March.

That dip is a bit of a hangover from March Madness betting, which pumped up almost every state’s handle in March. The exception was Oregon, which saw growth over March but also does not offer betting on college sports.

Sports betting in Nevada saw a 29.1% dip in handle to $454.7 million. CO sports betting handle dropped 18.1% to wrap up its first full year of betting.

DC sports betting audit missed; full William Hill book open

The deadline for a deep dive into sports betting in Washington DC to see if the District’s model should be changed passed more than a month ago because the DC Auditor’s office did not know it was required.

That audit, which will compare how DC is doing with similar jurisdictions, could be completed by the end of June, DC Auditor Kathy Patterson told LSR.

Right now, only GambetDC is allowed District-wide access with other sportsbooks partnered with teams geofenced to a few blocks around the stadium/arena. They could be given District-wide access as well in exchange for their tax rate to double to 20%.

Elsewhere, the William Hill Sportsbook at Capital One Arena opened last week. The sportsbook had been located in a temporary location since its launch last summer.

Scientific Games buys SportCast

Sports betting technology provider Scientific Games purchased SportCast, which is credited with developing the original BetBuilder product.

More than 50 brands currently use SportCast technology including US operators BetMGM and PointsBet.

“The award-winning BetBuilder product is just the first of many innovative products that can be powered by the underlying platform for the benefit of our customers and we’re thrilled to be able to roll these out,” said Keith O’Loughlin, executive VP for sports at Scientific Games.

DraftKings funds sports betting problem gaming research

DraftKings announced an unspecified financial commitment to the International Center for Responsible Gaming to help fund problem gaming research related to sports betting.

The ICRG is accepting applications from researchers interested in exploring multiple topics:

The winning applicant will be selected in September for a three-year project.