Happy Monday, folks. Both sports and legislatures are beginning to slow down for the summer but there is still plenty of sports betting news out there.
We know the handle totals for May: $3.699 billion, compared to $3.693 billion in April. Nine states reported growth over April while 10 reported a loss, though the two months were just 0.1% apart.
The comparisons will be useful next year to help the industry track potential trends following March Madness betting, especially since there is no data from 2020.
Make sure to follow @LSPReport on Twitter for the latest on all of sports betting’s ongoing storylines.
Top sports betting news: NY mobile bidding finally open
The bidding to see who gets a license to operate one of the New York online sportsbooks finally started Friday, eight days after required by law.
The bids will be judged out of a possible ~100 points, with some wiggle room based on the score for revenue share. That includes 75 possible points for technical factors, 20 (or more) possible points on revenue share and five points for a tribal revenue share agreement, according to the request for applications.
A bidder could score more than 20 points from revenue share as bids gain one additional point for every percentage point of revenue share over 50%.
The New York State Gaming Commission is only required to select a minimum of two platform providers and four sportsbooks. But the selection process will pick as many winners as possible that will increase revenue for the state based on projections.
Any business interested in applying has until Friday to submit questions on the RFA. Those will be answered July 22 with any remaining questions due by July 27.
Bidding will close Aug. 9. The NYSGC will then pick finalists no later than Dec. 6. Winners will receive licenses at the following NYSGC meeting, which is not yet scheduled.
Will CT Lottery announce sports betting partner?
The Connecticut Lottery selected its hopeful sports betting partner last Tuesday So far, the lottery has made no public announcement on which company that is.
That announcement will not be made until the contract is signed.
There will only be three online sportsbooks in Connecticut – one partnered with the Lottery and two others with the state’s two tribal gaming partners.
For now, all that is known is the Lottery will not be partnering with two major sportsbooks. DraftKings Sportsbook partnered with the Mashantucket Pequot Indians while FanDuel Sportsbook announced last week it would provide sports betting for the Mohegan Indians.
What will IN, NJ report this week?
Sportsbooks in Indiana and New Jersey (and potentially Pennsylvania) will report their results for June this week.
Indiana is up first Monday, which saw handle rise in May to $254.4 million but reported lower sports betting revenue compared to April.
While Indiana sportsbooks ranked seventh in total handle for May, NJ sportsbooks took the top spot with $814.3 million.
All eyes will be on whether New Jersey can keep up its recent strength of US sports betting: May’s total handle was $307 million more than second-place Illinois.
MD regulations meeting on Thursday
The Maryland Lottery & Gaming Control Agency will hold a special meeting Thursday to discuss proposed MD sports betting regulations.
Maryland voters approved sports betting at the polls last year. Legislators then crafted a bill that would allow around 100 betting licenses in the state, which Gov. Larry Hogan signed in April.
The goal is to have Maryland sportsbooks operating in time for NFL betting this year.
Another state preparing to launch sports betting, Arizona, is moving a bit faster than Maryland. Comments for the second draft of proposed AZ sports betting regulations were filed last week.
Catch up on last week’s sports betting news
Here’s a rundown of some don’t-miss stories from last week:
- DraftKings is being sued for patent infringement concerning geolocation and equalizing latency by Engine Media.
- Can Wagr finally make social matter in sports betting?
- Catch up with Paul Burns, CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association, in the latest LSR Q&A.
- Illinois was one of those 10 states that reported handle loss in May, though it still ranked second overall in the US.
- Is ESPN interested in its own sportsbook after Sports Illustrated decided to join the rush?
