PointsBet has been plenty busy lately with new market launches into two of the top online betting states in the country.
The Australia-listed sportsbook soft-launched online Monday in Pennsylvania. The soft launch, which should last for three days pending final approval, came quickly on the heels of PointsBet’s license approval Jan. 19. The hastened timeline suggests PointsBet hopes to be fully online in time for Super Bowl betting this week.
The Pennsylvania sports betting launch came two weeks after PointsBet launched online sports betting in New York. The company took $29.5 million of the $449.3 million bet in New York during the week ending Jan. 30.
PointsBet known in Philadelphia region
It might be the first day Pennsylvanians can bet with PointsBet in their state but the brand is already well-known around Philadelphia.
That is mostly because of the NBCUniversal deal signed in August 2020 which made PointsBet its official sports betting partner. Three of Philadelphia’s four major teams – the Flyers, Phillies and Sixers – play on a regional sports network operated by NBC.
That has led the brand to get plenty of airtime before, during and after the local games airing on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Whether that will be enough to challenge market leaders like FanDuel and DraftKings is unclear. PointsBet reported a blended online handle share of 4.2% in its recent earnings presentation.
FanDuel took 35.6% of all online dollars bet in Pennsylvania in December, while DraftKings took 29.5%.
Online casino also coming
The PointsBet launch only includes sports betting for now but online casino will eventually follow.
PointsBet most recently launched its online casino in West Virginia at the end of January. That launch came about five months after the sportsbook’s launch last August.
Pennsylvania will be the fourth state for the online casino, which first launched in Michigan last May and in New Jersey last July.
The addition of live casino games helped the company’s iGaming segment. Net revenue grew 145% in the fourth quarter compared to the third after Michigan got live casino games in November. Live games then fully launched in December for New Jersey.
