July 2024 – FairOdds Network

July 31, 2024

Bill to repeal US gambling excise tax filed

On Wednesday (31 July) a pair of US senators filed a bill calling for the repeal of the US federal excise tax on gambling. The 0.25% excise tax on the amount of any legal wager is levied above and beyond state taxes.
Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mississippi) filed the bill. Called the “Withdrawing Arduous Gaming Excise Rates Act,” the acronym is “the WAGER Act.” The American Gaming Association (AGA), a trade group, almost immediately came out in favour of the bill. The legislation, the AGA said, would save operators tens of millions of dollars per year in taxes.

“The federal sports betting excise tax was enacted more than 70 years ago as a tool to prosecute illegal sports betting operators,” the AGA wrote in a statement. “Today, with sports betting legal in 38 states and Washington DC, this antiquated tax puts legal operators at a competitive disadvantage and rewards illegal offshore bookmakers that pay no federal or state taxes, offer no responsible..

July 30, 2024

Nebraska lawmakers could be first in US in 2024 to legalise or expand gambling

Nearly seven months into the year, no US jurisdiction has legalised or expanded gambling. Will Nebraska be the first?
Nebraska’s state legislature started a special session last week and, on Wednesday (30 July), the general affairs committee will debate five bills that could legalise digital sports betting and daily fantasy sports.

At the heart of the move to legalise digital sports betting is Nebraska’s high property taxes, which fund education. According to one of the bills, the state ranks among the top 10 in the US in “property tax burden” and “relies more heavily on local property taxes to support public education” than other states. The goal is reduce property taxes by using online sports betting revenue to defray the costs to homeowners.

Nebraskans approved an expansion of gaming in November 2020. At that time, it wasn’t clear whether or not that expansion included sports betting – retail or digital. But lawmakers eventually decided that in-person wagering met the criteria. ..

July 30, 2024

Analysts: Sports wagering calendar gives insight to markets, revenues

The US sports betting calendar is the same every year and handle and revenues typically follow suit. But there are other trends to be gleaned from the cycles as well, analysts said on a webinar on Tuesday (30 July).
The session, entitled “A Year in the Life of Sports Betting”, was presented by Geoff Atkinson and Matt Roob. Atkinson is the marketing research manager for Management Science Associates and Roob is senior vice-president of financial analysis for Spectrum Gaming Capital. Throughout the presentation, the analysts used graphs and data compiled using the Spectrumetrix data service.

Atkinson began the discussion by breaking down graphs from states that report wagering figures for individual sports. The examples included Illinois, Mississippi, Nevada, South Dakota, Oregon and Montana.

Overall, the states showed similar patterns according to the US sports schedule.

Totals are lowest in the summer when baseball is the only major sport in season. Then in the fall, the start o..

July 30, 2024

PrizePicks reportedly considering M&A, funding options

PrizePicks has tapped investment bank Moelis & Co to explore potential mergers and acquisitions, according to industry sources.
The Atlanta-based company – and the self-proclaimed largest daily fantasy sports (DFS) operator in North America – isn’t actively seeking a full-scale sale. It’s evidently keen on expanding and strengthening its footprint through strategic partnerships or acquisitions and potentially has an eye on raising a war chest to compete in regulated online sports betting with the likes of market leaders DraftKings and FanDuel.

Bloombergwas the first to report the rumour involving Moelis & Co’s involvement, although so far it’s light on details.

PrizePicks stands out in the DFS landscape with its unique approach to gaming. Unlike traditional DFS platforms where users draft entire teams, PrizePicks allows users to predict the over/under on individual player statistics and fantasy scores. PrizePicks recently found its way back into several regulated markets, which could..

July 30, 2024

Improved online hold helps Colorado sports betting GGR soar in June

Gross gaming revenue from Colorado sports betting increased 206.5% year-on-year thanks to a much improved hold, while there was a significant increase in amounts wagered on soccer that coincided with the start of the second Copa América held in the US.
Handle for June increased 12.8% year-on-year to $350.4m according to the Colorado Division of Gaming. Online handle made up $348.9m of the total with $1.5m wagered through Colorado retail sportsbooks.

While baseball ($104.5m) and basketball ($59.2m) generated the highest handle, soccer enjoyed a particularly strong month. Amounts wagered on soccer more than doubled to $27.6m, with the Copa America kicking off from 20 June, while table tennis also increased significantly to $15.1m.

High hold leads to revenue spike for Colorado sports betting
After winnings of $322.2m were paid out, gross gaming revenue came to $28.2m for the month, an 8.05% hold. That far surpassed the $9.2m in GGR and 2.97% hold recorded for June 2023.

Once free bet..

July 30, 2024

Caesars’ Big Brazil and Sportingbet apply for Brazil licences

Sportingbet and Caesars Sportsbook’s Big Brazil have submitted their licence applications in Brazil, becoming the fourth and fifth operators to do so.
Sportingbet applied for a Brazil sports betting and igaming licence on Thursday (25 July). The following day, Caesars Sportsbook’s licensee Big Brazil joined Sportingbet, Betano, Superbet and Rei do Pitaco in submitting its application.

In applying during the initial 90-day window of preference, Sportingbet and Big Brazil have ensured their applications will be prioritised by the ministry of finance’s Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA).

The SPA guarantees that operators who submit their applications by the 20 August deadline will have their applications processed by 1 January 2025, the anticipated launch date of the legal market.

Licences will last for five years and will cost BRL30m (£4.6m/€5.4m/$5.9m) in fees. Those who receive a licence will be able to offer gambling via three skins. Meanwhile, operators who fail to secure a lice..

July 30, 2024

Insider who tried to wager $100,000 on Alabama baseball sentenced

The Indiana businessman who attempted to wager $100,000 on an Alabama-LSU college baseball game last year was sentenced on Monday (28 July) to eight months in prison and three and a half years of supervised probation.
Bert Neff, who received a text from former Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohanan saying that Alabama had pulled its starting pitcher, walked into an MGM casino in Ohio on 28 April 2023 and attempted to place a $100,000 bet based on the information.

MGM employees refused the bet, but allowed Neff to lay down $15,000 on LSU to win. The attempt to wager $100,000 and the ensuing $15,000 bet were considered suspicious by MGM employees. The bets were quickly flagged and, within days, markets on LSU-Alabama baseball were suspended. Within a week, Bohanan was fired.

Bohanan has not been charged. But the NCAA sanctioned him for 15 years.

Neff, whose son played baseball at Cincinnati when the bet was placed, wasn’t charged for wagering with inside information. Federal authorit..

July 29, 2024

Weekend Report: Kayshon Boutte’s “dumb decision” and Betway partner Man City

Welcome to the Weekend Report, where iGB covers the news you may have missed over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This week we’ve got news of Betway partnering with Premier League champions Manchester City, a bill to restrict online gambling advertising in New York and more.
NFL’s Kayshon Boutte glad to be back
New England Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte spoke of his delight at being back to playing football after charges against him for gambling were dropped earlier this month.

Boutte was arrested in January over accusations he had placed over 8,900 bets while under the legal gambling age of 21 in his native Louisiana. However, the Louisiana State Police Gaming Enforcement Division dropped those charges in July.

Speaking to reporters after the fourth day of Patriots’ training camp, Boutte labelled his actions as a “dumb decision”. He also said he was glad to be focusing on football again, admitting he needs to “stay away” from gambling.

Betway becomes global betting partner of ..

July 29, 2024

France records 24% increase in H1 bets despite underwhelming Euros

Sports betting in France grew 24% as €5bn (£4.2bn/$5.4bn) was wagered on sports in the country during the first half of 2024, according to new data from the l'Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ).
France took €5.2bn in bets during H1, marking a 24% year-on-year increase, while gross gaming revenue (GGR) rose by 16% when compared to the same period of 2023, reaching €871m.

Online continues to flourish in France, with the online market up 10% year-on-year over H1 and accounting for over €1.3bn in GGR. Online active player accounts (APAs) were up 13% compared to H1 2023, powered by a particularly strong month of June, which included the early stages of Euro 2024. There were over two million APAs in June, up from 1.25 million in the same month last year.

Despite growth across active players and the increased betting amount in the period, the amount bet on the Euros fell short of the ANJ’s €1bn expectations, coming in at €650m. In France, the 2022 tournament generated €900m in total s..

July 29, 2024

Investment year paying off for BetMGM as H1 NGR hits $1bn

With revenue reaching $1bn in the first half of 2024, BetMGM expects growth to accelerate in H2, underpinned by Angstrom’s product capabilities and leveraging its omnichannel opportunities through MGM Resorts.
In a trading update published today (29 July), BetMGM chief executive Adam Greenblatt described 2024 as an investment year, focused on improving customer acquisition and enhancing player experiences.

Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, iconic quarterback Tom Brady and Hollywood star Vince Vaughn starred in BetMGM’s Super Bowl commercial
Net gaming revenue (NGR) for the six months to 30 June grew 6% year-on-year. Despite no new state launches revenue grew 9% year-on-year in Q2, following a slower first quarter.

This showed the strategy of investing in players gain momentum, Greenblatt said, with BetMGM exceeding its acquisition and retention targets for the six-month period. This was helped by a successful Super Bowl campaign featuring Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky and Vince Vaughn and a ..

July 29, 2024

Pagcor dismisses fake memo ordering imminent POGO closures

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) has dimissed a fake memo for local government units to immediately terminate the operations of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
Picked up by Pagcor, the fake memo states all POGOs must be shut down by the first week of August. The memo features Pagcor logos and was fraudulently signed by Jessa Mariz Fernandez, head of the regulator’s offshore gaming licensing department.

The memo refers to Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos Jr announcing the decision to ban all POGOs during his State of the Nation address on 22 July. During the address, he said all POGOs should close by the end of the year.

On Saturday (27 July) Pagcor dismissed the memo in a statement that said it was a forged version of an earlier memorandum issued by Pagcor on 23 July.

The genuine memo did not give a definitive date for POGO closures. It instead said closures were “pending finalisation of the details and process of winding down”, adding tha..

July 26, 2024

State of the Union: Texas exploratory group, a look at online gambling support in Addabbo’s district

Welcome to iGB's State of the Union, a look at the biggest North American sports betting stories we've covered over the week and briefs on others we found interesting.
Texas group to “explore” legal gambling
A group of North Texas business and community leaders formed a coalition to explore legalising casinos in the state. Former Dallas Mavericks majority shareholder Mark Cuban sold a portion of his shares to two families associated with Las Vegas Sands earlier this year. Should gambling be legalised, the entity plans to build a casino resort in Dallas.

The North Texas Commission “will study the implications of destination gaming and make recommendations regarding issues like economic development, workforce demands, infrastructure requirements, transportation and public safety impacts,” the Dallas Business Journal reported on Wednesday (24 July).

The commission was formed ahead of the 2025 legislative session, when lawmakers are expected to again consider the issue. Las Veg..

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