New Jersey Adds Additional 1.25% Tax on Sports Betting Revenue

Less than five months after New Jersey won the Supreme Court battle that allowed its casinos to offer sports betting, taxes are going up. According to the Press of Atlantic City, Governor Phil Murphy signed off on a 1.25 percent sports betting tax increase last week to benefit the state’s ailing Casino Reinvestment Development Agency. That brings the tax on net sports betting revenue to 9.75 percent at brick-and-mortar sports books and 13 percent on mobile and online sports betting.

For comparison, Nevada taxes its sports betting revenue at 6.75 percent, West Virginia at 10 percent and Mississippi at 12 percent. Sportsbooks haven’t opened in Pennsylvania yet, but the rate there will be 36 percent, while Delaware and Rhode Island (which expects to open for sports betting next month) effectively pay more a more than 50 percent tax rate under partnership programs with their state governments.

The CRDA will earmark the funds for “marketing and promotion.” According to the Press of Atlantic City, the additional tax from casino sportsbooks will be used to market Atlantic City specifically while the additional tax revenue generated from Monmouth Park and the Meadowlands Racetrack will be funneled directly to the towns in which the tracks are located.

Read more New Jersey Adds Additional 1.25% Tax on Sports Betting Revenue on SportsHandle.

Examining The FanDuel Sportsbook Ticketing Snafu Through The Eyes of Nevada

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Sports bettors in emerging markets are continuing to discover some of the vagaries of sporting wagering. Among them are situations when an “accepted” bet may not always be a bet, and what happens to a “wins/losses” totals bet if a team ends up with a postponed game that’s not rescheduled.

FanDuel Sportsbook, operating at The Meadowlands Racetrack, has refused to honor a $110 live betting ticket on the Broncos to defeat the Raiders on Sunday — a wager that would have paid more than $82,000. The company says the extremely large odds on the bet were caused by an error in the oddsmaking process. “The wager in question involved an obvious pricing error inadvertently generated by our in-game pricing system,” a FanDuel spokesperson said in a statement. 

The bettor, who identified himself to News 12 New Jersey as Anthony Prince, made his wager over the counter at the sportsbook at the Meadowlands with Denver trailing the Raiders 19-17 late in the fourth quarter. The Broncos then arrived comfortably in field goal range, especially given the high altitude in Denver, when Broncos QB Case Keenum completed a pass down to Oakland 18-yard line. However, as FanDuel updated the live betting odds to reflect Denver as a -600 favorite the company says an error in the live-odds feed caused the Broncos to be posted as 750-1 (+75,000) underdogs to win the game. 

 

Read more Examining The FanDuel Sportsbook Ticketing Snafu Through The Eyes of Nevada on SportsHandle.

New Jersey Sports Betting Generates $9.2M Revenue on $95.6 Handle In August

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The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement on Wednesday released its monthly revenue figures, reporting a total handle of $95.6 million and gross revenue of $9.18 million for the sportsbooks across the seven licensed NJ sportsbooks that reported on the month’s operations.  

That’s a hold or win percentage of 9.6. The August report includes for the first time dollars connected to online sports betting, which produced a total of $2.97 million on a $21.7 million handle, or an online hold (win percentage) of roughly 15 percent. The vast majority of both figures are attributable to the DraftKings Sportsbook — meaning DraftKings alone accounted for almost exactly one-third of the monthly revenue.

 

Read more of New Jersey Sports Betting Generates $9.2M Revenue on $95.6 Handle In August on SportsHandle.

FanDuel Sportsbook Launch is Another Legal Sports Betting Milestone

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The metamorphosis from daily fantasy to sports betting operator became complete on Saturday when the FanDuel Sportsbook launched at Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on the same premises as MetLife Stadium, home to the New York Giants and Jets. FanDuel will remain in the DFS business, but this new sports betting opportunity in the U.S. is much bigger with the vast majority of the market yet to be captured.
A nervous excitement pulsed through the recently-remodeled Victory Sports Bar & Club where 10 ticket windows were staffed by employees wearing collared shirts emblazoned with a FanDuel Sportsbook patch. Some of the employees at the New Jersey sportsbook are brand new hires who received about two weeks of intensive training prior to Saturday.
“I was actually able to sleep last night,” Meadowlands Racetrack General Manager Jason Settlemoir said before the facility opened. “The first thing I do in the morning is turn the TV on and I saw ‘FanDuel Sportsbook set to open’ up at Meadowlands Racetrack. When I came in it was everything I envisioned for this part of it, so I’m excited and ready to go.”
FanDuel Sportsbook Launches at Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey On Same Grounds as Giants and Jets’ MetLife Stadium and Only 8 Miles From New York City

Executives and officials on hand for the occasion included Matthew King, appointed CEO of FanDuel in November 2017; also lawmakers Senator M. Teresa Ruiz (D-29th District), Senate President Pro Tempore, and Assembly Member Ralph Caputo (D-28th District), a co-sponsor of the bill that legalized sports wagering in the state.
These, and other officials, offered remarks from a podium at the front of the house about an hour before the sportsbook opened to the public.
“We have a great opportunity here in the State of New Jersey to preserve and create jobs and provide dollars for vital programs that our citizens needs,” Caputo said from the lectern. “This is an economic shot in the arm. And this will be ongoing revenue — not a one shot deal.”
The deal began exactly one month ago on June 14 when Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. became the first sportsbook to open, under the direction of operator William Hill. The MGM-owned Borgata began taking bets shortly thereafter in Atlantic City. Together those two properties (with some help from three days of wagering at Ocean Resort, also operated by William Hill), generated $3.4 million in gross revenue (on a cash basis accounting method). New Jersey collected $293,000 for the state.
This all comes after New Jersey won its Supreme Court case Murphy v NCAA in May against the NCAA and major pro sports leagues. The two parties together had blocked efforts to legalize for a decade under the now-extinct federal law banning sports wagering outside Nevada, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA).
“[Legal sports betting] is going to make something that’s been in the shadows and taking place illegally, and make it legal,” said Meadowlands Racetrack Chairman Jeff Gural.

Resources and Training From Paddy Power Betfair, and Their Selection as a Partner

The Meadowland has been preparing for this moment for a while. So has FanDuel, whose acquisition by the powerful Ireland-based bookmaker Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) was completed just this past week.
PPB has been instrumental in preparing the FanDuel Sportsbook for launch but FanDuel serves as the face of the collective operation. The abundance of signage around the property makes that clear. The sportsbook will be undergoing an expansion and remodeling before football season that will increase the number of ticket windows, televisions and more.
“The betting software is good, it’s simple, quick and accurate,” one ticket writer said. “I like it. “ But no doubt there are some jitters. One employee who booked a $500 wager was “almost shaking,” he told a colleague.
“We’re leveraging the entire global resource base,” FanDuel CEO Matt King told Sports Handle, regarding the collaboration between FanDuel and PPB. “We have their expertise helping to build the mobile app. We’re also using their pricing and their risk-management. And what that means for fans is that we’re going to be able to offer more markets, more bet types than really anybody else out there.”
King is mindful that while the U.S. sports betting opportunity is tremendous, the competition for market share will be fierce. FanDuel beat fellow DFS giant DraftKings to the initial punch, but DraftKings is in the game too as they partnered with Resorts Casino in Atlantic City, which is expected to begin operations before football season.
“This is going to be a very competitive market,” King said. “We think that we’re in a great position because The FanDuel Group is the largest online gaming operator by almost a factor of two. And we think that’s an incredibly powerful position when coupled with the resources we have with Paddy Power behind us.”
Speaking of Paddy Power, there are questions around the industry about why U.S.-based sportsbook operators appear to be idling as European companies make inroads in the U.S. market.
“We put out a request for proposals and received seven or eight,” Gural said of their selection of PPB/FanDuel. “Mostly from abroad.” He said the process of choosing their partner, which has now formed the FanDuel Group, took about a month.

Engaging Clients and Fans Online and in Retail.

One patron at the sportsbook came from Philadelphia just to take in the scene. He didn’t realize until he got there that this was a FanDuel sportsbook.
“Oh really?” he asked. “I think it’s good business, especially in this area. You’d think that’s the logical step for [FanDuel]. They kind of made DFS legal, so once legalized, it’s easier for them jump into this.”
“I don’t even know what I’m wagering today,” said his friend, who hails from Garfield, about nine miles north of the Meadowlands in New Jersey. “I just want to see what the similarities are here to Las Vegas, see what the lines are like. I might play some World Cup.”
Another open question is how the leagues will embrace legal sports betting, or create distance from it. The leagues have been pushing for a controversial “integrity fee” or “royalty,” in which they would take a percentage off the top of all wagers booked legally in states that would grant them such a request. But so far no state has imposed such a cost upon its licensed operators.
The FanDuel Sportsbook at the Meadowlands is in a unique position given its proximity to an NFL stadium, MetLife. ESPN’s David Purdum reported that there has been talk about a shuttle between the stadium and the sportsbook.
“We’re deep in the conversation of how this is going to work on a number of fronts,” King said. “We’re looking forward to being great partners in and around the area.”
On the digital front, FanDuel — which has operated exclusively online until Saturday — is close to introducing its online sportsbook product and mobile app.
“We’re weeks away from launching,” King said. “Obviously it’s important we do that with the regulators, so we’ve had people furiously working on it for more than six months, and we’re getting very close.”
Mississippi sports betting and West Virginia sports betting will be next to move. Both states are preparing operators to open up shop before football season. FanDuel also secured a partnership The Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, which is one the Mountain State’s five licensed properties gearing up.
The U.S sports betting opportunity is vast, and the opportunity and experience in each state and venue will be at least a little bit unique. And ever changing.
“Greenbrier will be a bit different because they don’t have a facility quite like this,” King said. “It will be interesting to see in a lot of casinos that don’t historically have sportsbooks, how we end up outfitting them and what’s the right retail experience. There’s also going to be additional technology like self-service betting terminals that will coming out. So you’re going to see an evolution of our retail format over time.”
Indeed, the evolution has only just begun.
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Get a Grip: Week in Sports Betting and Sports: New Jersey, FanDuel Sportsbook, Ohio

The post Get a Grip: Week in Sports Betting and Sports: New Jersey, FanDuel Sportsbook, Ohio appeared first on SportsHandle.
It’s information overload everywhere, and there’s not time enough to sleep and eat and stay fully apprised of what’s happening on this crazy blue dot of ours (two out of three ain’t bad).
Here’s the weekend Sports Handle item, “Get a Grip,” rounding up top stories in sports betting and gaming, and the world of sports at large. You may have missed them, and they are worth reading. This is meant to be brief, so that’s it.
New Jersey Sports Betting Revenue Reports; FanDuel Sportsbook Set to Open at Meadowlands
meadowlands sports betting racetrack new york new jersey
Off the top rope: The results are in for the first month — rather, 17 days — of live NJ sports betting operations. The revenue reports are/will be different than those offered by Nevada regulators. Those reports record profits and losses based on an accrual method of accounting. For sports wagering in New Jersey, we’re looking at a cash method.
The main difference is that bettors’ wagers or “futures” bets, such as on the Super Bowl winner, or on anything not yet decided, gets counted as revenue when wagers are placed. Winning tickets will be deducted in the month in which they are redeemed.
Recall that the William Hill Race & Sportsbook at Monmouth Park in Oceanport took the first wager from Governor Phil Murphy at its June 14 launch (his bet on Germany to win the World Cup is a loser; he also bet on the New Jersey Devils to win the next Stanley Cup). The MGM-owned Borgata Race & Sportsbook within the hotel and spa in Atlantic City, opened up shop later that morning. William Hill is also operating the sportsbook at Ocean Resort Casino on the site of the former Revel. That sportsbook opened on June 28.
Here’s the gross revenue figures and other numbers of note (go here for further discussion)

  • Monmouth: $2,279,166
  • Borgata: $986,831
  • Ocean Resort: $192,671
  • Total revenue across all three: $3,458,688
  • Revenue derived strictly from all three from completed events (not futures): $1,203,700
  • Total gross hold percentage across all three, based on complete events results: 7.8 percent
  • Total gross handle across all three (including futures): $16,409,619
  • Tax derived by state of New Jersey (8.5 rate on in-person wagering): $293,863

Elsewhere, in the Northeast Corridor just a hop, skip or a black car from New York City, the FanDuel Sportsbook is set to open at The Meadowlands Racetrack on the same grounds as the home of the Giants and Jets, MetLife Stadium. Read all about what to expect and what it means right here.


The Other Most Important Stories of the Week in Sports Betting and U.S. Gaming

Quite a Headline: Gambling and drugs may be the cure for Connecticut’s ailing economy [CNBC]
Midwest: Even money says Colorado will take it slow and steady with sports betting [CPR]
States’ Rights: Federalism comes out as the winner in Murphy v NCAA [Reg Review]
Wishful Thinking: Here’s how sports gambling could become legal in Texas [Caller]
Everywhere, Man: Projecting when legal sports betting will arrive in 25 biggest U.S. cities [Action]
Silver Blues: NBA Commish Adam Silver on ‘integrity fees’: Not a point of progress [LSR]
Low Tax Rates Would Help:  New sports betting laws won’t stop illegal gambling [Herald]
Shuttle Bussing: Possible shuttle between MetLife and FanDuel Sportsbook? [Chalk]


Now in the Wider World of Sports:

pittsburgh steelers offensive line
Big Men: NFL offensive line rankings: All 32 team’s units entering 2018 [PFF]
Guts and Glory: Brandi Chastain on the Olympics and famous penalty kick [ESPN]
Los Angeles: LeBron James and Luke Walton have been texting, ignore the noise [TBL]
Broken System: Blake Snell snub may change the way MLB players selected to All-Star Game [SB Nation]
Betting Should Help: Fox’s NASCAR viewership dropped 19 percent from 2017, 29 percent from 2016 [AA]


Video of the Week:

Quote of the Week:

His quads are the size of my waist and whole upper body. I’ve never quite seen anything like it. I don’t often stare at another man’s legs, but in that case, you just can’t quite help it.
— Giants QB Eli Manning on running back and first round draft pick (No. 2 overall by NYG) Saquon Barkley‘s lower body. Audio here:

Comment Section of the Week:

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Paddy Power Completes FanDuel Acquisition, Forms ‘FanDuel Group’

The post Paddy Power Completes FanDuel Acquisition, Forms ‘FanDuel Group’ appeared first on SportsHandle.
Just in time for Saturday’s grand opening of sports wagering at The FanDuel Sportsbook at The Meadowlands in northern New Jersey, Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) and FanDuel confirmed today that they have closed their previously announced merger. The new entity in the U.S. will be officially known as FanDuel Group, the company said.
The Meadowlands deal, in which FanDuel will operate and risk manage the sportsbook, marks FanDuel’s, first foray into Nevada-style, single-team sport betting. FanDuel is generally regarded as the number two Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) outlet, trailing only DraftKings.
The combination creates the largest online sports destination in the United States, according to the company. FanDuel will also operate The Meadowlands mobile sports betting operation in New Jersey when regulators approve their app and online platform.
FanDuel Sportsbook Set to go Live at Meadowlands Racetrack as Paddy Power Betfair Completes Merger of FanDuel, Combining Operations

the fanduel sportsbook's victory sports bar and club
Inside the Victory Sports Bar & Club at the Meadowlands Racetrack

PPB under its Betfair US umbrella and the FanDuel brand name, will also operate at Tioga Downs in New York, subject to enabling legislation in the Empire State, which may come in early 2019. There also remains the possibility that Tioga Downs and three other commercial casinos in New York can move forward with sports betting under a 2013 law. State regulators indicated they are crafting rules in accordance with that law but it’s as yet unknown if the casinos will get a green light.
Jeff Gural is owner/operator of both Tioga Downs and Meadowlands Racetrack. Tioga Downs has a casino element. The Meadowlands, near New York City, only operates as a racetrack.
[Also See: What to Expect at the Meadowlands’ FanDuel Sportsbook Launch]
FanDuel has also partnered with The Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia to provide sports betting services, expected to be available in late August or early September.
FanDuel CEO Matt King will serve as CEO of the newly-combined company and Betfair US. CEO Kip Levin will become President and COO, and remain in his role as CEO of TVG. TVG is a horseracing television network with about 45 million subscribers via cable, satellite systems and online. Paul Rushton, currently Commercial Finance Director of Paddy Power Betfair, will become the CFO of FanDuel Group.
The newly combined business says it will have a presence across 45 states, 8 million customers, and $265 million in annual revenue. As of now, the company is continuing operations at DRAFT, the distant number three DFS company, purchased by PPB in May of 2017.
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What to Expect at the Meadowlands’ FanDuel Sportsbook Launch

The post What to Expect at the Meadowlands’ FanDuel Sportsbook Launch appeared first on SportsHandle.
The New Jersey sports betting scene will gain a new player Saturday morning when the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, N.J., introduces the FanDuel Sportsbook at Victory Sports Bar & Club in a soft launch.
The sportsbook will open at 9:30 a.m. for dignitaries and then to the general public at 11 a.m. “There will be 27 television screens and 10 sports betting stations,” FanDuel spokesman Kevin Hennessey said in an email Tuesday. “It features high-top tables, a VIP area, leaning rails, bar stools, sofas, and dining chairs.”
Patrons will be able to wager on baseball, bet futures and proposition wagers on football, wager on Wimbledon and on the World Cup finals taking place on Sunday night between France and the winner of Wednesday’s England-Croatia match. The sportsbook’s opening is significant for a number of reasons, especially those related to geography.
FanDuel Sportsbook Will Launch at Meadowlands Racetrack as New Jersey Sports Betting Scene Plants a Flag a Short Trip From New York.

the fanduel sportsbook's victory sports bar and club
Inside the Victory Sports Bar & Club.

Before we go into geography, one major milestone here is the official introduction of a heretofore daily fantasy sports operator into the legal U.S. sports betting market.
Either the 1B or 1A to DraftKings in the daily fantasy business, while DraftKings has also landed a couple partnerships, FanDuel’s foray will come first.
Tuesday, Meadowlands COO/general manager Jason Settlemoir confirmed in a conversation with Sports Handle that is indeed the FanDuel Sportsbook — and will not be branded in any way by the powerful Ireland-based bookmaker Paddy Power Betfair (PPB, or Betfair US), which in May announced its (pending) acquisition of FanDuel and the combining of their operations.
“There will be 10 towers or windows with live tellers for sports betting, plus spots for parimutuel horse racing,” Settlemoir said of the physical setup of the facility, which is temporary for now and will expand by the end of August. “And two self-service terminals in there for parimutuel as well,” he added.
Settlemoir would not speak to PPB’s and FanDuel’s discussions on branding, but noted PPB’s sizable investment in FanDuel and of the company’s value.
“From an operator standpoint,  the FanDuel name is totally recognizable within sports to people here in the United States,” he said.

Proximity to New York City — and Proximity to an NFL Stadium in the U.S. Unlike Ever Before.

As for geography, the Meadowlands is located in a very advantageous spot in the swamps of Jersey.
“We’re only eight miles away [from midtown Manhattan], and that really makes us, at this point in time, the only game in the area where you can make a legal sports bet,” Settlemoir said. “This is exciting and a welcome opportunity for us here.”
Previously, Jeff Gural, chairman of New Meadowlands Racetrack LLC and Tioga Downs LLC, expressed his thrill with the New York legislature’s failure to pass a bill legalizing sports wagering before the close of its session on June 20.
“New York did me such a favor by not passing sports betting,” Gural told the Associated Press in June. “That leaves me the entirety of New York City, Long Island, Westchester County. There are 15 million people that live within 20 miles (32 kilometers) of the Meadowlands. They gave me a tremendous gift.”
As as a result, the Meadowlands will stand alone in the highly-populated area at least through the football seasons and likely through March Madness in 2019.
Also in the Meadowlands’ backyard — literally — is MetLife Stadium, home of the New York Giants and New York Jets, roughly 0.4 miles away.
Another twist is that barring any oversight here, New Jersey will become the first state in which sports wagering is legal to host a regular season NFL game. While the Oakland and to-be Las Vegas Raiders have broken ground on their Nevada stadium, the Raiders will play at least one more season in California.
 

fanduel sportsbook at the meadowlands racetrack location
Alternatively, about a 9-minute walk.

For our younger and/or non-northeastern readers, MetLife Stadium was formerly Giants Stadium and briefly the New Meadowlands Stadium when it opened in 2010. Both the stadium and the Meadowlands Racetrack are part of The Meadowlands Sports Complex.
As recently as December 2017, the NFL argued publicly and in the United States Supreme Court that sports wagering was a threat to the integrity of, and a scourge on their game. Meanwhile the league also held regular season contests in London, where there’s sports betting kiosks on nearly every street corner.
The NFL has since “evolved” on sports betting, put simply. Will the Giants and Jets get the league’s blessing to allow advertising of or to promote the Meadowlands sportsbook at their games?
[Also See: What Happens When Everyone Bets the Home Team?]
Promotions or events would make a lot of sense, maybe informational booths during tailgating parties or game day giveaways. Settlemoir indicated that the Meadowlands is not ready to make any such announcements on that front.
“Mr. Gural and the FanDuel and Betfair personnel management have a great relationship with the guys at the stadium,” he said. “And they’re currently working with the Jets and Giants ownership, and we’ll have to see how that goes, and where we go from here.”

How the FanDuel Sportsbook Will Grow.

First of all, Meadowlands/FanDuel-branded mobile sports wagering is in works. As of July 11, as permitted by the enabling legislation signed by Governor Phil Murphy, any licensed operator may allow mobile betting. So far, none are prepared to do so, which may just mean that the Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) has not signed off on their software.
“We’re looking to try to roll that out by football season,” Settlemoir said.
Once it’s live, anyone located in the state — even temporarily, hey New Yorkers — will be able to establish an account deposit remotely via the app or online, based on our understanding of New Jersey’s bill.
And the FanDuel physical sportsbook space will expand as well.
“We’re still working on the exact square footage but it will have a much larger footprint by NFL season,” Hennessy explained. “We have plans for 65 television screens and 15 sports betting stations, making the retail location the ideal place to place bets for the upcoming NFL season and for the MLB playoffs. “
It’s not all about sports betting at the Meadowlands, though. They recognize sports betting as a distinct opportunity, but also one to introduce a new and probably younger crowd to harness or horse racing.
As for numbers, the facility is expecting big crowd on a Saturday that coincides with Meadowlands Pace Night — one of the biggest racing nights on the calendar, which Settlemoir says typically draws about 12,000-15,000 visitors.
“Hopefully the sportsbook will be able to help the horse racing side as well, exposing a completely different demographic,” he said. “People that bet sports coming here and being able to see horse racing, and hopefully we’ll see some crossover.”
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