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They’re Off: Rhode Island Becomes First New England State to Take Legal Sports Bets

Posted on 26 November 2018 | by Jill Dorson

Five months after legalizing sports betting and nearly 60 days after the projected opening date, a group of lawmakers and a corporate executive placed the ceremonial first sports bet at Rhode Island’s Twin River Sportsbook on Monday. In so doing, Rhode Island became the sixth non-Nevada state post-PASPA to open up for legal sports betting, and the first in New England.

Rhode Island Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, House Speaker Nicholas Matiello and Twin River Worldwide Holdings Chairman John Taylor Jr. placed the first bets after making remarks.

The sportsbook officially opened at 3 p.m. local time with an opening ceremony — in time for Monday Night Football. Rhode Island has only two casinos, Twin River and Tiverton, both owned by the same company. The Tiverton sportsbook is scheduled to open in December.

Rhode Island Becomes First in New England to Offer Sports Betting as Twin River Casino Hotel Opens Sportsbook

Senate President Dominic Ruggerio at @twinrivercasino sportsbook opening in Rhode Island says, “I’ve been waiting 40 years for this day … Let’s get it on.” #sportsbetting pic.twitter.com/5aE8TYdJSy

— Gary Trask (@casinocityGT) November 26, 2018

Get a Grip: The Week In Sports Betting: More Things Keep Happening, Everywhere

Posted on 23 November 2018 | by Brett Smiley

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,” recapping the week’s top stories, and rounding up key stories in sports betting, gaming, and the world of sports at large. You may have missed them, and they are worth reading.

Top happenings and developments this week:

Keepin’ it brief this week because you people are either unplugged this weekend, shopping, avoiding shopping, watching college football, de-fatting from Thanksgiving, or some combination.

1) After some stops, starts, testing and unrealized projections, sports betting is finally set to launch in Rhode Island on Monday at the Twin River Casino in Lincoln.

2) This week in Virginia, home to zero casinos and a few racetracks, emerged a bill pre-filed for 2019 that would grant the state lottery authority to licenses up to five sportsbooks (and itself). The lottery would have regulatory authority and would have to decide how it’ll work. In other words, whether to permit online-only operators and/or allow them to establish a brick-and-mortar presence as well. Very early stages here but we didn’t expect Virginia to enter the conversation heading in 2019.

3) The Mississippi Gaming Commission released the October revenue report his week and while the betting handle was static at about $32.8 million, the hold dropped to just 3.59 percent as the Gulf Coast casinos got hammered on football, losing a combined $600,000.

4) Last Friday DraftKings opened a brick-and-mortar sportsbook in Mississippi (near Biloxi), and this week, on Tuesday, it opened its second U.S. physical sportsbook, at Resorts Casino in Atlantic City. The leader so far in New Jersey’s online sportsbook handle and revenue, DraftKings had been working on the project with Resorts (quietly) for at least a couple months. One interesting footnote: The small, Resorts-branded, SB Tech-run book that opened in the summer closed up shop, coinciding with the launch of the DK book.

5) Like Mississippi, Delaware’s October handle dipped a bit, too. Perhaps they should both consider regulations allowing patrons to make wagers via mobile devices/online, not exclusively on premises.

Take a look at the new @DraftKings Sportsbook at @ResortsCasino pic.twitter.com/Kf1ejFfdIh

— David Danzis (@ACPressDanzis) November 20, 2018

Expect North Carolina Lawmakers to Talk Sports Betting in ’19

Posted on 23 November 2018 | by Jill Dorson

North Carolina lawmakers haven’t officially broached the subject of legal sports betting, but that doesn’t mean ideas and conversations about the topic aren’t circulating around the state.

“This is an issue that’s on people’s minds, but I don’t know where our caucus stands, particularly the new members. I expect that the proper role for the state will be discussed as we enter the new session next year,” North Carolina senator Phil Berger told the Charlotte Observer in an email.

Several North Carolina lawmakers introduced legislation in 2018 to legalize daily fantasy sports, but none got to a vote. In neighboring South Carolina, at least one sports betting bill was filed in the state legislature, but did not reach a vote. Lawmakers, there, though, are enthusiastic about the possibility of legalizing sports betting.

Swanky New DraftKings Sportsbook Opens At Resorts Casino In Atlantic City

Posted on 20 November 2018 | by Brett Smiley

New York Giants Hall of Fame linebacker Harry Carson bet the New York Yankees to win the 2019 World Series on Tuesday morning, the first wager at DraftKings Sportsbook located at the Resorts Casino in Atlantic City. It’s DraftKings’ first physical location in New Jersey and the first on the East Coast, as the Boston-headquartered company continues its push from an online-only operation into physical spaces.

The sportsbook is the second of two at Resorts. The first is Resorts-branded, run by SB Tech and opened earlier this summer.

The new sportsbook features 135 50-inch televisions and a video wall that is more than 1,000 square feet. Rows of club chairs sit in front of the video screen, with a bank of teller windows to the right, and a VIP Lounge to the left. According to the Nov. 14 DraftKings press release, the facility has five teller windows, a full bar, charger stations at each seat and bar-top electronic slot games. The chairs are set stadium-style to allow for unobstructed viewing. The risk-management and trading operation, as well as the 12 sports betting kiosks, are powered by U.K.-based supplier Kambi Sports, which also powers DraftKings’ online sportsbook.

Legal Sports Betting in Pennsylvania Officially Launches Near State Capital

Posted on 19 November 2018 | by Brett Smiley

Legal, regulated sports wagering in Pennsylvania moved out of the hanger, onto the launch pad achieving blast off Saturday morning at the Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course in Grantville. It’s now the first venue to accept legal sports bets in the Keystone State, situated about 100 miles northeast of Philadelphia, near Harrisburg.

William Hill US, a subsidiary of UK-headquartered bookmaker William Hill, is running the casino’s sportsbook operations. As part of its deal with Hollywood Casino’s parent company, Penn National Gaming, the sportsbook conducted what it called “live wagering test day” on Thursday to certify the staff and equipment are in compliance with state regulatory requirements. Additional testing was scheduled Friday from 2 p.m. to midnight, satisfying the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) to subsequently authorize the facility to officially open at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Although without fanfare or a ribbon cutting seen at official launches in Delaware, New Jersey, Mississippi or West Virginia (at least not one visible from afar), the sportsbook indeed went live on Saturday morning. Two William Hill officials confirmed to Sports Handle that the sportsbook at Hollywood Penn opened and is open for business.

Get a Grip: The Week in Sports Betting and Sports: PA Launch Has Arrived

Posted on 16 November 2018 | by Jill Dorson

The post Get a Grip: The Week in Sports Betting and Sports: PA Launch Has Arrived 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,” recapping the week’s top stories, and rounding up key stories in sports betting, gaming, and the world of sports at large. You may have missed them, and they are worth reading.

12 Billion Reasons There Is So Much Hype Around Pennsylvania Sports Betting; Launch Pad Readies at Hollywood Penn

The Hollywood Casino in Pennsylvania will make history on Saturday when it fully opens the first legal sportsbook in PA to the public. More than a year after legalizing sports betting, Pennsylvanians will finally be able to legally place a bet — and the state will begin to reap expected financial gains from sports betting. They already have, actually, in the form of $10 million application fee apiece from the six properties so far to apply for a sports wagering license.

Of the eight states that have legalized sports betting, Pennsylvania is the only that that has just about two of everything — NFL teams, MLB teams and NHL teams. The only pro sport with only one Pennsylvania franchise is the NBA.

Michigan Could Become First State to Pay Leagues Sports Betting ‘Integrity Fee’

Posted on 16 November 2018 | by Brett Smiley

So far the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and PGA Tour are 0-for-7 in persuading state lawmakers to mandate payment of an off-the-top “integrity fee” or “royalty,” putting a percentage of legal sports bets into league coffers.

Now, a key lawmaker in Michigan sponsoring a bill that would legalize sports betting and iGaming in the state could give a win to the leagues.

According to a report from Reuters, following a U.S. Sports Betting Policy Summit in Washington D.C. this week, Michigan state representative Brandt Iden (R-District 61) changed his mind on the fees after “spending significant time with the leagues.”

New Jersey Sports Betting Handle Surges to $261M, Revenue ‘Just’ $11M As Bettors Exact Revenge

Posted on 15 November 2018 | by Brett Smiley

The good news for the New Jersey sportsbooks in the newly released revenue report for October is a large jump in handle from $186 million in September to $261 in October. The downside is that the bettors took a bigger bite of the books this month than usual, cutting revenue by more than half month-over-month from $24 million in September to “just” $11.7 million in October.

Overall that spells a 4.4 percent hold, down from 13 percent in Sept., which may be partly attributable to baseball (more on this below) and perhaps moreso a lot of “public” teams covering the spread in October NFL contests. The rise in betting handle is almost entirely attributable to the mobile/one sector, which grew from $105 million in September to $174 million in October. On-site sports betting inched up from $79 million in the prior month to $86 million.

Resorts Digital continues to lead the way by a lap on the revenue front, reporting $5.1 million in October, which is nearly half of the entire haul across all sportsbooks for the month. An arm of Resorts Casino, Resorts Digital figures represent DraftKings Sportsbook as well as BetStarsNJ.com. We can no longer parse out which side is driving what, but based on prior figures we can safely say that DraftKings is responsible for the lion’s as well as the cub’s share. Let’s dig in a litter deeper now.

October Brick-and-Mortar Sportsbook Revenue:

Bally’s: $303K
Borgata: $120K
Golden Nugget: $46K
Harrah’s: $104K
Meadowlands (FanDuel Sportsbook): $1.1 million
Monmouth Park: $606K
Ocean Resort: $438K
Resorts: $97K
Tropicana: $15K

A spokesperson for FanDuel Sportsboook said: “Demand for the FanDuel Sportsbook continues to outpace our expectations with online handle 2.5 times higher than September and continued double digit growth in retail handle. It was an exciting month for bettors who won at a high rate on football and benefitted from our industry-leading pricing and odds boosts.”

October Online Sportsbook Revenue:

Bally’s (combination of CaesarsCasino & 888sport): $108K
Borgata (PlayMGM): $67K
FanDuel Sportsbook (Meadowlands): $2.43 million
Golden Nugget (PlaySugarHouse): $151K
Monmouth Park (William Hill and PlaySugarHouse): $609K
Ocean Resort (William Hill): $385K
Resorts Digital (combination of DK Sportsbook and BetStarsNJ.com): $5.1 million

DraftKings Set to Open Retail Sportsbook In Mississippi This Week

Posted on 12 November 2018 | by Brett Smiley

The post DraftKings Set to Open Retail Sportsbook In Mississippi This Week appeared first on SportsHandle.

DraftKings and the Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort in D’Iberville, Miss. announced a partnership on Monday that will put DraftKings in charge of the casino’s retail sportsbook.

Once live, this will mark two firsts for the Boston-headquartered company: its first retail sportsbook and its official foray into a second state after New Jersey, where DraftKings operates under a license with Resorts Casino and so far has led the competition among NJ online sportsbooks — by a couple laps — in terms of handle and gross revenue.

“Opening Nov. 16, 2018, the sportsbook will transform Scarlet Pearl’s existing PRL Bar into a multi-screen betting and social destination for sports lovers,” reads Monday’s joint news release.

TN Lawmaker Files Sports Betting Bill Ahead of 2019 Session

Posted on 12 November 2018 | by Jill Dorson

One day after the mid-term elections, Tennessee state Representative Rick Staples (D-District 15) filed the state’s first piece of sports betting legislation ahead of the 2019 session, which begins Jan. 8. The bill, HB 0001, while an initial effort, covers many of the key points needed for meaningful legislation.

The “Tennessee Sports Gaming Act,” filed on Nov. 7, calls for legal sports betting “only in jurisdictions that approve sports betting by local option election.” This language seems to infer that legal sports betting would be brought to Tennessee voters and could potentially be approved on a county-by-county basis. In a similar situation in Louisiana, voters in some parishes approved daily fantasy sports, while voters in other did not.

The Tennessee bill calls for a 10 percent tax on a licensee’s adjusted gross income. Nevada’s 6.75 tax on gross sports betting revenue is the lowest of all states with legal sports betting while new sports betting jurisdictions in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island impose rates of 34 percent or higher. The bill would set the licensing fee at $7,500.