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 U.S. sports betting stories, highlighting some fresh news, and rounding up key stories.
Top stories around our network this week
Plenty of news has been streaming out of the SBC Summit North America this week in New Jersey and New York:
Responsible gaming panelists talk recovery, redemption, working together to help problem gamblers
BetMakers CEO believes horse racing “will be as big as any individual sport in the U.S.” with fixed odds
Gaming consultant predicts ugly battle among tribes, gaming companies, and card rooms in California
Speaking of the Golden State…
Still some question of whether California’s move into sports betting will include digital wagering
How about Florida?
Feds ‘not opposed’ to Seminoles continuing to offer wagering
Not so fast: Florida parimutuels call Seminoles dishonest, request suspension of wagering
What do CA & FL have in common? Sun & Disney
Missouri and Ohio want to get in the game
Legislation for 2022 would allow statewide mobile wagering tethered to gaming boats
Bill for sportsbook apps in Ohio could come as early as next week
Other states making moves, $$ figs released
Explaining Maryland’s license approval process as state nears sports betting launch
Nevada joins New Jersey in the billion-dollar club, but bettors fared well in October
More records set in Colorado, which cleared $4 billion in all-time handle
Virginia became the 10th state to surpass $2 billion in all-time handle
Sports betting generated $54.6M in Connecticut’s first month
Tennessee approves emergency sports betting rules, but permanent rule-making process is ahead
Maryland casinos prep for soft launch in December, and those include:
- Hollywood Casino (Penn National Gaming/Barstool Sportsbook)
- Horseshoe Casino (Caesars)
- Live! Casino (FanDuel)
- MGM National Harbor (BetMGM)
- Ocean Downs Casino (TwinSpires)
Big winner of the week
Record $3.5 million jackpot winner needed just one spin at Borgata Online Casino
Still plenty going on in Canada
What betting looks like province by province
Canadian sportsbooks are taking curling more seriously since the pandemic started
Canadian teams dominating National Lacrosse League futures
Tin-foil-hat story of the week
Does DraftKings CEO Jason Robins have a Twitter burner account? (If he does, this isn’t it)
"We want people to win, we just don't want professionals which is what any sportsbook would say," says @JasonDRobins $DKNG. pic.twitter.com/h2MEIGaiH2
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) December 3, 2021
Everybody loves a happy ending: Robins donates more than $100K to poor people In Pakistan
Remember the USFL?
It’s back, and bookmakers are ready to take action on spring football again
Sports betting stocks take a plunge
Industry giants DraftKings, FanDuel slide in November as issues fester
888, Betway get Virginia license approval
The Virginia Lottery approved two additional sportsbooks during the Thanksgiving holiday. Betway (Digital Gaming Corporation VA) and 888 (VHL, VA) were granted temporary sports betting licenses in Virginia last week.
Thirteen operators have now been licensed in Virginia. Of those, 10 have launched their mobile offerings. PointsBet, in partnership with Colonial Downs, was also granted a license in Virginia last week. The launch date for all three operators is yet to be announced.
In its official press release, 888 shared that its partnership with the Authentic Brands Group, which owns Sports Illustrated, will lead to the two sides launching their SI Sportsbook in Virginia as a result of being granted the license. The SI Sportsbook was first unveiled in Colorado in September.
– Bennett Conlin
Third Wash. St. sportsbook opening Saturday
Earlier this week, Sports Handle’s sister site, CO Bets, broke the news that the Kalispel Tribe’s Northern Quest Resort & Casino, which is located near Spokane, Wash., planned to open its sportsbook to the public Saturday after a VIP-only event Friday. The book will become just the third to open in Washington state, after the Snoqualmie Casino launched onsite sports wagering Sept. 9 and the Sillaquamish Tribe’s Angel of the Winds Casino opened its sportsbook this past Wednesday.
With more than a dozen Washington tribes legally cleared to open sportsbooks whenever they’re ready (sports betting is an entirely Native American proposition in the Evergreen State), it’s anyone’s guess as to which tribe will be the fourth to take wagers. But the Suquamish Tribe’s Clearwater Casino Resort, located a short ferry ride away from downtown Seattle, has been airing radio ads for its FanDuel-branded book, indicating that it may be next in line.
However, the tribe has yet to announce a launch date, with a spokesperson telling Sports Handle, “Currently, our sportsbook is not yet open, and we are still saying that it is coming soon. I don’t have the date … quite yet.”
– Mike Seely
First sports bets placed in Wisconsin
While the Green Bay Packers might be the most popular pro sports team in Wisconsin, the first bet placed in the state was on the New Orleans Saints-Dallas Cowboys game, according to the Green Bay Gazette.
That bet was placed Tuesday when the Oneida Nation opened the first legal sportsbook in Wisconsin after renegotiating its compact with the state earlier this year. Under the compact, the Oneidas can offer retail wagering on pro, college, and amateur sports, though there is a ban on betting on local college teams. The compact also allows for wagering on some awards events, like the Grammys or Academy Awards, tribal Vice Chairman Brandon Yellowbird Stevens said during a webinar earlier this year.
The agreement is the first of its kind in Wisconsin, though other tribes expect to follow suit.
Wisconsin became the 10th state this year to begin offering some sort of sports betting, and the sixth in which at least one tribe is now taking wagers. The tribe is currently offering in-person betting at its Oneida Casino near the airport. The book opens at 10 a.m. daily and closes at 11 p.m. during the week and at midnight on the weekends. It will open at 9 a.m. when the Packers have a home game, and bets can be placed at teller windows or via kiosks.
– Jill R. Dorson
So. Dakota tribe approved for sports betting
An amendment to the gaming compact between the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate and South Dakota that would allow the tribe to offer sports betting at its three casinos in the state has been approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate tribe runs the Dakota Sioux Casino in Watertown, Dakota Magic Casino in Hankinson, and Dakota Connection Casino in Sisseton. South Dakota voters legalized retail sports betting for Deadwood on the November 2020 ballot, regulations were finalized in July, and the first bets were taken Sept. 9.
More of the most important, interesting stories
BIG SPEND: Plenty being spent on potential St. Tammany Parish casino [NOLA]
MORE AZ OPTIONS: Desert Diamond Casinos open for retail wagering [KOLD]
A’s ON STRIP? MLB franchise checking out Tropicana site for ballpark [ReviewJournal]
FOR SALE: Churchill Downs Inc. is working with consultant to sell TwinSpires platform [Bloomberg]
The https://t.co/e673eZ6QA0 Odds Screen is getting closer to release with a truly unique feature:
Integrated Trading Tools!👀 pic.twitter.com/VboMGnjrYS
— Unabated (@UnabatedSports) November 30, 2021
LONG NOVEMBER: Month was one of the worst public NFL betting runs bookmakers can recall [ESPN]
NAME CHANGE: Dover Downs is now Bally’s Dover Casino Resort [Delaware Online]
PAST POSTING: Gamblers in New Jersey wagered on a soccer game that was already over [AP]
Interested in how betting markets might be impacted by a sports league manipulating equipment mid-season? Do I have an academic paper for you… https://t.co/no8Vw4gNVj
— John Holden (@Johnsportslaw) December 2, 2021
YOU’RE HIRED: ESPN signs sports betting analyst Erin Dolan [ESPNPressRoom]
DISPUTE ENDED?: Nevada’s simulcast impasse with Churchill Downs Inc. could be over [ReviewJournal]
BOUNCY BALLS: MLB admitted to using two different kinds of baseballs during 2021 season [Insider]
