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
More of the Most Important Stories in Sports Betting and Gaming:
THE HARDEST PART: New York casinos await sports betting for a revenue boost [D&C]
HOT STREAK: Nevada Senate to consider legislation that monitors sports tout services [Sports Biz]
HARRAH’S: The Casino pioneer poised for a comeback in Las Vegas and beyond [Forbes]
HAPPENS: NJ operators on October struggles: ‘Everything is just so volatile’ [NJOG]
BUT THEY’LL SURVIVE: Chiefs-Rams MNF pointsplosion resulted in Vegas books taking a ‘healthy seven-figure loss’ [CBS Sports]
THREE’S COMPANY: Ribbon cut Wednesday morning for a William Hill sportsbook at the Mountaineer Casino [WV Metro]
FREE-FOR-ALL: Daily fantasy sports contests operating on their own in New York [Buffalo News]
NORTHWEST: Washington’s horse-racing industry braces for possible sports-betting regulations [Wash Wire]
Finally, Check Out The NFL Week 12 ‘Pro Football Handle’ Podcast:
Have a great weekend, everyone.
