Week in Sports Betting and Sports: New Jersey, DraftKings in NY

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 legal 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 Population Will Be Increasing; DraftKings Sportsbook to Enter NY Sports Betting Picture

With state legislatures on break for the summer (and most already adjourned), things have been less frenetic recently in the legal sports betting world. New Jersey sports betting remains front-and-center as the licensure process continues.

The above-the-fold headline of the week probably is that story: Another wave of casinos apply to join the New Jersey sports betting picture. This came after the potential licensee casinos got a kick in the rear from Division of Gaming Enforcement and director David Rebuck — who said that if they didn’t submit applications for a sports wagering certificate soon, they might not gain approval before football season.

So the casinos quickened their pace and the DGE received applications on Monday from the Golden Nugget for retail and mobile/web-platform wagering; from Caesars Entertainment for its properties Harrah’s and Bally’s for both retail and online operations and Caesars for online; also among the group pushing in their application (of which one is not yet identified, perhaps it’s Hard Rock Atlantic City) was Resorts , which previously partnered with SB Tech and DraftKings and will use some combination of those two entities for its retail and online offerings.

Speaking of a DraftKings Sportsbook, the DFS-turned-sportsbook operator landed a deal with del Lago Resort & Casino in New York’s upstate Finger Lakes region. The property has struggled since launching in February 2017, so when NY lawmakers get around the legalizing sports wagering, which we guesstimate will occur in March 2019, sports betting will be a needed shot in the arm.

The partnership is a boon to DraftKings given the sheer size of the opportunity and legislation expected to open up the entire state to competition online, without a foolish in-person registration requirement in a state that’s sparsely populated by casinos. The open competition will be a win for New York patrons, too.

And of course, as in New Jersey where only casinos and racetracks are eligible for licenses at this point — in all likelihood the requirement will be the same in New York — establishing this relationship now was good move. Same as what FanDuel/Paddy Power Betfair accomplished by hooking up with New York racetrack Tioga Downs Casino Resort and racetrack, which is owned by Jeff Gural, who also owns Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, N.J., which just launched its retail FanDuel Sportsbook last Saturday.

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

THE MARKETPLACE: Meadowlands vs. Monmouth Park: It Pays to Shop Around [NJ OG]

MARCH MADNESS: Untold story of the craziest semi-legal NCAA tournament gambling contest ever [Penn Live]

PARTNERSHIPS: FanDuel Group teaming with GAN for casino and sports betting software in NJ [Biz Wire]

SAGA CONTINUES: Pennsylvania sports betting taxes so high legal bookmakers may shun state [Philly]

MIDWEST: Iowa regulators gear up for possible Iowa sports betting in ‘19 [Radio]

PROBABLE: Both SEC and Big 12 commissioners see injury reports as an inevitability [CBS]

HEY HEY VA: General Assembly could see efforts to allow sports gambling, official says [Pilot]

READY, SET, WAIT: Mississippi sports betting not quite ready yet [Advocate]

Stories of Note in the Wider World of Sports and Kinda Sports.

EXPLOITATION: Four reasons taxpayers should never subsidize stadiums [Bloomberg]

REINVENTIONS: Ranking the 15 talents to most successfully leave ESPN since 2000 [TBL]

NOSTALGIA: For one last night, make it a Blockbuster night [Ringer]

DEBACLE: NFL, players agree to temporarily halt enforcement of anthem protest rules [NPR]

Quote of the Week:

Philadelphia Eagles lineman Jason Kelce on the difference between the Vikings’ and Patriots’ defenses during their Super Bowl run:

“The last defense we had seen was Minnesota’s, and we were like, ‘These dudes have got some players.’ Then we see [the Patriots] and we’re like, ‘These dudes have got some . . . coaches.’ ”