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 the world (and industry) of legal U.S. sports betting. You may have missed them, and they are worth reading.
Sports betting business news, regulation and legislative happenings abound
For this edition, we’re going rapid fire, attempting to flag all the highlights with an amalgamation of links to our own stories and those around the web.
Business of betting
In a legit game changer as the regulatory landscape and land grab evolve, Penn National Gaming made a major move, acquiring Barstool Sports, thereby combining a casino company with major access, and a media entity with massive reach and loads of gamblers on its rolls.
For one comparison, FOX Bet, which is now connected to Flutter through The Stars Group, reaches a different audience through FOX Sports broadcasts and cable shows. Obviously the FOX audience also consists of mild to hardcore sports fans that cross over with Barstool’s supporters. The point is, it will be interesting to see how different sectors of sports media will bolster sportsbook growth.
Stay tuned for more sportsbook operator hookups with media outlets, like BetMGM and Yahoo! Sports from late last year. Here’s a view of the deal from Pennsylvania, consider this lookahead from Front Office Sports and this view from Penn National’s perspective:
They do appear to check a lot of boxes…
Investor presentation here: https://t.co/Xx4mW1crWr pic.twitter.com/VESEQ80gUN
— Alfonso Straffon 🇨🇷🇺🇸🇲🇽 (@astraffon) January 30, 2020
WARM FRONT: Fantasy sports is a huge business — just ask its dedicated weatherman [Vox]
RIGHT SAID FRED: British Invasion: Betfred enters U.S. market with Iowa launch [Hawkeye]
AIRWAVES: Radio gambles on sports betting [Radio World]
MAYBE: TV ratings get boost from betting? Not yet, apparently [SBJ]
LONG READ: An Intro to investing in sports gaming and tech [Medium]
NOW YOU CAN BET HERE: Southland in Arkansas to debut sports betting this weekend [ArkansasOnline]
AND HERE: West Virginia’s Mardi Gras and Wheeling Island sportsbooks back online. [WOWK]
Regulation, legislative happenings
COLORADO: DraftKings, FanDuel Sportsbook announce market access deals [SH]
CONNECTICUT: Draft of gaming bill details expansion, tribes’ sports betting [The Day]
FLORIDA: If something does get done, this is probably how it’ll go down [Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times]
GEORGIA: Pro leagues are leading the charge on legalizing [GPB News]
ILLINOIS: Phase 2 of the emergency Illinois sports betting regs approved [HSB]
BREAKING: According to the Illinois Gaming Board’s website, the IGB has issued three sports betting licenses:
* @RiversCasinoCHI
* @GVC_Elgin
* @argosyalton https://t.co/jrkc4KzXqE pic.twitter.com/feMihBXZAE— Joe Ostrowski (@JoeO670) January 30, 2020
KANSAS: Eat your heart out, Missouri: things shaping up next door [SH]
@WKYT came to visit me in my office today. We discussed sports wagering. https://t.co/2KMIZWQXz0
— Adam Koenig (@repkoenig) January 30, 2020
KENTUCKY: Meanwhile, bill that would legalize sports betting in Kentucky is in doubt … if not ‘in trouble’ [Courier-Journal]
MARYLAND: Bill to legalize online sports betting in the works [CBS Baltimore]
MASSACHUSETTS: Hey what’s new, Governor Charlie Baker has ‘not made much progress’ on his legal sports betting bill [Boston.com]
MISSOURI: It’s becoming a total cluster, but here’s one bill that’s cleared committee at least [SH]
NEBRASKA: Look who joined the party with some baby steps [SH]
NEVADA: 2019 saw a betting handle record year [US Bets]
VERMONT: Proposals to expand gambling in Vermont get cool reception [Valley News]
VIRGINIA: Latest on Virginia betting bill progress, with more to come today or soonish [SH]
Super Bowl LIV and odds and ends
Here's a nice weird random betting stat for you: At @FDSportsbook so far, 53% of the bets and 54% of the money on the coin flip are on tails. So the coin-flip squares and the coin-flip sharps alike are on this one.
— Eric Raskin (@EricRaskin) January 28, 2020
RAISE THE ROOF: Record number of bets expected for Super Bowl [CNBC]
MONDAY IS A HOLIDAY: Fun at work: Super Bowl, NCAA can boost staffers’ morale [AP]
MAMBA: Jerry West, Shaq and more delivered heart-wrenching tributes to Kobe Bryant [Awful Announcing]
Story time from the book:
So, in case you haven’t heard, there is a pretty big football game on Sunday.
In sportsbooks from New Jersey to Las Vegas, it’s called the “Big Game” or “SB” or some sort of alternative to Super Bowl. Call me a rebel, but I’m calling it Super Bowl…
— Sportsbook Consigliere (@SportsbkConsig) January 31, 2020
Most popular Super Bowl recipes in every state (per @GoogleTrends) 🏈#SuperBowlLIV #SuperBowl #NFL pic.twitter.com/Eoy1yx7JrN
— #TodayInSports (@TodayInSports3) January 29, 2020
