Online sports betting – Page 13

January 13, 2025

New York falls just short of online sports betting handle record in December

Players in New York spent $2.28 billion (£1.88 billion/€2.23 billion) betting on sports online in December, the second highest monthly amount since the state opened its legal market in January 2022.

The December total beat the previous year by 11.1% and is also 0.7% ahead of November’s figure. However, it fell 1.7% short of the record $2.32 billion wagered in New York in October 2024.

Gross gaming revenue reached $150.4 million in December. This is 20.1% less than the same month in 2023 and some 35.1% behind November’s record $150.4 million haul.

This resulted in a state-wide hold of 6.59% for the month, according to data from the New York State Gaming Commission.

The decline in revenue was to be expected, given the number of customer-friendly sports results in late 2024. Several operators have highlighted the impact that has had on their full-year results.

Last week, Flutter warned the “very unfavourable” sports results meant it would fall some $370 million below revenue expectat..

January 13, 2025

Weekend Report: Entain confident on FY24 earnings, Betfred exits Nevada, Concacaf seeks first betting partner

Welcome to the Weekend Report, where iGB looks at the news that you may have missed across Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This week: Entain confident on FY24 EBITDA guidance, Betfred exits Nevada and Concacaf seeks first betting partner.

Entain reiterates EBITDA guidance for FY24

Entain said it remains confident of EBITDA guidance for FY24 despite taking a hit in the latter part of the year from customer-friendly sports results in the US.

Entain set out full-year targets during its Q3 trading update in October. Here, it said group EBITDA would be at the upper end of a range between £1.04 billion (€1.24 billion/$1.26 billion) and £1.09 billion.

Now, Entain has repeated this guidance despite its BetMGM joint venture in the US being impacted in Q4. Unfavourable sports results meant players won more during the period, which in turn impacted performance.

Entain said BetMGM still expects to post EBITDA of negative $250 million for the full year. This is in line with earlier guidance issue..

January 13, 2025

After election boom, Kalshi gets creative in new markets, including sports

Over the fall, Kalshi successfully overcame legal challenges from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and became the first legal, regulated prediction market. The US presidential election was a gold mine for it and others – but now, the market is a hodgepodge of contracts for politics, finance and… sports?

Through the 5 November elections, the New York-based Kalshi was estimated to have taken in more than $700 million (£542.5 million/€651.5 million) in contracts, with some $430 million staked on the presidential race alone.

Kalshi prevailed in federal court against the CFTC last year by arguing that offering the contracts did not equate to gaming. The exchange lists the yes-no contracts with percentage odds and matches opposite contracts to each other. It then makes money on trading commissions. After Kalshi’s victory, multiple other well-known exchanges rolled out prediction markets, including Robinhood and Crypto.com.

The CFTC argued it was not equipped to be Ameri..

January 10, 2025

Sportradar integrity report: Brazil no longer leader in football match-fixing cases

The 2024 Sportradar annual integrity report has displayed a significant decline in suspicious match detections for football in Brazil, with the country no longer the most impacted by match-fixing in the sport.

On Thursday (9 January), Sportradar released its ‘Integrity in Action 2024 Global Analysis & Trends’ report for 2024. Its 2023 edition reported Brazil had the most suspicious match detections of all countries surveyed with 109 during the 12-month period.

The 109 figure suspicious match detections in 2023 was a 29% year-on-year reduction on the previous year, though. And there is more positive news for Brazil in this year’s integrity report, as the total number of suspicious football matches dropped by 52 to 57 in Brazil. It was no longer the nation with the most suspicious match detections for the sport in 2024.

Of the 57 detections, four were in competitions organised by the Brazil Football Confederation (CBF), representing just 0.18% of all games overseen by the CBF. Compara..

January 10, 2025

2025 predictions: Brazil to remain fluid, adopting novel betting types, sponsorships may be reviewed

How will the gambling sector evolve in 2025? We asked the industry to consider how key trends in 2024 will progress into this year

Ushering in 2025, the sector has hit the ground running in preparation for ICE Barcelona in a couple of weeks. Across the pond a couple of US states have kicked off their legislative sessions this year with bills supporting online gaming launches. But the holiday period provided enough downtime to reflect on ways the gaming industry evolved in 2024 and then consider what will likely dominate the headlines and earnings calls in the year to come.

Brazil’s legal online betting launch captured the most eyes in 2024’s news flow, and how the licensed market will navigate its infancy stages will pique the sector’s interest in coming months. Last summer, 113 operators applied for early-stage licences to enter the market, hoping to be among the first to launch on 1 January.

Brazil’s SPA then awarded 66 approvals at the turn of the year, including 14 full and 52..

January 9, 2025

Arizona sets $791.2 million sports betting handle record in October

Consumers in Arizona spent a record $791.2 million (£644.2 million/€768.2 million) betting on sports in October, while revenue in the Grand Canyon State fell just short of an all-time high.

Handle for October surpassed the existing Arizona record of $759.8 million, set in March this year, by 4.1%. It also beat October 2023 by 22.1% and September 2024 by 8.1%, according to Arizona Department of Gaming data. Online sports betting spend in October amounted to $784.4 million, while retail wagering hit $6.8 million.

Players won $735.6 million across online and retail betting, leaving $53.8 million in adjusted gross receipts. This falls 6.9% short of $56.9 million in the previous year and it also lagged 31.5% behind September’s $77.4 million record.

Almost all adjusted gross receipts – $53.6 million – came from online, with retail generating just $205,230 in comparison. On this, overall hold for Arizona in October was 6.80%

After excluding $30.2 million worth of free bets, the new adjust..

January 8, 2025

Industry calls lopsided Minnesota online sports betting hearing “a media stunt”

In Minnesota, a state that has considered legalising sports betting since the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was overturned in 2018, Senator John Marty today (8 January) held a hearing on the issue. But he didn't invite industry reps.

The decision to keep the industry out of the hearing in front of the state senate finance committee was by design. In his comments before testimony began, Marty acknowledged that the state has been struggling with whether or not to legalise.

But he also said that no previous hearing had “focused on harm”. While “harm” may not have been a focus in previous hearings, problem and responsible gambling advocates testified many times.

Marty also suggested that sports betting “is currently legal in Minnesota”. He said betting with friends or strangers is legal. But “sports bookmaking where a corporate entity can come in and profit off of your betting” is not legal. He went on to qualify gambling addiction “as powerful as any op..

January 8, 2025

India GST enforcement agency given blocking powers for tax-avoiding gaming sites

The ministry of finance in India has granted new powers to the directorate general of GST Intelligence (DGGI) to begin blocking online gaming websites and mobile applications that are illegally avoiding goods and services tax (GST) in the country.

Confirmed this week in the Gazette of India, the new regulation – SO 95(E) – is effective immediately. The ministry said this intends to address fraudulent activities under both the Information Technology Act 2000 and GST Act 2017.

The DGGI is an agency tasked with mitigating tax evasion on behalf of the GST Council which enforces the tax requirement.

Online real money gaming companies operating in India are required to pay a 28% turnover tax for skill games. This was first enforced in October 2023 and was reiterated on 10 September last year, following a performance review of the tax measure.

Operators must be registered under the Simplified Registration Scheme of the IGST Act and appoint a person based in India to pay their GST contri..

January 8, 2025

Sportsbook+ could be DraftKings’ tax saviour. But in the era of subscriptions, will consumers add one more?

On 28 December, DraftKings quietly launched a new subscription service, dubbed DraftKings Sportsbook+, for select customers located in New York. The new service, which allows for odds boosts on parlays, is the first of its kind – and it could be the company's tax saviour. But will bettors actually subscribe?

Essentially, Sportsbook+ allows subscribers to get better odds on parlays. Each applicable parlay must be at least two legs and each leg must have odds of -500 or narrower. For each leg added to the parlay, the odds would be improved by 10%. In other words, a two-leg parlay would be boosted 10%, a three-leg bet would be boosted 20% and so on. Parlays with 11 or more legs would be boosted by 100%, or double the original payout. The maximum applicable bet is $25.

The news of the launch was first reported by Sportico on 3 January.

DraftKings said the service would be available to “select, eligible customers” in New York, but didn’t elaborate on specific criteria. The fact t..

January 6, 2025

Maryland, Virginia lawmakers to consider online casino legalisation

State legislatures across the US will consider legalising online casino in 2025, including Maryland and Virginia, where bills have been filed.

Delegate Vanessa Atterbeary, chair of the Maryland house ways and means committee, will again try to move an online casino bill in Maryland. HB 17 would allow for igaming regulated by the Maryland State Lottery and Gaming Control Commission (MSLGCC). It was pre-filed in December and it will officially be filed on 8 January, when the legislative session opens.

The bill is similar to one she filed last year that passed the house but didn’t get to the senate floor. Concerns about how digital gambling would cannibalise retail casinos became a sticking point. A senate bill suffered the same fate.

Atterbeary’s latest version would allow for existing video lottery operators and sports betting facilities to apply for icasino licences. The MSLGCC would also be able to issue five licences for applicants who “meet the requirements for an internet gamin..

January 6, 2025

Weekend Report: SL Green CEO set for Times Square casino bonus, computer game addiction links to gambling warning

Welcome to the Weekend Report, where iGB looks at the news that you may have missed across Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This week: SL Green CEO £10 million bonus hinges on Times Square casino, expert warns computer game addiction drives teens to gambling and OBE for GambleAware CEO.

SL Green CEO set for £10 million Times Square casino bonus

Up first, Marc Holliday, the CEO of the real estate investment trust, will receive a $10 million (£8 million/€9.7 million) bonus if he can secure a land-based casino at New York’s iconic Times Square.

According to Crain’s New York Business, SL Green confirmed the bonus last week. The trust is hoping to gain permission from the state to convert a 54-storey tower into a casino and hotel.

SL Green is working in partnership with Caesars Entertainment and Roc Nation on the bid for a New York casino. However, the project faces competition from a host of other interested parties.

The Related Cos, Silverstein Properties, Bally’s, Miriam Adelson’s Las V..

January 3, 2025

State of the Union: Missouri sports betting update, California tribes sue, more

Welcome to iGB's State of the Union, a look at the biggest North American sports betting stories we've covered over the week and briefs on others we found interesting.

MO wagering coming online sooner than expected?

Legal Missouri sports betting could be available sooner than mandated. The new law, passed by voters on 5 November, requires the state gaming commission to launch operators by 1 December 2025. But on 2 January, Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) chairman Jan Zimmerman told Sports Betting Dime, “Depending on how quickly the process goes with getting the rules to the governor’s office, getting them signed, getting everything to the attorney general’s office, we could be looking at earlier in the summer than we anticipated.”

The emergency rules process is moving more quickly than expected, said Zimmerman. She is hopeful that the emergency regulations will reach the governor and attorney general for approval by the end of January. Should that happen, the MGC could op..

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Tag: Online sports betting