Sports betting – Page 10 – FairOdds Network

March 3, 2025

Hong Kong could legalise hoops betting by next NBA season

The government of Hong Kong is inching closer to legal betting on NBA basketball. Punters may be able to bet on the upcoming season, which begins in October.

Hong Kong’s 2024-25 budget, released 26 February, included a proposal for legal wagers on the sport.

A similar proposal failed to gain traction in the 2024 legislative session. But this year, the odds may be in its favour for financial reasons.

The Chinese special administrative region (SAR) faces a budget deficit of more than HK$100 billion (£102 million/€124 million/$128.6 million). That’s more than twice the shortfall projected at the start of 2024.

Hong Kong’s economy grew 2.5% in 2024, down from 3.2% in 2023. Trade tensions with the United States could deepen the SAR’s fiscal crisis. In response, the cash-strapped government is laying off tens of thousands of civil servants and searching for new sources of revenue. An expanded gaming industry could help.

Tapping a billion-dollar revenue stream

In his annual budget spe..

February 28, 2025

Strip comes roaring back as Nevada posts second-best month ever in January

This year kicked off with a bang for Nevada gaming, as the state posted its second-best monthly total ever, led by the Las Vegas Strip.

According to Nevada Gaming Control Board data released on Thursday (27 February), the state posted $1.43 billion (£1.13 billion/€1.38 billion) in gross gaming revenue (GGR) in January. That is a 12.5% year-on-year increase and the second-highest monthly total ever, behind last December’s $1.46 billion. The Silver State is now flat for the fiscal year to date.

In welcome news for the industry, the Las Vegas Strip bucked its streak of six straight months of YoY decreases. America’s gaming capital posted $840 million in GGR, up 22.4% from last year. January was its third-best month of all time, behind the two previous Decembers ($905 million in 2023, $881.2 million in 2024). This strong result was enough to bring the Strip up to -1.6% for the FY so far, despite the down months.

In a reversal of previous trends, downtown Las Vegas posted a 2% YoY dec..

February 28, 2025

State of the Union: College basketball black eyes, Brennan leaving Prime Sports, 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.

Two college hoop teams investigated over gambling

Just over two weeks ahead of Selection Sunday, college basketball is getting more black eyes. Two universities have opened gambling investigations.

College basketball analyst Jeff Goodman tweeted on 26 February that the four University of New Orleans (UNO) players who have been benched since late January are now under investigation for gambling. In addition, on the West Coast, Fresno State sat out two players on 22 February in the midst of a gambling investigation.

The New Orleans men’s basketball team has held out four of its top five scorers since a Jan. 27 loss to UIW due to an investigation into sports gambling, sources told @TheFieldOf68.
Leading scorer James White (19.2 ppg), Jah Short (9.2 ppg), Dae Dae Hunter (8.2 ppg) and Jamond…
— Jeff Goodman (..

February 28, 2025

Free prize draws could be cannibalising lottery, says GC’s Andrew Rhodes

The percentage of people gambling in the UK remained flat during Q3 at 48%, although Gambling Commission (GC) CEO Andrew Rhodes believes a significant uptick in free prize draws could be cannibalising the licensed lottery vertical.

Some 4,675 adults were surveyed for wave three of the GC’s GSGB, covering the three months to the end of October. The GSGB reports that 48% of respondents gambled at some point in the previous four weeks, level with both Q1 and Q2.

Commenting on the data during the Betting and Gaming Council’s AGM on 27 February, Gambling Commission CEO Andrew Rhodes noted a significant rise in activity on free prize draws, which are not regulated under the Lotteries Act and therefore not featured in the data or even considered gambling by law.

“We’ve seen the growth of large-scale prize draws and that growth has been very significant,” Rhodes told BGC members.

“We’ve also seen society lottery sales go over the £1 billion mark for the first time.”

He noted that price ..

February 28, 2025

Penn’s ESPN Bet struggles continue; Snowden addresses plans if progress stagnates

Penn Entertainment's Jay Snowden pointed to “lower loss sequentially” coming every quarter in 2025 as well as better ways to “optimise spend” with ESPN in the company's quarterly earnings conference call. But Penn fell short of some expectations and beat others for the last quarter of 2024.

Saying once again on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Thursday (27 February) that the future is bright, Penn’s CEO placed heavy focus on what is to come versus what has already happened Snowden said Penn is seeing “green shoots” throughout its departments while “we have more work to do to unlock the full potential and value of our partnership with ESPN”.

For digital gaming overall, the company reported revenue of $275 million (£218 million/€$264.7 million) for the fourth quarter. Its $109.8 million in adjusted EBITDA loss was a $224 million improvement compared to the same quarter for 2023, but those numbers still pulled down Penn’s overall performance and were below analys..

February 28, 2025

Formula 1 signs ALT Sports Data as official betting data supplier

San Diego-based ALT Sports Data has entered into an official betting data partnership with the Formula 1 motor-racing series.

Under the terms of the deal, announced today (28 February), ALT Sports Data becomes the official betting data supplier to Formula 1. The length of the new agreement has not been disclosed.

ALT Sports Data will develop betting-focused, real-time predictive analytics for Formula 1. The data specialist will also supply proprietary data and priced odds solutions for the wagering sector.

Formula 1 said the partnership will help to expand its betting options, with more markets being made available to fans. It added that working with ALT Sports Data will ensure betting data is accurate, consistent and ratified.

Formula 1 eyes greater fan engagement

The series also said the deal will offer fans new ways to interact with the sport, with more betting options to increase engagement with Formula 1.

“Sports betting is an increasingly important part of the global fan ex..

February 28, 2025

UK government has “no plans” for wider greyhound racing ban

Lisa Nandy, secretary of state for culture, media and sport, told parliament yesterday (27 February) there are “no plans” to extend a recently announced ban on greyhound racing in Wales to the rest of the UK.

Last week, the Welsh government announced that it would be moving ahead with a ban “as soon as practically possible”. In doing so, it will become the first country in the UK to halt greyhound racing.

The announcement raised questions as to whether other countries, or the entire UK, could follow suit. Several MPs have since spoken in UK parliament to declare their support for the sport, including Stephanie Peacock, undersecretary of state for culture, media and sport.

Yesterday, Louie French, MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup, raised the issue directly with Nandy, who in her governmental role oversees all sport in the UK. French asked whether she agreed with her deputy (Peacock) in that no such ban should be put in place.

Nandy responded by saying there are currently no plans to ext..

February 27, 2025

Florida legislature makes move that could result in sweepstakes ban, lay icasino groundwork

Bills would extend gaming ban to sweepstakes casinos, internet casino gaming, and online sports betting in the state outside the scope of the Seminole Tribe.

Two bills were introduced in the Florida legislature this week that would expand the state’s ban on gambling. “Sweepstakes casinos,” internet casino gaming, and online sports betting outside its compact with the Seminole Tribe could be prohibited if the legislation passes.

Representative Walter Barnaby filed HB953 24 February. Senator Corey Simon filed his companion bill, S1404, in the upper chamber 26 February. The language in the bills expands the ban to “internet gambling” and “internet sports wagering.” As written, the bills leave room for interpretation; one is that the Seminole Tribe may be looking to expand into internet casino gaming via Hard Rock, and another is that the bill is an effective ban on sweepstakes casinos.

Hard Rock expanded its retail casino suite of games to include Class III gaming — including mobile sp..

February 27, 2025

Hawaii senate committee defers digital betting bill as legalisation hopes fade

A Hawaii senate committee deferred a version of a digital sports betting bill that was sent to the house floor, leaving the issue all but dead.

Up until Wednesday (26 February) afternoon, Hawaii looked like the state with the best shot to legalise digital sports betting in 2025. But the senate commerce and consumer protection/ways and means committee opted instead to defer the bill.

Its companion, HB 1308, got through the house finance committee two days earlier. But without a taste for the issue in the senate, any further action by the house will likely be academic.

SB 1569 did not get any discussion on Wednesday. “After reviewing the testimony, the recommendation is to defer,” said Donovan M Dela Cruz, the chairman of the senate committee.

Written testimony revealed that multiple state government agencies oppose the measure, including the department of the prosecuting attorney; the department of business, economic development and tourism; and the attorney general. All cited co..

February 27, 2025

Arizona sets new sports betting handle and revenue records in November

Arizona reported a record sports betting handle for the second consecutive month during November 2024, while the Grand Canyon State also saw revenue reach an all-time high.

Spending on sports betting in November hit $897.6 million (£708.2 million/€856.6 million). This beat October’s prior record of $759.8 million by 18.1% and was also 25.8% ahead of the previous year in Arizona.

Data from the Arizona Department of Gaming shows online spending amounted to $890 million, while retail wagers topped $7.6 million.

Consumer winnings across online and retail totalled $811.3 million. As such, adjusted gross event wagering receipts hit an all-time high of $84.1 million. This beat the previous record, set in September 2024, by 8.7% and was almost double November 2023’s total.

Online betting drew $83.3 million of all adjusted gross event wagering receipts during the month. In contrast, retail sports betting generated just $773,634.

Free bets in November amounted to $26.6 million, meaning adju..

February 26, 2025

Gambling tax increases are all the rage, with New Jersey the latest to consider it

New Jersey governor Phil Murphy has plans to spend $58.1 billion this year and he wants to finance some of that by raising sports betting and igaming taxes among other levies.

The proposal, which Murphy shared on Tuesday (25 February), is the latest gambling and sports betting tax increase proposed in the US in the last year. It feels somewhat ironic, in that Murphy’s name is on the lawsuit that overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2018. Since then, 38 states have launched some form of sports betting (Missouri is also set to launch later this year), with two of those hiking their original sports betting tax rates.

Murphy proposes hiking both the sports betting and igaming tax rates to 25%, up from 13% and 15%, respectively.

“This tax increase would be a wrong turn for New Jersey,” industry lobbyist Jeremy Kudon countered in a statement on behalf of the Sports Betting Alliance (SBA). “Since New Jersey first launched regulated sports betting seven..

February 26, 2025

Caesars slips to FY24 net loss, remains confident about digital EBITDA target

Caesars Entertainment reported a net loss during its 2024 financial year after a drop in group revenue, but the gambling giant remains confident of long-term earnings goals for its digital arm after the division reported further growth.

Group revenue for the 12 months through to 31 December 2024 topped $11.2 billion (£8.89 billion/€10.71 billion). This is 2.5% lower than the previous year, according to data published yesterday (25 February) by Caesars.

Caesars attributed this primarily to its Las Vegas and regional segments, with both divisions seeing declines in 2024. Managed and branded revenue was also down, although there was some positive news from the digital segment.

Revenue from the digital business, which comprises igaming and online sports betting, was up 19.5%. This continues an upward trend seen in recent years, but the trajectory was not as high as seen in 2023 (77.6%).

Caesars: Digital EBITDA to reach $500 million in 2025

While digital growth may not have been quite ..

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Tag: Sports betting