Ahhh, Missouri. Your legislators first considered a sports betting bill in 2018, before the first online bets were placed in New Jersey. Momentum appeared to be building until a powerful legislator decided to hold sports betting hostage to get gray market slot machines legalized. It became so gummed up that the pro teams across the state got involved, threatening to lead a campaign for a ballot measure.
Surely, that wouldn’t be necessary, especially after neighboring Kanas legalized online sports betting in 2022. But it was. Funded by a coalition of teams and leading sportsbooks, the campaign collected about 370,000 signatures, more than double the 170,000 it needed to make the ballot in November.
We thought you were solidly in play.
Then, on Thursday, two Missouri political advisers filed suit to take the measure off the ballot, arguing that a re-drawn congressional map left the campaign short of the 8% threshold it needed to meet in two of the six districts required to make the ballot.
The play is under review.
I’ve seen this movie enough times to get the feeling this won’t end well for you, Missouri. Hang in there. You’re in our thoughts.
ESPN Bet, Fanatics apps among things to watch around betting during 2024 football season
With a smattering of college football kicking off Saturday and the NFL opener less than two weeks away, we bid adieu to the sports betting calm and await the storm.
The first full football season for ESPN Bet
An updated app that integrates more closely with the ESPN app and offers deeper -- and easier to find -- parlay options has ESPN Bet owner/operator Penn Entertainment bullish about making gains this football season.
That didn’t happen in a meaningful way last football season, when the rebranded sportsbook made a splashy, promotion-heavy entrance in November that had it surging from an inherited 2% share of handle in 12 trackable states to 6%, only to give back that ground by summer.
ESPN Bet drove enough trials that there’s reason to believe it will get a second crack this football season, with what should be a more parlay-friendly app. But the more likely game changer lies in a breaking down of the wall between the sportsbook app and that of the mothership, as ESPN.com users see ESPN Bet linked odds and spreads featured more prominently.
November again will be a big month. That’s when Penn says ESPN Bet customers will be able to link their sportsbook apps to their ESPN.com accounts, allowing the sportsbook to prompt Fantasy players to place prop bets using the players in their weekly lineup.
A fully-baked Fanatics app in 22 states
Like ESPN Bet, Fanatics sportsbook found itself in the spotlight heading into last football season, buoyed by a $225 million acquisition of competitor PointsBet that would expand its footprint dramatically, putting it in 20 states.
But the deal didn’t close until August and would add those states in batches, with the last of them finally transitioning in May. Fanatics/PointsBet saw its share in trackable states fall to 2% as ESPN grew, but has since bounced back, accounting for 4% of bets in June. That put it ahead of ESPN Bet and within two points of Caesars.
It heads to the starting gate fully healthy and ready to play up what it sees as its differentiator.
Thursday, the sportsbook announced that it will give away $5 million worth of NFL jerseys in a daily lottery open to all account holders. To stay in the good graces of state regulators, Fanatics will not require users to place a bet to qualify.
Whether long-awaited product improvements will keep BetMGM on the podium
Though BetMGM appears to have won its early-days sports betting joust with casino competitor Caesars, it has lost ground in the last year on the two legacy DFS brands that have come to dominate the market.
This football season, it is trumpeting tech gains aimed at erasing that lost share, and eventually eating into the gap. Like so many others not named FanDuel or DraftKings, BetMGM has been grinding to get to what they all now refer to as “table stakes” -- a parlay product that offers loads of choices but is easy to use.
Based on an early look, I’d say it does so. We’ll see whether pulling even with what the leaders had last season will be enough to reverse trend.
The next iteration of Genius’s ballyhooed BetVision
All indications are that this season’s version of BetVision, the in-app video product that allows bettors to watch NFL games that air locally in near real-time in their sportsbook apps, will take several healthy strides toward a watch-and-bet experience that could drive in-play betting.
The low-latency video, by itself, allows bettors more time to react to swings in a game that can dramatically impact odds. But the early iterations didn’t do much to make it easier for users to bet while watching. Those who have gotten a glimpse of the version that Genius is shopping to sportsbooks think this one could.
If so, that might be the most intriguing sports betting development of 2024.
NFL heads into season with responsible gambling renewal, more player education, assignment of integrity rep
A few bits of news came out of the legal sports betting video conference the NFL held with reporters Thursday morning:
- The league announced a renewal of a responsible gambling initiative with the National Council on Problem Gambling, which included a $6.4 million pledge to the non-profit. The funding is earmarked to build on the three areas the NCPG and NFL identified as priorities in its initial deal signed in 2021: Further modernization of the NCPG helpline, expansion of awareness programs such as a Responsibleplay.org website that has attracted 750,000 visitors, and a grant program designed to reach underserved communities.
- It revealed that it made the offseason gambling education sessions that it led during team training camps for the last two years mandatory for all players this summer, with retired players enlisted as speakers by some teams. More than 17,000 players, coaches, officials and team and league staff will receive training and education on the league’s gambling policy this year, said Sabrina Perel, the NFL's chief compliance officer.
- The league also has assigned an “integrity representative” -- a role typically filled by retired FBI and law enforcement agents -- to each team to watch for suspicious activity on game days and work with law enforcement and regulators as issues arise.
July state sports betting handles continue to lag behind June
With regulators in about one quarter of states still to report, July handle is tracking 14% behind June, but 15% ahead of last July.
A reminder: Those year-over-year averages in the totals are for like states -- meaning states that were open at the same time last year. Growth from the addition of Kentucky, Maine, Vermont and North Carolina is not included.
Speed reads
- The 49ers are the first NFL team to sign a foreign sports betting sponsor, extending their Mexican casino sponsor Foliatti Casino’s rights to include its sportsbook, reports SBJ's Ben Fischer.
- A new study from research firm Optimove shows that 81% of NFL bettors that make more than $75,000 annually use only one or two mobile sportsbooks per week. Only 5% use four or more.
- Morgan Stanley has initiated Flutter, the parent company of FanDuel, as a top pick. Morgan Stanley in a note wrote, “Flutter has a compelling global long-term growth story. It is the scale leader in online gambling, ~3x larger than its nearest peers by revenue.”
- BetMGM is tapping former NFLer Chris Long as its newest brand ambassador, joining a stable that includes Kevin Garnett, Barry Sanders and Wayne Gretzky, reports SBJ's Austin Karp. BetMGM also will become the presenting sponsor and exclusive sports betting partner of the “Green Light with Chris Long” podcast as part of the multiyear deal.
- Talks on sports betting in Oklahoma "haven’t progressed, even as pressure mounts from consumers and neighboring states," notes The Oklahoman. Kansas, Arkansas and New Mexico have all legalized betting on sporting events, and "gaming industry-backed groups are pushing for Texas to join."
- Steve Bornstein, president of North America for Genius Sports, came to the streaming data distributor after a storied career in sports media, including the top role at both ESPN and NFL Network. I profiled Bornstein for the cover of this week's magazine as part of 2024 Class of Champions: Pioneers & Innovators.