And Then There Were 3
The Connecticut Lottery has selected Fanatics as its new sports betting partner, pitting the much-hyped newcomer against industry leaders DraftKings and FanDuel.
The Bulletin Board
NEWS: Fanatics lands Connecticut Lottery sports betting contract and will compete with FanDuel and DraftKings in the Nutmeg State.
NEWS: Dealing with palps. How are states dealing with DraftKings’ request to cancel bets?
NEWS: Roulette and craps are coming to Florida casinos on Thursday.
NEWS: Florida introduces daily fantasy sports legislation with a very unexpected twist.
QUICK HITTER: Florida sports betting case updates.
AROUND the WATERCOOLER: Who will pay if states don’t cancel Palps?
STRAY THOUGHTS: To-Do vs. Want-To-Do lists.
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Connecticut Lottery Picks Fanatics as Sports Betting Partner
After less than two years, Rush Street Interactive ended its relationship with the Connecticut Lottery in March. RSI struggled to keep pace with FanDuel and DraftKings in the three-operator market (RSI’s lottery-run sports betting app had a 10% market share).
In the press release, RSI CEO Richard Schwartz said, “Consistent with our long-term strategic goals, after much deliberation and discussions with the CLC, we believe it is in the best interest of RSI and our stockholders to wind down this partnership.”
“The CLC will begin the process of pursuing a new operator through a request for proposals in the coming days,” the release also noted. “RSI will continue to operate online and in-person sports betting in Connecticut on behalf of the CLC until a replacement is selected.”
The RFP process is over, and the CLC has selected its new partner, Fanatics.
According to the press release, Fanatics will take over from RSI in mid-December for mobile and retail betting (10 locations throughout the state).
With the state limited to three operators, Fanatics’ entry in Connecticut could help answer one fundamental question: Can Fanatics compete with DraftKings and FanDuel?
In a 1-vs-1-vs-1 market, will Fanatics peel market share from the two national sports betting leaders and outperform RSI’s 10% share? If the answer is yes in Connecticut, where FanDuel and DraftKings are not under the thumb of the state lottery and have the advantage of associated online casinos, then Fanatics’ national outlook should be pretty bright.
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States Take Different Approaches to Palps
DraftKings has asked multiple states to allow it to cancel wagers placed during a Nuggets-Lakers game where a third-party supplier error caused DraftKings to offer incorrect totals for approximately 13 minutes - long enough for savvy bettors to jump on the opportunity and place thousands of bets.
ESPN’s David Purdum did an excellent job summarizing the situation in an X thread.
How states are responding to the cancellation request varies:
Connecticut regulators denied DraftKings’ request to cancel the bets.
New York, Colorado, and Indiana allowed DraftKings to cancel the bets.
Illinois and Pennsylvania are still reviewing the matter.
Massachusetts landed in the middle, allowing DraftKings to cancel the bets but requiring DK to refund affected wagers 3x.
As I wrote last month, “The more significant issue is each state is handling palps differently, and sometimes differently on a case-by-case basis. This is reason #1,628 that the US could use some national standards.”
In Massachusetts, MGC Director of Sports Wagering Bruce Brand seems to agree with me, pointing to the DK incident as a good reason to rewrite the regulations on obvious errors.
Nicholas Green, General Counsel for Underdog Fantasy (a newsletter sponsor), had an interesting take on X, tweeting that palps seem to be the one area where operators don’t need to take responsibility:
“This is fascinating. Who should bear the risk of a sports book offering erroneous bets? In a truly transactional sense, with parties of equal knowledge and means, everyone can bear their own risks.
“But the entire regulatory structure of OSB assumes the operator has superior duties and obligations vis-a-vis customers. That's why sports betting is regulated as tightly or more than any other "vice."
“My local grocery store says that if they ring up the wrong price, the customer is right. If we expect that for cans of peaches and peas, why not for sports bets?
“In a highly regulated industry, why not presume that the OSB should assume the risk of errors? DKNG wants it both ways, in a situation where heads the books wins, tails the customer loses. And they're willing to put that kind of effort into a few hundred thousand in bets and send reps to make its case before the MGC and myriad other state regulators.
“If a regulator is going to ask how a book is going to stop parents from letting their kids use their IDs to bet underage, or regulate the size of 21+ text on arena floors, why not hold books to bearing the risk when they make avoidable mistakes?”
The Other Piece of the Florida Compact
The gambling world has been focused on the sports betting component of the compact between the Seminole tribe and Florida, but there is another piece of the yet-to-be-legally-resolved compact: table games.
The compact did more than provide the Seminole Tribe with an avenue to sports betting. It expanded its offerings by adding previously prohibited table games like roulette and craps. And that is the real prize for the Seminole tribe.
“The Seminole Tribe of Florida is proud to point to a new era in Florida gaming with the unveiling of our new casino games,” Seminole Tribe of Florida Chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr. said in a press release. “With the addition of craps, roulette, and sports betting, we now offer a full complement of casino games, and we join the ranks of leading casinos around the world.”
How big of a deal is this for the tribe? Consider their ribbon-cutting ceremony slated for December 7, featuring a range of celebrities, from Sofia Vergara to Jon Bon Jovi to Tiësto to Heather Graham to Mike Tyson to Dwyane Wade.
Not to mention one of the most amazing entryways to a pit area you’ll ever see (if you click the link, you’ll see the ceiling roulette wheel spins).
Florida’s DFS Bill That Doesn’t Prohibit Pick’ Em Games
Florida lawmakers have introduced a bill to legalize and regulate daily fantasy sports.
The move is unsurprising, considering the recent crackdown on DFS operators in Florida, but what is surprising is the contents of the bill.
The bill, HB 679, does not mention parlay-style contests or vs. the house contests.
Florida allowing Pick’ Em and vs. the house games goes against the trend in other states.
I’ll let the reader conjecture, but of note, Florida sports betting is a monopoly market controlled by the Seminole Tribe.
Quick Hitter: Florida Sports Betting Legal Updates
There is one more item to report from the Sunshine State today, as there are two minor legal updates from the US Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court.
At the SCOTUS, the court has granted West Flagler’s request to extend the deadline for filing its writ of certiorari from Dec. 11. 2023 to Feb. 8, 2024.
Meanwhile, the Florida Supreme Court, Gov. Ron DeSantis, has requested the court dismiss the lawsuit filed by West Flagler.
Around the Watercooler
Social media conversations, rumors, and gossip.
Jessica Welman picked up on a fascinating subplot during the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s palp discussion.
One such example was MGC Commissioner Jordan Maynard, who said during the meeting, “I can’t stomach enriching a group of people taking advantage of the system.”
This is a critical piece of the palp puzzle. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In states that don’t allow operators to cancel palps, we will likely see the cost of the errors passed on to consumers in other ways, from banning to fewer promotions to worse lines.
Stray Thoughts
Whether it’s a mental or written list, I’m a big believer in dealing with the small but critical undertakings on your to-do list before jumping into the big project. That’s not always an option, but in my experience, it will save you a lot of stress whenever it is.
The last thing I want when I sit down to write a column or put together the Ikea desk with a three-hour build time is to dwell on a dozen little chores I still need to do, especially if I can eliminate most of them in 20 minutes.
If I leave them for later, I sit there overwhelmed, wondering why I can’t focus on the task at hand.
I also don’t want to procrastinate and perform a bunch of tasks that are way down on my to-do list and largely inconsequential, which is where the difference between things you have to do and things you want to or would like to do comes in.
Painting the front door, reading a book, and reorganizing the kitchen cabinets are perfectly acceptable ways to spend your day, but not if they prevent you from grocery shopping, scheduling a doctor’s appointment, and bringing the trash bins to the curb.
Even when I’m productive, I can still feel overwhelmed if I work off my want-to-do list and leave a dozen little tasks for later.
I see the opposite of this occurring in gambling. The industry is hellbent on either trying to find a way to reach the unreachable apples on the tree or is busy patting itself on the back for picking up rotten apples off the ground (the inconsequential stuff) while ignoring the low-hanging fruit.