That's Just Like Your Opinion, Man
The Mississippi Mobile-Online Sports Betting Task Force has mixed feelings about the state's desire to expand into online sports betting.
The Bulletin Board
NEWS: Mississippi Task Force findings point to mixed views on mobile sports betting.
NEWS: Early numbers point to ESPN Bet improving Barstool’s market share.
WEEKEND CATCHUP: PokerStars revamps its loyalty program; VA Weighs in on DFS; Fanatics secures access in NC.
VIEWS: Another Massachusetts misstep by DraftKings as the MGC continues to leave no stone unturned when it comes to major and minor transgressions.
AROUND the WATERCOOLER: California sports betting initiative is deader than dead.
STRAY THOUGHTS: 99 luftballons.
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Mississippi Stakeholders Divided Over Online Betting
As the state considers expanding into mobile betting, Mississippi’s Mobile-Online Sports Betting Task Force released its final report on Friday.
The report doesn’t contain any surprises, but I will point out (as I have forewarned would be the case) that the cannibalization findings from The Innovation Group’s Maryland study made a prominent appearance, as the final paragraph in the Task Force report [bold mine].
“Between 2019 and 2022, the Innovation Group reported that it observed 2% same-store casino revenue growth in non-iGaming states, versus an 8.2% decline in iGaming states, suggesting a cannibalization rate of approximately 10% of casino gaming revenue. Given Maryland’s casino revenue is just over $2 billion annually, the Innovation Group found online gaming would cannibalize more than $200 million in retail casino revenue against a gain of $900 million in iGaming revenue. To minimize this effect, the Innovation Group suggests tethering online licenses to brick-and-mortar casinos, a practice states such as Arkansas, Louisiana, and New Jersey have adopted in approving online sports betting.”
Overall, the report was vanilla, but the comments from task force members contained a bit of spice, as the letters fell into two camps: pro-online and anti-online.
Michael Bruffey of Island View Casino Resort didn’t pull any punches:
Then, there was the statement from Don Mitchell, the CFO of Foundation Gaming & Entertainment, which operates two Mississippi casinos.
Mitchell went on to say that online betting would:
Increase problem and underage gambling.
Lead to the harassment of student-athletes.
Harm brick-and-mortar casinos.
DraftKings Kevin Cochrane did his best to refute the negative claims in the longest letter - Cochrane’s comments came in at ten pages, more than double the length of any other letter. As I often say, it takes 500 words to debunk a single-sentence claim.
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More ESPN Bet Results
Consistency is the best way to describe ESPN Bet’s performance in the handful of states that have reported November revenue.
Last week, the numbers in Maryland, Iowa, and Indiana painted a similar picture of ESPN’s first couple of weeks following its November 14 launch, with the new sportsbook projecting around 10% market share for a whole month.
The latest November results come from Massachusetts and New Jersey, but only one of those locales helps determine ESPN Bet’s early results.
In Massachusetts, ESPN Bet edged out BetMGM for the bronze medal on the podium behind DraftKings and FanDuel. ESPN Bet’s 6.1% handle market share for the month would once again have been closer to 10% if it launched on November 1.
With just a 2.5% market share, the other (somewhat new) entrant in Massachusetts, Fanatics, isn’t faring quite as well. Look for more on this in Friday’s feature column.
Meanwhile, in New Jersey, the state posted incredibly strong numbers, but because of the way handle and revenue are reported, ESPN Bet’s market share is a guessing game. Per Earnings+More, Wells Fargo pegs its share at around 5%, similar to the other locales.
E+M is also reporting that ESPN Bet’s gains are coming at the expense of DraftKings: “The Deutsche Bank team suggested ESPN Bet’s gains appear to have come at the expense of, largely, DraftKings and, to a lesser extent, BetMGM and Caesars.”
Weekend Catchup: PokerStars loyalty program; VA Weighs in on DFS; Fanatics in NC
PokerStars is revamping its rewards program for 2024. According to Pokerfuse, Stars will make “quite significant changes,” bringing flexibility, transparency, and an equal program accessible to winning and losing players. Stars will roll out the changes to .com markets on January 22, with a North American rollout to follow.
Virginia is the latest state to move towards prohibiting vs. the house DFS contests, following a negative opinion from Virginia Attorney General Jason S. Miyares. Per Miyares, any DFS operator wishing to offer vs. the house games must abide by sports betting rules.
Fanatics has entered into an agreement with the Carolina Hurricanes that provides the company a pathway to a North Carolina mobile sports betting license. Fanatics’ deal with the Hurricanes makes it the fourth known mobile betting operator in NC, joining FanDuel, Bet 365, and ESPN Bet.
I was a guest on the Gaming News Canada Show last week where we talked about responsible gambling and the North American online gambling market.
DraftKings Under Fire in Massachusetts (Again)
DraftKings received another stern lecture from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission after it was revealed that the company allowed Massachusetts customers located out-of-state to fund their accounts with credit cards.
DraftKings self-reported the error, informing the MGC that out-of-state customers were able to fund their accounts with credit cards from March 10 through May 30. DraftKings told the MGC that 218 customers placed $83,663.92 in bets via credit card during the timeframe.
Even though the financial transaction occurred outside of Massachusetts, it is still against Massachusetts’ sports betting rules.
Per Jessica Welman, “Not only did MA ban credit card deposits, they required books to ensure those that funded w/ credit cards in other states couldn’t use those funds in the Commonwealth.”
Complicating the matter, DraftKings assured the MGC it would be able to abide by the rule during pre-launch licensing hearings.
Commissioner Jordan Maynard highlighted the severity of the breach, as the rule is in Massachusetts sports betting law and not merely a regulatory violation.
But, there is another aspect of this story. As Welman pointed out on LinkedIn, the regulatory ask in Massachusetts is extremely difficult from a compliance perspective.
“Should state regulators be crafting rules that impact business in other states and how long will operators abide by these demands?” Welman asked.
Commissioner Eileen O’Brien called the violation “egregious” and said it warranted an adjudicatory hearing following an IEB investigation.
This follows DraftKings’ recent palp error (which the MGC was kind enough to cancel with a minor penalty of 3x the original wager) and the news of a class action lawsuit filed against the company in Massachusetts over its $1,000 bonus offer.
Around the Watercooler
Social media conversations, rumors, and gossip.
Remember that dead-on-arrival California sports betting initiative? Well, it’s still dead, as 52 members of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association sent a letter to the group backing the initiative, calling them “imposters” and urging them to drop the effort.
“Your initiatives are a cynical and deceptive attempt to hijack - for your personal gain - the goodwill tribes have earned and maintained for decades with the people of California. According to your own media interviews, these ballot measures are designed to cleanse illegal off-shore online gambling corporations with an appalling track record of illegal gambling, money laundering, and other illicit activities.”
There was, of course, some social media chatter on the situation.
CNIGA also issued a separate statement to Pechanga.net, with Chairman James Siva saying, “The disingenuous nature of these initiatives should be a red flag to every tribal government as well as every voter in California. The proponent of the measures are attempting to divide and conquer tribes by pushing an initiative that attempts to legitimize illicit off-shore operators and putting our governments at risk”
Stray Thoughts
Tomorrow is the 100th edition of the Straight to the Point newsletter since I launched this project in August. Considering how well received the newsletter has been thus far, I’m very much looking forward to the next 100.
Thank you for all of your support.