The Tortoise And The Hare
Online casino is playing the role of the tortoise to sports betting's hare, but unlike the fable, online casino isn't overtaking sports betting anytime soon.
The Bulletin Board
QUICK HITTER: North Carolina’s mobile sports betting launch date is set.
NEWS: Maryland’s 2024 online casino efforts find opposition at every corner.
NEWS: Illinois Rep. calls online casino effort a “long-term project.”
LOOSE ENDS: Sports Betting Hits $300B; UK Affordability Checks; NJ Gambling Ad Bill; GG Poker Rewards; FDJ Bids on Kindred.
QUICK HITTER: Barstool’s sports betting return.
AROUND the WATERCOOLER: Print media is experiencing the inevitable.
STRAY THOUGHTS: A goal + consistent practice = results.
SPONSOR’S MESSAGE - SUBSCRIBE NOW to Zero Latency, the new podcast from Eilers & Krejcik Gaming that provides unparalleled insight into the US online gambling industry through interviews with industry insiders and analysis from EKG experts.
Quick Hitter: North Carolina Has a Mobile Launch Date
The North Carolina State Lottery has set a launch date for the state’s first batch of mobile sports betting apps: March 11, with bettors able to preregister and fund their accounts beginning on March 1.
Maryland Committee Is Not Sold on Online Gambling
Maryland’s online casino bill was already facing opposition from problem gambling advocates and labor, and following a committee briefing last week, its path to the 2024 ballot seems more improbable.
As reported by Bonus.com (in another excellent writeup):
“While the committee’s chairwoman emphasized that the meeting was a “this is not a hearing, it is a briefing,” lawmakers honed in on the study’s finding that iGaming would decrease retail casino revenue by 10%. Land-based casino jobs would also decrease by between 4% and 8%. However, live dealers for online casinos would add personnel to the state workforce.”
That 10% number isn’t going away in Maryland, or any other locale considering legalizing online casinos.
I’ve been around the online gambling legalization process for roughly 15 years, and I’ve been intimately involved (speaking to the lawmakers and their staff) for a decade. All the other numbers in the study and the positive platitudes expressed by online gambling supporter Sen. Ron Watson to Bonus.com are brushed aside. The only thing lawmakers are hearing is 10% cannibalization and job loss.
As I wrote when the report was first released, with its 10% cannibalization finding, “The TIG report has one extremely startling data point, and that data point is very likely going to derail Maryland’s (and potentially other states’) online gambling hopes.”
Illinois Online Gambling Bill Is a 2024 Longshot
Maryland may still be in play, but the number of states that have already pushed online casino legalization off to next year continues to grow. Illinois is the latest state to unofficially close the book on 2024 (and similar tidings are coming out of Iowa).
Illinois Rep. Edgar Gonzalez Jr. told Bonus.com that online gambling legalization is inevitable, but 2024 is likely out of the question, making it a “long-term project.”
In an election year, legislation becomes far more difficult to pass, Gonzalez Jr. told Bonus before outlining the possible path forward. “But because the budget is a perpetual discussion, as well as new revenue streams, I want to be sure that this bill is in the discussion.”
A long-term project is the understatement of the decade. Yes, Illinois has explored online casino legalization in recent years (following the legalization of mobile sports betting), but efforts date back to 2013. Of note, Illinois, along with New York, was the driving force behind the 2011 Wire Act opinion that opened the door for states to legalize online gambling. In March 2012, it became the first state to sell legal online lottery tickets.
However, as lobbyist Steve Brubaker has long said (this tweet is from 2021), “Until Illinois casinos and OSBs can figure out how to get the VGTs on board, there will be no online casino in Illinois. It’s that simple. They have 40k+ units in nearly every legislative district, and they throw off a ridiculous amount of state/ local tax.”
Loose Ends: Sports Betting Hits $300B; UK Affordability Checks; NJ Ad Bill; GG Poker Rewards; Kindred Sale
The US sports betting industry has hit $300 billion (that’s a billion with a B) in wagers since the repeal of PASPA in May 2018, per Chris Altruda, whom I’ve dubbed the gambling industry’s Steve Kornacki, for his tracking of handle and revenue numbers.
The UK Parliament will debate affordability checks on February 26. The regulated industry and responsible gambling advocates find themselves on opposite sides of this very thorny issue. The industry claims the checks will push players into the black market.
A new bill (S 2156) would codify regulatory enforcement of gambling ads in New Jersey - online and brick-and-mortar. The changes 1) Are not deceptive or fraudulent, and 2) Do not target individuals who are self-excluded or underaged.
GG Poker is trying to outdo PokerStars’ recent rewards program overhaul. Per PokerFuse, “between January 15 and February 14 this year, GGPoker is offering all players a unique opportunity to claim the brand new Killer Whale rank in their Fish Buffet player rewards scheme, earning a flat rate of 50% rakeback. Players will maintain that new level for a period of 100 days without any further requirements.”
This is a big story internationally and is worth a mention here, even if Kindred (Unibet) has exited the North American market. This move led to speculation of an acquisition, and sure enough, the online gambling giant’s board has accepted an offer from French lottery operator Française des Jeux (FDJ) at an all-cash price of $2.8 billion.
Quick Hitter: Barstool Returns With DraftKings Partnership
Sportico broke the news that Barstool Sports is finalizing a marketing agreement with DraftKings that would result in Barstool having a traditional marketing (affiliate) relationship with DraftKings.
Per Sportico’s Eben Novy-Williams, “the talks have centered around a multiyear deal that will pay Barstool in the low eight figures per year.” Williams noted the deal cannot be finalized until after the Super Bowl due to the noncompete Barstool signed following its separation with Penn Entertainment.
The news sent social media into a tizzy, thanks to Barstool’s polarizing brand and the way the Penn-Barstool partnership abruptly and unceremoniously ended. Many commenters were surprised by the short duration of the noncompete:
But as I said when the relationship dissolved, Barstool seemed to have all the negotiating leverage, as Penn was interested in moving on to ESPN.
I also recommend this excellent X thread by Chris Grove. And there is one more component of this deal that no one is discussing, which I will write about next week.
Around the Watercooler
Social media conversations, rumors, and gossip.
One of the big stories last week was the mass layoffs at Sports Illustrated. As many have noted, anyone of a certain age has a soft spot for the weekly periodical.
That soft spot is for what Sports Illustrated was and for its role during the pre-internet media era. Mistakes and mismanagement aside, in 2024, its demise was inevitable.
There are lessons to learn. As Joe Pompliano points out, in an effort to modernize, SI began embracing the parts of the modern media landscape people dislike.
I don’t want to say, “Print is dead,” but it’s looking more and more like print is dead.
For more on this and a warning to the gaming industry, I highly recommend this recent column in GGB by Michael Pollock.
Stray Thoughts
When I was about 11 or 12 years old, I got really into basketball. Growing up, I played quite a bit and had the obligatory hoop in the driveway, so the base skills were there. Still, it was just another sport to play with friends.
At some point, that changed, and I became a park rat.
I spent every spare moment at the town park. Rain, snow, 6 AM or 9 PM (the lights went out at 9:30), and one of the things I wanted to do was grab the rim, which I figured is what I needed to do to slap the backboard on my layups like all the cool older guys did. At this point, I should mention I’m about 5’ tall and weigh 100 lbs... if I’m carrying two gallons of milk.
Step 1: Touch the bottom of the net. That took a while, and it was fingertips barely getting there for a very long time. But it was the first step of the ladder, and each rung of the net was a sign of improvement. The first time my fingertips scraped the metal rim (ok, it was the metal loops that held the net), I was ecstatic.
The interesting thing was that at a certain point, my progress exploded (puberty + practice = results?), and the higher on the net I climbed, the more time I put into getting higher and higher. I started working on jumping off one foot, two feet, one-step, straight vertical, running starts, from a deep squat or calves-only.
When I was 16, I could grab the rim with little effort and dunk a basketball (at 5’ 11”), but only by throwing it off the backboard to myself. But by 17, I could stand under the rim, do a 360, and grab the rim with both hands (a neat trick if you’re trying to get picked for pickup basketball at a crowded court). Remember, my goal was to grab the rim, but the achievements came one after another once I got there.
I’ve touched on this several times in this section: the difficulty at the beginning, consistency leading to progress, having a goal to aim for, and what happens once that goal is reached - do you stop or keep going? This is why I tend to hold back criticisms early on and give everyone grace when starting.