Do Not Pass Go
Rush Street Interactive can breathe a sigh of relief as time runs out on the Delaware legislature's efforts to end the state's sports betting and online casino monopoly.
The Bulletin Board
NEWS: Delaware’s legislative session has ended, and its sports betting and online casino monopoly is still intact.
BEYOND the HEADLINE: Evolution live dealer games are now available in Delaware.
LOOSE ENDS: Bally Bet is live in MA; BlueBet exits IN; CT Online Lottery official launch; Reads of the week.
AROUND the WATERCOOLER: Is the government finally ready to raise the slot reporting threshold?
STRAY THOUGHTS: Happy 4th!
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Delaware Will Remain a Monopoly Online Gambling State
The Delaware legislature did not advance a bill that would have ended the state-run monopoly, which Rush Street Interactive is currently fulfilling. The effort would have opened the state’s sports betting industry to other operators.
As Ryan Butler pointed out on X, there are still five true sports betting monopoly markets in the US — DC is also a monopoly market, but that appears to be changing, given the recent passage of a bill by the city council that brings an end to the lottery-run monopoly in the city:
There is a narrative that monopolies are bad for business. The truth is that monopoly markets have been a mixed bag. While a monopoly isn’t optimal, it’s not a recipe for disaster if the right partner is selected, as evidenced by FanDuel’s turnaround of the DC market after taking over from Gambet and Delaware’s rapid improvement after RSI took over from 888.
As previously reported (here and here):
“After taking over from GambetDC, FanDuel’s early performance is a clear indication of just how bad things were in the nation’s capital. FanDuel generated $30 million in betting handle in its first month, a 673% increase.”
“Since replacing 888 in January, Rush Street Interactive has grown the Delaware online gambling market by leaps and bounds, effectively tripling online casino revenue and nearly doubling sports betting revenue overnight.”
Another example is New Hampshire, a middle-of-the-pack state in terms of per-adult handle and GGR, and as the Florida market matures, it will likely post some strong numbers despite being a monopoly.
Beyond the Headline: RSI Launches Evolution Live Dealer Games in Delaware
Live dealer online casino games are now available in Delaware through a partnership between BetRivers and Evolution.
As reported by Bonus.com, “Evolution’s products are available at all three Delaware online casinos, all of which use the BetRivers platform: Delaware Park Casino, Bally’s Dover Casino Resort, and Harrington Raceway & Casino.” The games are streamed from Evolution’s live dealer studio in New Jersey.
Adding live dealer games will further bolster BetRivers growing Delaware numbers, as it is one of the more popular offerings at US online casinos.
In a 2017 interview, Thomas Winter, the founder and former president of Golden Nugget Online Gaming, told me that internal surveys pointed to brick-and-mortar customers’ lack of trust as a key barrier to registering online accounts. Winter believes live-dealer games help remedy this concern.
“We believe this has attracted patrons who would not have played online otherwise, for it was perceived somewhat cold and too far from the social experience a brick-and-mortar casino typically offers.”
In a 2018 interview now lost to the internet, Winter told me that online table game revenue increased by 150% in the two years since the casino began offering live dealer games.
Loose Ends: Bally Bet Is Live in MA; BlueBet Exits IN; CT Online Lottery Official Launch; Reads of the Week
Bally Bet is (finally) live in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission approved Bally’s for a temporary sports betting license in February 2023, but the company decided not to participate in the universal launch on March 10, 2023. The long delay is now over, as the company received a certificate of operations from the MGC on Monday and went live at 11 AM on Tuesday, July 2, with its mobile app powered by White Hat Gaming and Kambi.
BlueBet’s run in Indiana comes to an end: The US sports betting market has claimed another victim with the announcement that BlueBet is leaving the Indiana market. Per EGR Global, BlueBet and Horseshoe Hammond mutually agreed to end their market access agreement. The company, which merged with Australian bookmaker Betr (not to be confused with the US Betr), is still active in three other states… at least for now. The company announced a “strategic review” of its US operations after the merger.
Connecticut online lottery cleared for full launch: Connecticut Lottery Manager of Public Affairs Art Mongillo told Play USA that the online lottery had been in a soft-launch phase, which restricted the number of registrants and hours of operations. Now that we have exited soft launch, those restrictions have been lifted,” Mongillo said.
What I’m reading: A few stories worth your time.
Study: The diminishing impact of casino free-play promotions ~ University of Nevada, Las Vegas
The US Online Sports Betting Ecosystem Can’t Handle the Truth ~ Casino Reports
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Around the Watercooler
Social media conversations, rumors, and gossip.
Is the slot threshold finally going to be increased?
Per reporting from Vixio, it’s looking more likely, as a new report from the House Appropriations Committee, “The committee recognizes that the IRS Advisory Committee (IRSAC) Public Report published in November 2023, recommends the reporting threshold for Form W-2G to be increased to $5,000.”
Stray Thoughts
Happy Fourth of July!
And now for an incredibly somber song picked solely for the title