Just Say No

Missouri State Sen. Denny Hoskins will not compromise on VLTs, which means sports betting is facing an uphill battle in 2024, and likely beyond.

Aug 23, 2023

NEWS: Key Missouri lawmaker says no sports betting without VLTs.
VIEWS: Raynham Park’s wild licensing hearing in Massachusetts demonstrates the good, the bad, and the ugly of regulation.
NEWS: FanDuel’s new promotions signal a shift in sportsbook marketing.
VIEWS: Why states can’t legalize online casinos and online poker. SPOILER: there are a lot of reasons.
AROUND the WATERCOOLER: The legend of Billy Walters
STRAY THOUGHTS: Nibbling around the edges

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Missouri Sports Betting Already on the Ropes

With all of the significant news (Penn-ESPN-Barstool and WynnBet), a very important story that sets the stage for sports betting’s 2024 legislative efforts flew under the radar.

According to Sen. Denny Hoskins, sports betting will not come to Missouri unless VLTs are part of the deal, whether he is in office or not - Hoskins is term-limited and will be out of office at the end of the 2024 session.

Speaking to Play USA’s Matthew Kredell, Hoskins said that while he is the face of the opposition, he is not the only one.

“Am I the only one standing in the way of sportsbook passing? No, I am not. Do I get all the blame? Yes, I do. And that’s fine. It doesn’t bother me. But there are a lot of people who feel the same way I do.”

Hoskins plans to run for Secretary of State and doesn’t think his sports betting stance will have an impact on his campaign, but if his polling numbers take a hit, there is a possibility he could soften his stance during his final year in the Senate.

More Bark Than Bite

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has been praised, criticized, and needled for its often meticulous attention to detail. Hyper-vigilance is a good trait for a regulator but can also go too far.

Overall I think the MGC does an excellent job, but there have been a few instances of “legislating from the bench.” Most notably, the regulatory body overstepped its bounds (IMO) when it considered allowing promotional deductions for operators.

And while the MGC is diligent, it can also lose the plot. Take the current situation with Raynham Park’s license. Which turned into a dumpster fire - I recommend this excellent thread by Jessica Welman for those that haven’t followed the story.

The gist is that there are suitability questions about the son of Raynham Park’s 95-year-old owner. The son, Chris Carney, somehow went from a key employee to an unpaid handyman when his inclusion as a key employee jeopardized the license.

So, while I agree with @billsperos here and love that the MGC leaves no stone unturned, I also have to ask, should 18 hours be wasted on an applicant making contradictory claims?

The MGC made the right decision (we need more answers before moving forward) but spent an excessive amount of time coming to the obvious conclusion. And at no point during this multi-day fiasco did the MGC simply say, you’re not prepared and need to come back when you’re ready - to be blunter, the MGC never said, “Get your ~~shit~~ toxic sludge together and get back to us.” Continuing today’s theme, just say no.

As Commissioner Eileen O’Brien (the most non-nonsense, straight-to-the-point of the commissioners) put it, “The striking thing to me is that the argument for disregarding that would be that the company was so derelict that it would allow someone to represent themselves, and that was fine with them.”

So my question is, at what point do these suitability hearings become a dog and pony show if they will listen to Raynham’s Park arguments for 18 hours and allow the removal of Chris Carney from the application? I know the law all but guaranteed Raynham Park a license, but there should be consequences for filing an application listing someone as a key employee and later claiming they don’t have a role.

The MGC doesn’t need to deny the license flat-out, but there should be very high standards for a licensed, regulated operator in this space. Send them home to redo the assignment. Who knows, maybe they come back with a much better presentation and overall application and become a terrific operator.

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Customer Acquisition 2.0

With several big names about to enter the sports betting space, we are beginning to see new spins on customer acquisition.

One of the first was an effort by one of those new players, the short-lived Fanatics promotion that offered customers who purchased retail merchandise bonus bets at the Fanatics Sportsbook.

FanDuel is now offering a similar promotion (in the opposite direction) tied to Sunday Ticket purchases from YouTube. The promotion provides anyone who bets $5 with $100 off Sunday Ticket, which costs $349 - plus the typical bonus bets. There is currently a $50 savings on Sunday Ticket from YouTube TV, bringing the price down to $199.

And then there is FanDuel Faceoff, which I mentioned in yesterday’s newsletter. Faceoff offers free-to-play games and paid “skill contests” under the DFS umbrella.

With increasing scrutiny on deposit bonuses and free bets, expect to see more of these non-traditional customer acquisition campaigns. Of course, there are also some questions surrounding these offerings and promotions.

As Jamie Salsburg pointed out, the Faceoff games appear to lack RG messaging. It may not be required, but as Salsburg pointed out:

“Once again, I'll highlight how gambling companies consistently derail any hopes of gaining the benefit of the doubt/goodwill. When you do the minimum required by the law with respect to responsible gambling measures, you'll always have an authenticity problem.”

I suspect many new, non-traditional marketing strategies will also fall short on the RG front, as the two divisions, marketing and compliance, tend to have radically different goals.

And as an aside, a recent thread on X has some good discussions on the future of affiliate marketing in the space.

Why Can’t We Have Nice Things?

Matthew Kredell wrote an excellent piece about the lethargic pace of online casinos and online poker legalization in the US for Play USA.

Matt is someone I’ve known for a long time and is easily in my Top 5 most informed people covering the legislative side of the gambling industry - which is why I get extremely angry whenever I visit his profile and see only 1,500 people follow him on Twitter. Seriously, you all need to do better and give Matt a follow @MatthewKredell.

In his column (the second one I’ve linked to in this newsletter), Matt listed a number of reasons for online casino and poker’s US struggles:

Online casino is way down the priority list
States were well-funded thanks to COVID funds from the federal government
A lack of outside support from leagues, teams, and media
Gambling fatigue
Advertising fatigue
Concerns about social harms
Cannibalization concerns

Chris Grove added a couple more:

A divided industry
Online casino is a more controversial vote

And I would add a few others to this list:

A lack of momentum (legislative or as a trending topic)
Constitutional barriers in some states
The tribal-commercial dynamic in many states

Friday’s paid subscriber column is a deep dive into online poker’s legalization struggles, so I won’t go into too much more detail right now.

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Around the Watercooler

Social media conversations, rumors, and gossip.

Legendary gambler Billy Walters was recently honored at Bet Bash, and with a new book coming out, so are the tales of Billy Walters.

Stray Thoughts

In the world of online gambling, sports betting and casino (in the rare instances it occurs) get most of the publicity. But don’t sleep on horse racing or lottery expansions. The more states nibble around the edges, the more likely that a big comprehensive online gambling bill that does include online casinos and online poker passes.

That’s why I’m always on the lookout for small wins.

North Carolina added instant win tickets to its online offerings.
Massachusetts has approved online lottery ticket sales through subscriptions or via Jackpocket (one of Straight to the Point’s sponsors).
And in Maine, there will soon be new ADW operators, as Penn’s exclusive contract comes to and on December 31.

“Some quit due to slow progress. Never grasping the fact that slow progress is still progress.” ~ Anonymous