Weekender: LVS Fears iGaming; Election Betting; Affiliates
Weekender: LVS Fears iGaming; Election Betting; Affiliates
A major casino company harbors iGaming concerns. We need to pay more attention to election betting. A bad week for affiliates.
The Bulletin Board
ABOVE the FOLD: A look at the three biggest stories of the week.
— Las Vegas Sands expresses concerns about online gambling.
— Don’t sleep on the importance of election betting.
— The US affiliate industry’s
badterribleatrocious week.HOUSEKEEPING: A look at recent podcasts, featured articles, and more from yours truly.
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Las Vegas Sands Reignites the “iGaming Is the Devil” Fuse
A decade ago, a single person kept online casinos and poker from spreading across the US: the late Sheldon Adelson, the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Las Vegas Sands.
It appears old habits die hard, as current Las Vegas Sands CEO Rob Goldstein has concerns about online gambling, saying of the company’s New York casino proposal during the company’s recent earnings call (as I reported on Monday):
“We remain interested in the process… The only concern is the ongoing strength of online gambling.
“We can't ignore what's happening in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. But we build capital-intense buildings that require a long-term perspective. And I must admit that there's got to be some kind of way of thinking about how the online impact would be… My personal thinking has been influenced somewhat by the last six months as I see the growth of online gambling.”
“My concern is our buildings take a long time… they take years to finish. I need some understanding of how the market, if any market, does legalize it to think about what it means to my capital investment.”
I’ll have more thoughts on the legitimacy of these concerns in an upcoming feature column.
Election Betting: Gambling’s Biggest Little Story
Election betting is flying under the radar, which puts into perspective how much is happening in the gambling universe.
But it is not flying under STTP’s radar, as the newsletter contained two election betting stories this week.
The first looked at the CFTC’s uneasiness with policing the election betting markets, as US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Rostin Behnam told Bloomberg:
“We don’t believe listing event contracts on political elections is legal, but while we have this ongoing legal challenge, we’ll allow them and do what we can to protect the integrity of the markets,” Behnam said. “Whether or not there has been manipulation or fraud remains to be seen.”
The second election betting news item was the entrance of Robinhood.
Daniel Powter’s Ode to Gambling Affiliates
The trials and tribulations of US gambling affiliates have been one of the bigger stories this year, and the last week was perhaps the worst the sector has ever seen, with three of the most prominent affiliate companies in the world generating negative headlines:
XL Media sold off its remaining US assets to Sportradar.
Catena Media, the former final boss of the US online gambling affiliate sector, went through another round of layoffs, a $40 million write-down, and appears ready to send even more established sites into mothball (as it did with Online Poker Report in 2022).
Better Collective (the new #1) saw its stock price plummet after it lowered its FY 2024 guidance by more than 10%, along with an announced $50 million reduction in costs by streamlining its operation — the company announced a round of layoffs on Tuesday, reportedly letting as many as 100 individuals go.
I wrote about the current state of the US affiliate industry on Friday.
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Housekeeping
The Forecast is a premium service that provides quarterly reports and weekly updates on the US online gambling sector. I created it specifically for individuals and organizations interested in an unbiased, clear-cut assessment of the landscape.
The Forecast debuts this week, but you can still sign up for an annual subscription, costing $2,600 annually (just $50 per week).
Reach out here for more details or to register your organization for The Forecast.
PODCASTS:
This week’s guest on the Talking Shop Podcast was Dillon Borgida, the Vice President of VIP at Underdog Fantasy and, I believe, the foremost thought leader on VIP programs in the space. This was a great conversation with a lot of food for thought.
You can listen to my full conversation with Dillon here
COLUMNS:
This week’s featured column examines the increasingly rocky road US gambling affiliates are traversing. As I said in the final paragraph:
“When a company becomes too focused on the bottom line, it loses its identity. Its strategies no longer align with its stated goals, and it becomes a rudderless ship, dependent on a well-timed gust of wind from Lady Luck to deliver it to shore. And unless Lady Luck (massive online casino expansion) shows up, affiliates are in for a rough few years.”
You can read the full column here
Why hire Steve Ruddock? Over the years, Steve has advised startups, national gambling companies, government agencies, and investment banks on a wide variety of topics.
Whether you’re looking for market research, want to raise your brand awareness, or are trying to develop responsible gaming strategies, Steve can help with honest, balanced, no-nonsense analysis of the situation.
Steve’s unique experience and insights are often the missing piece to the puzzle.
Reach out for more information: Straight to the Point Consulting.