The past week saw some important developments in the US sports betting and gaming industry. Between the midterm elections on Tuesday, professional sports leagues scrambling to get in on the action and the approaching six month anniversary of the landmark US Supreme Court ruling on the issue, things were never more dynamic in the market.
Kicking off the week was another deal announced by the National Hockey League. In just a short span of time, the sports league that swore that it would never link itself to gambling entities, signed two such partnerships. The first was with MGM Resorts, and last week saw the NHL enter into an official partnership with FanDuel. This will see the latter run promos for headline NHL events such as the All-Star Game.
Politics played a big part in last week’s gambling news in the United States. The midterm elections saw six states vote on gambling-related issues. There were some excellent results for southern states, especially Arkansas and Louisiana.
54% of voters in Arkansas voted in favor of the controversial Issue 4 which will usher in sports betting to the state. By June next year, Arkansas gambling regulators will begin accepting applications for sports betting licenses at four specific locations, and we should see significant progress in 2019.
47 out of 64 parishes in Louisiana voted in favor of Daily Fantasy Sports, and once issues such as taxation and regulation have been hammered out, progress will also be seen in that area as well.
Changes were also seen in Florida, where voters took exclusive control over the future of gambling expansion in the state by voting yes for Amendment 3. Greyhound racing will be phased out of the state within the next two years after Amendment 13 was also voted in.
It was a busy week for gambling groups as well, with many of them reporting on their third quarter results. MGM Resorts reported that it is in partnership talks with “a vast number of teams” as it continues to tap into the new sports betting market. Churchill Downs said in its report that it was getting ready to offer sports betting in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in the near future. Caesars also reported on new sponsorship deals in the expanding sports betting market, while FanDuel owners, Paddy Power Betfair pointed out the growing value of their DFS brand.
