After BetMGM secured license in Virginia, DraftKing is the second sports betting brand to launch in the state.
The brand received a temporary sports betting permit. Thanks to it, Virginia becomes the twelfth state where DraftKing launches its mobile sportsbook app. The operator’s outgoing sportsbook technology provider Kambi received a supplier license in the state.

Co-founder and chief executive of DraftKings, Jason Robins expressed his excitement for having the opportunity to bring the operator in Virginia just in time for Super Bowl LV. According to his statement, the brand will bring a variety of betting options for sports fans.

He added: “With our customer-first approach, we hope to be the sportsbook of choice for Virginians who enjoy having skin in the game.”

Research on Customer’s Preferences

According to a research, based on customers preferences conducted by DraftKings, Virginia sports fans are most likely to bet on the National Football League (NFL), followed by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and then college football.

The researched showed also that the most favorite NFL teams for Virginia sports fans are The Washington Football team, which although is headquartered in the state, plays in Maryland, and the Dallas Cowboys.

When it came to NBA teams, Virginia sports fans prefer Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards before any other US team.

Virginia became the first US state to launch online sports betting in 2021, even before Michigan, after FanDuel became the first sports betting brand to secure temporary permit. DraftKings is the second brand.

Virginia and Michigan will be followed by other states where online gaming and sports betting is expected to launch in 2021.

As a way to compensate for financial losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Kentucky lawmakers announced making another attempt to legalize sports betting. Since many neighboring states had done so, it is only logical for Kentucky to follow them.

Another reason for the legalization is the fact that many gamblers can still go around the prohibition on wagering, which can lead to huge losses for the state.

The situation is similar in Georgia. According to a research, the illegal gaming is worth of $1.5 billion. The legalization will bring that cash to the legal market in the state.

According to a statement given by the Virginia Lottery, the FanDuel application received a “substantial and preferred consideration”, because of its partnership with the Washington Football Team.

BetMGM is the third brand to receive a permit after FanDuel and DraftKings. The three companies will be followed by MGM Resorts and Entain.

According to Virginia’s legislation, only 12 mobile brands are allowed to launch. They will have to pay a $250,000 fee for license permit. The tax rate has been set at 15% of gross revenue.

Source: “DraftKings launches in Virginia’s mobile betting market”, IGB North America, January 25, 2021

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New Hampshire’s sports gambling market opened a year ago and sprinted off the blocks. Less than two years after the U.S. Supreme Court bashed lawmakers and certain lobbyists for having introduced PASPA, the state’s online sports gambling activity saw strong participation from the start, even though there was some concern over how the market might evolve. With that in mind, limits were placed on the number of licenses that would be issued and the type of venues that could hold a license. A new bill hopes to chip away at those limits, allowing New Hampshire to see a large sports gambling market with more sportsbooks popping up across the state.

Following the mobile-only launch, retail sportsbooks began appearing in New Hampshire when DraftKings descended on The Brook in Seabrook last August (it later expanded and was included in the Filotimo Casino & Restaurant in Manchester). Over the past six months, there has been more than $225.7 million in sports wagers made, according to the New Hampshire Lottery, and around $18.4 million of that has gone to sportsbooks. Legislators believe there’s more money to be made, though, and want certain restrictions in the state’s sports gambling laws removed. 

One of these restrictions is on the type of wagers that can be placed. Currently, physical sportsbooks and gambling kiosks aren’t able to include live in-game odds, which handicaps gamblers. New Hampshire Representative Tim Lang, who sponsored the gambling bill, is leading the charge to get this changed and told The Center Square, “It makes zero sense. I could literally be sitting in the casino, where I could place a bet before the game started. But once the game started, I would have to take out my phone to place another bet.”

Lang put together House Bill 330 (HB330) to address that flaw in the gambling laws and took advantage of the effort to add some additional actions. Currently, only a maximum of ten retail sportsbooks are allowed in the state; however, if Lang’s bill were to be approved, there would be no cap. This might be tied to an initiative begun by the Lottery, which manages New Hampshire’s sports gambling market, given that the entity has trademarked a new name that is most likely linked to sports gambling. Sports 603 is expected to be a company run by the Lottery that would put sports gambling kiosks in locations around the state where residents can buy lottery tickets.

New Hampshire’s immediate neighbors don’t yet offer sports gambling, which is part of the reason the state has seen a high level of success. Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont don’t have sportsbooks, but could soon, and New York’s upstate sportsbooks are too far away. The Empire State could see more sports gambling activity later this year, but there’s still a long road ahead. In the meantime, New Hampshire will be able to capitalize on the Super Bowl and the NCAA’s March Madness, two of the most popular sports gambling activities on the market.

The post New Hampshire looks to rapidly expand its sports gambling market appeared first on CalvinAyre.com.

Crown Resorts is definitely no longer the jewel of the Australian gaming scene and can no longer expect to receive the same level of respect that it had one enjoyed. Tales of money laundering, war criminals, employee mistreatment, machine tampering and more have hobbled the once-great empire and most people believe that it is now on its knees, begging for mercy. It is asserting that it is at risk of having to give away massive amounts of money if credit ratings agencies don’t ease up; however, the agencies are only reaching their conclusions based on the company’s actions and inactions. 

The Guardian reports that Crown could have to repay over AUD$175 million ($135 million) if the agencies continue to mark down the company. Moody’s took Crown to Baa3 last November, which is just one step above being considered junk. The agency is also reportedly considering another push downward, given that Crown is still facing an inquiry by the New South Wales (NSW) Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) and its future status as a casino license holder is still in question. 

Yesterday, it was announced that Moody’s wasn’t willing to rate the $135 million in debt that was offered as euro medium-term notes (EMTN). These notes have been held by Crown for more than 14 years and are thought to belong to a Japanese investor. Although Moody’s won’t touch the debt, both Fitch and Standard & Poor’s (S&P) have rated it, giving it a rating of BBB, which is only two levels above junk. 

Should Fitch and S&P decide to follow Moody’s and either withdraw their ratings or list the debt as junk, that would allow the holder of the notes to claim repayment. That claim could potentially cover the face value, as well as interest that would have been paid between now and 2036, the year the debt would have matured. While Crown is believed to have the money to be able to cover the repayment, it would certainly impact its ability to work on other projects.

Those other projects could already be in jeopardy, depending on what happens at the NSW inquiry. Moody’s believes that Crown’s entire future depends on the outcome of the current investigation and asserted last November, “We also view there to be an increasing likelihood of material downside implications from the escalating regulatory investigations Crown is facing. These could include large fines and/or changes to Crown’s licensing conditions in Sydney, with license loss being the most severe, although still unlikely, outcome. ILGA’s review also raises the potential for regulators of Crown’s operations in Victoria and Western Australia to undertake their own reviews, with possible negative consequences for Crown’s business in those states.”

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Pennsylvania announced its sports-betting handle reaching a record-breaking $548.6 million for the month of December 2020. Among the beneficiaries are the digital sportsbook providers DraftKings and Penn National Gaming.

According to the report recently released, Pennsylvania is moving up the ladder for sports betting. After the record-breaking handle, the state is now on third place, while New Jersey is first and Nevada is the second state.

Sports betting seems to be evolving in Pennsylvania since the last record was reported in November 2020, meaning that each month, it appears to be accelerating.

In November the handle was $525.8 million. An important detail is the fact that a total of 97.5% of December’s figure consisted of online sports betting, because the physical outlets were closed due to the coronavirus restrictions in the state.

Penn National Gaming and DraftKings Beneficiaries

Out of the record-breaking amount, Penn’s online sportsbook Barstool gained $71.8 million worth of wagers, racking up $13.9 million in revenue. This significant amount is about 42% of the total revenue gained by all gambling apps.

DraftKings only made $5.4 million in revenue, which is less than half of Barstool’s profit. Aside from that, DraftKings made more than $100 million in sports betting in Pennsylvania for the forth month in a row at $131.5 million, which means that the profit is not so small after all. In wagers DraftKings made twice as much as in revenue.

Penn acquired Barstool last year. It seems that it was a strategic decision, based on the fact that Barstool’s demographic are mostly young males, who are the most avid sports better.

The investment started paying off almost right from the start when Barstool sportsbook debuted in Detroit’s Greektown Casino. It happened in the very day the casino started operating again after the state-mandatory shutdown lasted for a month.

As part of the Barstool’s expansion plan, around the Christmas holidays, the sportsbook debuted at two casinos in Indiana.

Penn is planning to continue its expansion to other states starting with Michigan now that the state legalized online sports betting.

DraftKings is another one of the reported companies to enter Michigan’s recently opened online gambling market.
DraftKings is currently partnering with Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley, which is situated in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

The company’s mobile betting products are already available in several states, including Colorado, Indiana, Iowa and soon Michigan.

Source: “DraftKings, Penn National Profit From Record-Breaking Pennsylvania December Sports Betting”, Rhian Hunt, January 20, 2021

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Salsa Technology went into partnership with Belatra Games to boost its Game Aggregation Platform (GAP).
The recent deal will enable Belatra Games’s expansion on the Latin American market. Each game made by Belatra Games will be available through only one integration.

The Belarus-based company started its world-wide expansion back in 2017. The recent appearance in Latin America will provide customers with some of the best performing titles owned by the company.

Titles Included in the Deal

Some of the titles include popular European and American Roulette, as well as Lucky Roulette. Part of the content deal is bingo, as well as several slot titles such as Bank Robbers, Lavish Joker, 7 Fruits and Monkey Jackpot.

The CEO at Salsa Technology, Peter Nolte expressed his excitement for having the opportunity to welcome the brilliant casino titles, owned by Belatra Games, to their GAP.

He added: “Our dominant position in LatAm means these titles will get the exposure they deserve and I’m assured it will deliver a very productive partnership.”

In the mean time, Belatra Games’ Deputy Director, Sales and Marketing, Sergey Chernyavski stated that his company is pleased by the recent partnership and long-term cooperation with the company that is well-respected in the iGaming industry.

Chernyavski expressed his confidence that the partnership will allow Belatra Games to “achieve significant business growth and will allow a wider audience to get acquainted with our online games.”

Salsa Technology was born through the rebranding of Patagonian Entertainment in January last year. Patagonian Entertainment Started as a project for developing video-bingo games in 2014.

After the rebranding, Salsa Technology started making name for itself as an omni-channel iGaming Platform servicing all kinds of operators, whether they are land-based or online. It is known also as one of the most innovative companies on the market.

The company is already available on the Latin American market and is increasing its presence on other regulated markets around the globe.

Not long after the rebranding last year, Salsa Tech sealed a partnership deal with the online content provider Wazdan. The integration provided customers from Latin America and Asia with have access to Wazdan’s slots.

Belatra Games is a company that produces electronic equipment, operating systems and means of increasing profitability of casinos and game arcades.

The company manufactures everything connected to games and has been doing it for 20 years now.

Belatra Games is known for keeping up with the change of time by following latest trends and using some of the most progressive technology.

The most recent deal with Salsa Technology is set to benefit both companies’ development.

Source: “Salsa Technology boosts offering with Belatra Games deal”, Casino City Times, January 20, 2021

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