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Professional Pickleball Strengthens Sports Betting Offering With Compliance Monitor

The Professional Pickleball Association this week announced a partnership with Integrity Compliance 360 (IC360) to monitor its PPA Tour for fair play better.

Professional Pickleball PPA Integrity 360
The Professional Pickleball Association has partnered with Integrity Compliance 360 for sports betting monitoring. The PPA hopes more state gaming regulators will allow its tour to be included in the permissible events catalog. (Image: Carvana PPA Tour)

Seeking to expand its product to more legal sports betting states in the US, the PPA, headquartered in Las Vegas, is bringing on a third-party monitor to oversee the legal betting activity surrounding its competitions. IC360 is a leading sports betting integrity firm that provides compliance solutions for sportsbooks and leagues.

As a leader in the sports betting integrity monitoring field, IC360 will help educate, guide, and provide crucial oversight of professional pickleball in the betting sphere,” said Justin Mader, the PPA’s gambling operations manager. “Our goal is to provide an engaging sports betting product while maintaining the integrity and fair play standards on the PPA Tour, and the partnership with IC360 will further solidify this foundation.”

The Sports and Fitness Industry Association named pickleball as the fastest-growing sport in the US in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Today, there are an estimated 36.5 million pickleball players in the US and the game is forecast to continue growing through at least 2028.  

Pickleball Popularity

Pickleball’s origins date back to the mid-1960s when the game was developed in Washington State. Pickleball has since become the state’s official sport.

Pickleball involves elements of tennis and table tennis but has its own specific rules and court dimensions. The hard plastic ball used in pickleball also produces less bounce than a tennis ball.

Pickleball’s rise in popularity over the past decade has resulted in many country clubs, fitness centers, community associations, and neighborhood parks incorporating pickleball courts. The game’s appeal has also lent to sports betting where bettors continue to seek lines for PPA tournaments.

Pickleball betting at regulated sportsbooks, however, remains limited to just 10 of the nearly 40 legal sports betting jurisdictions in the US. Being a niche sport where there are far fewer eyes on the game compared with one of the “big four” leagues, some state regulators have been hesitant to allow their sportsbooks to take action on PPA events.

Bringing on IC360 will help satisfy integrity concerns and a PPA player’s potential ability to fix a match. IC360 will deploy ProhiBet, an advanced, fully encrypted, decentralized cross-monitoring notification platform to supervise PPA betting activity.

ProhiBet is designed to safeguard sports integrity and ensure adherence to state-specific regulations. The tool also plays a crucial role in ensuring prohibited persons don’t engage in sports betting, which for the PPA, includes players, coaches, officials, and league staff.

24/7 Monitoring, Analysis

IC360 says its ProhiBet platform keeps tabs on its partnered leagues around the clock to “proactively identify irregular watering patterns.” The partnership, the PPA hopes, will bring increased transparency to the PPA Tour and ideally make the game more suitable for legal sports betting.

Sports betting has been cited for increasing interest, viewership, and overall fan engagement for the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and college sports.

Next month, the first Las Vegas Pickleball Cup, a PPA-sanctioned tournament, will be held at the Fontainebleau on the Strip. Among the legal sports betting states where bettors will be offered odds on the tourney are Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington, and Wyoming.

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Caesars Boosts Sports Betting Tech with ZeroFlucs Acquisition

In a move aimed at bolstering its sportsbook technology, Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR) said today it is acquiring ZeroFlucs Group Pty Ltd.

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Visitors entering Caesars Palace Las Vegas. The operator is acquiring ZeroFlucs to add to its sports betting tech stack. (Image: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg)

The Australian company is a software provider whose products allow sportsbook operators to efficiently update odds and pricing while maintaining existing data relationships. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The ZeroFlucs acquisition follows a successful integration of ZeroFlucs’ technology into the Caesars Sportsbook platform through a commercial arrangement that enabled the recent launch of new products, such as in-play same-game parlays (SGPs) and a vastly improved menu of ‘SGP-eligible’ markets for Major League Baseball,” according to a statement.

Caesars did not say when the transaction will close, but the buyer noted Steve Gray and Carly Christensen will remain at the helm of ZeroFlucs with Christensen joining Caesars Digital as senior vice president of price technology.

Sports Betting Tech Race Heating Up

The Caesars deal for ZeroFlucs is the latest sign of an intensifying race for sports wagering technology.

The transaction was announced less than two weeks after MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) said its LeoVegas unit would purchase the US iGaming and sportsbook operations of Tipico Group for an undisclosed sum — a move market observers believe is largely rooted in technology.

With live betting and SGPs prime avenues through which sportsbook operators can increase hold and profits, shoring up tech stacks becomes an essential objective because many bettors that are enticed by these long odds wagers will make decisions on where to place those bets based on operators’ tech offerings.

Regarding ZeroFlucs, “the acquisition cements a relationship between the companies that has already improved the customer experience and will continue to unlock exciting new product features and benefits for Caesars Sportsbook bettor,” added Caesars in the press release.

How ZeroFlucs Can Help Caesars

As technology further penetrates the world of sports wagering, speed is essential in boosting the menu of live wagers a sportsbook operator can offer bettors.

In nearly all major team sports, in-game odds can shift on a play-by-play basis — a touchdown, a home run, etc. Sluggish technology can force operators to only refresh odds during breaks in the action, but wise bettors know they might not be getting the best odds.

Specific to ZeroFlucs and Caesars, the acquired company’s competencies in baseball SGPs could be enticing because due to the slow-moving nature of that sport, it’s conducive to SGPs and live wagering. That fact isn’t lost on gaming companies and with better technology, it’s possible operators will lure more bets on baseball — a sport that trails football and basketball by handle by wide margins.

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Washington, DC Could Soon Have Competitive Sports Betting Market

Washington, DC could soon allow multiple operators to conduct mobile sports wagering in the District after City Council member Kenyan McDuffie’s (I-At Large) amendment to broaden the market was included in the council’s proposed budget for fiscal 2025, which was passed Tuesday.

White House
A street-level view of the White House in Washington, DC. The city could soon open its online sports betting market to multiple competitors. (Image: Adobe Stock Images)

McDuffie introduced the Sports Wagering Amendment Act of 2024 in March. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) still has to approve the budget, but if she does, that could open the door to the city having more than one mobile sports betting option. Currently, FanDuel has a monopoly on mobile betting in the US capitol city.

The unit of Flutter Entertainment took over online sports betting in the city in April after the city council allowed Intralot to subcontract its responsibilities out to another company. Intralot previously ran the heavily criticized GambetDC app.

Last month, representatives from BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, and Fanatics Betting & Gaming testified before the Washington, DC City Council’s Committee Business and Economic Development Committee to advocate for a more competitive mobile sports betting landscape in the city.

Usual Suspects Likely to Eye DC Sports Betting Entry

Should Washington, DC’s sports wagering market be liberalized, forcing FanDuel to shed its brief monopoly, the typical names in the industry would likely seek entry.

Currently, BetMGM (Nationals Park) and Caesars Sportsbook (Capital One Arena) have retail sportsbooks at professional sports venues in the city. Those operators would almost certainly pursue licenses if the District opens to mobile wagering competition as would rivals DraftKings and Fanatics.

A decision on making the District’s sports betting market could boil down to simple economics. FanDuel paid a $5 million conversion fee to the Office of Lottery and Gaming (OLG) to take over the Intralot deal and is promising $2 million to $4 million in annual operating payments to the city. If several other gaming companies made similar financial commitments, mobile betting expansion could be a significant moneymaker for the city.

However, there are market share considerations for operators. While Washington, DC is an enticing market for sportsbook firms, there are no guarantees adequate threats to FanDuel will be mounted. In the first quarter in neighboring Virginia, FanDuell commanded market share of 40.14%, or more than DraftKings and BetMGM combined.

Resistance to Open DC Sports Betting Market

Obviously, FanDuel wouldn’t be thrilled about the idea of shedding its monopoly in DC, but there’s likely to be resistance to an open market from other corners — namely small businesses that have sports wagering kiosks.

Those FanDuel-operated machines are found in 63 locations across the city, including bars and lottery retailers, and have become important revenue streams for those establishments.

Retailers that have those kiosks fear that if more mobile wagering options are permitted in the District, bettors will be less inclined to use the kiosks. McDuffie believes that other gaming companies could provide comparable devices to businesses should the Washington market be liberalized.

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Basketball takes over sports gambling on Bodog

Man holding white and blackspalding basketball near brown and white basketball hoop

As had been expected, the conclusion of the NFL season, which found the Tampa Bay Buccaneers handing the Kansas City Chiefs an embarrassing defeat, opened the doors for an increase in wagers in other sports. Football had dominated the charts since last September, but it’s now time for basketball to take the lead. On Bodog, NBA and NCAA Men’s Basketball are now the overwhelming go-to options for sports gamblers. 

This past weekend, college hoops wagers topped the charts on Bodog, garnering 36.88% of the action. That was about 2.5% better than what the NCAA received, and substantially more than that of the third-place NHL, which only picked up 10.17%. After that, the UFC/MMA made an appearance with 4.15% before different soccer leagues captured four of the remaining top-ten spots. The Premier League was the best, with 3.34%, but tennis and golf snuck in next. The Australian Open Men’s Singles picked up 3.21% and the Genesis Invitational grabbed 2.47%. Germany’s Bundesliga, Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A rounded out the top-ten list, with Germany and Spain sharing 2.02% each and Italy getting 1.44% of the wagers.

Despite taking the top spot on the charts on Bodog this past weekend, NCAA games didn’t prove overly enticing to gamblers. The NBA captured almost all of the top-ten most-wagered events, with only one NCAA game making it to the list. Sports gamblers liked betting on the LA Clippers a lot, as the team’s games against the Utah Jazz and the Brooklyn Nets picked up 13.85% and 11.51%, respectively. In a surprise victory, the Clippers beat the Jazz on Friday, but couldn’t keep the run going and lost to the Nets on Sunday.

The Genesis Invitational, which Max Homa took down after a shoot-off with Tony Finau, attracted 10.79% of the wagers on Bodog this past weekend. Homa is intimately familiar with the course where the tournament is played, the Riviera Country Club, and has been a regular on the greens since he was two years old. With his Genesis win, Homa joins Bubba Watson as the only two players to take a Riviera victory with a bogey-free final round since 1990.

The NBA action returned to Bodog’s list next, with three games getting more than 10% of the wagers. Next, the NCAA’s Michigan vs. Ohio State game was popular with gamblers, as 9.07% of the bets on Bodog were placed on this game. Third-place Michigan handed fourth-place Ohio State a loss, walking away with a 92-87 win to improve to 16-1. Novak Djokovic vs. Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open attracted 8.58% of the bets as Djokovic swept three sets. The last of the top-ten events on Bodog flipped back to the NBA, with the Sacramento Kings/Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors/Charlotte Hornets games getting 7.63% and 7.5%, respectively.

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Penn Entertainment Failing in Sports Betting, Should Consider Sale, Says Investor

In a letter to Penn Entertainment’s (NASDAQ: PENN) board of directors, the Donerail Group, which has long been an investor in the regional casino operator, said the gaming company is failing in online sports betting, is overcompensating CEO Jay Snowden, and should consider a sale to create shareholder value.

PENN Play
An image for Penn Entertainment. Investor Donerail Group said CEO Jay Snowden is overpaid and Penn should consider selling itself. (Image: Penn Entertainment)

Donerail Managing Partner Will Wyatt opined in the letter to Penn Chairman David Handler that the gaming company has spent four years and billions of dollars of shareholder capital in a bid to gain a foothold in the online sports betting space, but those efforts have proven unsuccessful.

Moreover, the growing pattern of guidance misses, alongside a demonstrated unyielding appetite to continue to invest in the Company’s fledgling Interactive projects, irrespective of past results and without a clear return framework, has significantly damaged the credibility of this management team and Board of Directors,” wrote Wyatt.

There’s something to those claims. Between January 2020 and February 2023, Penn shelled out about $551 million to acquire Barstool Sports in an effort to leverage that brand as a catalyst for its online and retail sportsbooks, but those dividends never accrued.

Last August, the regional casino giant sold Barstool back to founder David Portnoy for just $1 as it entered into a costly agreement with Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) to use ESPN branding for the Penn-operated ESPN Bet mobile betting app. In addition to paying ESPN $1.5 billion over 10 years, the gaming company also granted the network $500 million in equity warrants. While ESPN Bet has performed better than Barstool Sportsbook, Penn has made little headway in terms of wresting market share from larger rivals DraftKings and FanDuel.

Penn Entertainment Sale Makes Sense, Says Donerail

The letter by Donerail, a Los Angeles-based, event-driven money manager, sparked a noteworthy rally by Penn shares with the stock closing high by 19.62% on volume that was more than quadruple the daily average. However, today’s showing was a departure from the norm.

As Wyatt pointed out to Handler, Penn shares shed 80% over the past three years. Today, the stock closed at $17.50 — a far cry from the all-time of $142 set in March 2021. That lengthy slump coupled with the aforementioned board and management missteps are among the reasons Donerail believes Penn should consider selling itself — a move that if executed could fetch more than double the operator’s current market value of $2.19 billion, according to Wyatt.

“Given our understanding of the Company’s assets, however, alongside an understanding of the industry participants’ current strategic appetite to grow inorganically, we do believe that a sale of the Company’s assets, if undertaken, could generate meaningful and certain value creation for equity investors,” he noted to Handler.

In the letter, Wyatt observed that Penn’s market capitalization represents a steep discount to the $13.35 billion average found among its peer group, but the Donerail partner didn’t directly identify potential suitors for the gaming company.

In recent months, Penn has been the subject of attention by professional investors. Last month, David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital announced “medium sized” stake in Penn. Last December, HG Vora said it took an interest of 18.5% of Penn’s shares outstanding and demanded board seats in an effort to push for change at the gaming company. Despite that fanfare, the stock shed almost a third of its value since the start of 2024.

Donerail Decries Snowden Compensation

Wyatt didn’t hold back in his criticism of Penn’s compensation of CEO Jay Snowden, noting the board signed off on $99.3 million in total pay for the executive between 2020 and 2023 — a period that included significant declines by the stock.

Citing Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), Wyatt said Snowden has the worst possible score issued by the firm in terms of his compensation being aligned with shareholder interests.

“In fact, Mr. Snowden’s compensation was deemed to be so gratuitous, As You Sow chose to use PENN as a case-study of wrongdoing in its report. Institutional shareholders appear to share our view, with leading institutional investors BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors, and CalSTRS all having voted against PENN’s executive compensation in the past, yet meaningful change has not been made by the Board’s compensation committee,” said Wyatt.

As You Sow, a leading shareholder advisory group, recently noted that Snowden was the third-most overpaid CEO among S&P 500 companies, but the stock was removed that index in September 2022.

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