NFL Kicks Off Operator Battles
Plus: the story behind a massive tennis match-fixing scandal.
Welcome to your weekly roundup! This week: The NFL’s big opening weekend brings a slew of new offerings from operators, along with just as many predictions and prognostications. Plus: the wild story of the largest ever tennis match-fixing scandal. As always: if you liked reading this, please subscribe or share it with a friend. Have a great week!
Market Movers
Promos galore: As the NFL season kicks off, FanDuel and DraftKings are battling for the top spot with new promotions and bonuses, while Fanatics and ESPN Bet are also jumping into a competitive battle, per WSJ’s overview story. Vox also weighed in with its take on (the problems with) sports gaming.
Meanwhile BetMGM is trying to keep pace, with a new unified login, hometown odds boosts, first bet offers, same game parlays, a Barry Sanders free-to-play game, and other new features.
Predictions: 73.5 million Americans plan to bet on the NFL this season, up 60% from last year, according to a Morning Consult survey done for the American Gaming Association.
35th State: Kentucky launched retail sports betting, becoming the 35th state to legalize. Online sports betting in the state will launch with eight operators on September 28.
Betr Securities?: Betr is adding WagerWire’s technology to its sportsbook which is scheduled to launch in 2024. WagerWire can turn active sports bets into tradable assets akin to stocks. The secondary marketplace enables consumers to buy and sell bets.
What we’re reading
DraftKings becomes presenting sponsor of RedZone NFL show.
The story behind the biggest match-fixing scandal in tennis history—180 players in 30 countries.
Are Iowa and Iowa State the only college sports programs with illegal gambling?
North Carolina legislators consider more gambling options, after they passed a law last year legalizing sports gambling starting in 2024.
SuperContest’s free-to-play NFL game with cash prizes now available online in multiple states.
Missouri voters could decide on sports betting in 2024.
Boom Entertainment acquired NBC Sports Predictor, taking it in-house.
Megan Lanham from Rithmm on the Betting Startups podcast.
Overheard
“[W]e’re launching this to win.”– Penn Entertainment CEO Jay Snowden, talking ESPN Bet’s ambitions to be the top of the sports betting market, while acknowledging ESPN Bet will be 18 months behind the pack.
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