SportsHandle and friends deliver another round-up of the week’s big developments in US sports betting.

Playing The Long Game: DraftKings CEO Jason Robins Brushes Off Short-Term Losses As Company Prepares For IPO

DraftKings CEO Jason Robins downplayed concerns associated with mounting short-term losses as the company continues to expand sports betting operations ahead of its highly anticipated public listing potentially on tap for some point this year.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2019, DraftKings reported net losses of $114.1 million, up nearly 52 percent from the same period a year earlier. It came as DraftKings’ revenues rose to $191.1 million, a year-over-year increase of 44 percent. DraftKings, which entered into a definitive business combination agreement with Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company and tech/software supplier SBTech on Dec. 23, is gearing up for its public debut.

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Michigan Sports Betting Scene Begins To Take Shape With FOX Bet, PointsBet

The Michigan sports betting map began to populate on Monday following a pair of announcements about partnerships between sportsbook and online casino operators — and federally-recognized tribes operating gambling facilities in the state of Michigan. 

Those sportsbooks are PointsBet and FOX Bet (via The Stars Group), both of which have made significant inroads across the U.S. since the Supreme Court struck the federal ban on full-fledged sports wagering outside Nevada in May 2018. In late December, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the Lawful Sports Betting Act and a pair of other gaming bills, which together will usher in legal, regulated sports betting into Michigan, as well as legal online gambling and poker. 

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Delaware Doesn’t Offer Mobile Sports Betting (Yet) For A Specific Reason

Delaware sports bettors at the state’s three racinos gambled a yearly-high $13.3 mm in December, but the state settled for a relatively-low “net proceeds” figure of $1.6 mm, per figures released by the Delaware Lottery on Tuesday.

As usual, the state fared better at the 102 retailers permitted to offer only multi-game “parlay bets” on NFL games. Last month, gamblers risked $7.2 mm, and after expenses, the state held onto $1.4 mm of it.

The December numbers provide an opportunity to review the calendar-year totals as well.

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California Lawmakers All Ears At 2020’s First Sports Betting Hearing

State. Wide. Mobile.

Those are the only three words that everyone testifying at Wednesday’s California Joint Committee on Governmental Organization informational hearing on legal sports wagering could agree on. While potential operators made their case for low taxes and fees, and representatives from the pro leagues lobbied for a “data mandate,” all parties believe that for legal sports betting to really succeed in the Golden State, it needs unfettered mobile. No in-person registration. No restrictions. Just a patron and his phone.

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It’s Only Cheating If You Get Caught: Inside The Bachelor Scandal And Collusion In DFS

Of all the strange subplots surrounding the story that took daily fantasy sports everywhere from TMZ to The Washington Post to the Bachelor subreddit on Monday, one of the most fascinating is the perfect storm required to get the alleged colluders caught.

A celebrity — at least by modern standards — had to win the DraftKings Millionaire Maker. She had to be married to a fellow reality-TV celeb. It probably had to be the wife and not the husband whose fantasy football lineup hit. And of course, she had to finish in first place. A couple fewer DraftKings points — say, one random drop by Seattle Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf at some point in the final Sunday game — to land her in second place, winning $100,000 instead of $1,000,000, and the internet sleuths most likely don’t raise an eyebrow.

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