SportsHandle and friends deliver another round-up of the week’s big developments in US sports betting.
Louisiana Senate Sends Two Sports Betting Bills To House
While state legislatures across the country seem to be sitting back on considering legal sports wagering, Louisiana lawmakers are moving full steam ahead. On Thursday, the Senate passed the second of two sports betting bills in two days.
SB 378 is now headed to the House for approval after passing with a 23-9 vote and no discussion.
On Wednesday afternoon, SB 130 passed the Senate, 29-8. That bill sends sports betting to the voters, who will decide on a parish-by-parish basis whether or not to legalize, and includes the wording for a November referendum.
Full story here.
It Could Be 2022 Before Online-Only Sportsbooks Come To Illinois
Legal sports betting in Illinois has gotten off to a rocky start. Retail sportsbooks went live in Illinois days before the professional sports leagues shut down amid the COVID-19 crisis, so even though sports betting is legal, it’s not happening. Casinos in the state have been shuttered since late March.
On top of that, no sportsbooks have begun to offer mobile sports betting, and when they do, consumers will be required to register in person to open an online sports betting account. That requirement will stay in place until the first stand-alone mobile sportsbook platform launches, and it appears that may not happen until 2022.
Full story here.
The Story Behind The Two-Year-Old Historic Sports Betting Ruling
Supporters of the expansion of legal, regulated gambling in the U.S. are celebrating the second anniversary of the May 14, 2018, U.S. Supreme Court ruling that vacated a 26-year-old federal law that prevented almost every state from offering sports betting.
But for those in the trenches of New Jersey’s seven-year, ultimately victorious effort, there are two other dates that are at least as memorable.
The first is June 26, 2017 — the day that the Court elected to take up the case at all. Fewer than 1 in 100 appeals are typically accepted, and four of the nine justices have to agree to hear the case based on some sort of Constitutional grounds.
Full story here.
Online Casino Play Is Getting A Boost, But It’s Hard To Count On That Continuing
Operators of iGaming sites that have acquired new players during COVID-19 stay-at-home orders don’t really count on such growth continuing.
That was one takeaway from a panel discussion on the future of interactive gaming Monday during the ICE North America Digital conference, an online gathering of officials connected to the industry.
Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the leading states with online casino games that can be played from home, both saw a large bump in such play over the latter half of March as brick-and-mortar casinos shut down. Revenue figures to be released over the next few days are likely to show the same thing for April.
Full story here.
If Michigan Mobile Sports Betting Launch Was A Prediction Market, There’d Be Swings
No one knows if Michigan could see its first online/mobile sportsbook launch in 2020.
If a market existed for predicting whether the launch would come this year or next year, there would be plenty of swings based on comments from state officials and regulatory developments.
Proponents of online gambling in the Wolverine State want the new forms of online betting to kick off this year. Earlier this year prior to the pandemic, the Michigan Gaming Control Board said online gambling platforms wouldn’t be cleared to launch until early to mid 2021.
Full story here.
