SportsHandle: That was the week that was in US sports betting

SportsHandle and friends deliver another round-up of the week’s big developments in US sports betting.
Image source: Al Sermeno Photography/Shutterstock

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

Free Throw Made But Not Counted In NCAA Basketball Game, Affects Betting Outcome

Caesars has become the first sportsbook to officially comment on the disputed score in Sunday’s NCAA basketball game between Illinois State and Chicago State, and its answer to the issue is simple: Everyone gets paid.

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Will DraftKings’ Prolonged Battle With Short-Sellers Intensify In 2022?

As DraftKings moves closer to its highly anticipated mobile sports betting debut in New York, the industry heavyweight continues to fend off a nasty battle with a famed short-seller.

DraftKings CEO Jason Robins made an impromptu appearance this month on CNBC one day after Kynikos Associates founder Jim Chanos disclosed on the network that he has been shorting DraftKings for most of the year. Chanos, who has also taken short positions on Tesla and Uber in recent years, remarked that DraftKings could increase revenues four-fold while keeping expenses level and still lose $200 million a quarter.

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Sportsbooks Need To Step Up Their Customer Service Game

When a consumer has numerous options for a very similar product – especially one that’s being offered online only and geography doesn’t come into play – there are really only two key differentiators: price and customer experience.

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‘Felony Friendly’: Inside The Business Of Signature Gathering For Florida Initiatives

As the fate of legal sports betting in Florida hangs in the balance in (virtual) courtrooms from Washington, D.C., to Tallahassee, Fla., the real battle is taking place in theaters far outside the halls of justice. Signature gatherers, the people who ask us all to sign petitions in favor of or against everything from the use of medical marijuana to whether or not the Pledge of Allegiance may be uttered in schools, are out in force at Florida’s county fairs, football games, college campuses, and local grocery stores.

In what many in Florida have characterized as the most contentious signature-gathering effort in the state’s history, two groups are trying to gather a total of more than 2 million signatures in less than six months to get gaming expansions on the ballot. The Las Vegas Sands Corp. is pushing a proposal that would allow it to build three brick-and-mortar casinos, while a group of commercial sports betting operators, including DraftKings and FanDuel, is trying to get legal statewide mobile wagering on the ballot.

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Same-Game Parlay Rules On Voided Legs Vary Across Sportsbooks

Running back Zach Moss was a healthy inactive for the Buffalo Bills Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

And his non-appearance in the game showed a bit of an unhealthy side to the same-game parlay rules used by DraftKings — and, as it turns out, a good number of other sportsbooks

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Ohio Sports Betting Bill Could Cost Operators

Whenever a state considers legalizing sports betting, the tax rate is usually a key issue. In Ohio, where lawmakers approved legal wagering with a 10% tax last week, it’s not the rate, but when and how taxes will be paid that is rising to the top of a list of concerns for operators.

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Chicago City Council Approves Retail Sportsbooks At Sports Venues

The Chicago City Council passed Alderman Walter Burnett’s substitute ordinance Wednesday that lifts the home rule ban and allows sports venues in the city to apply for sports betting licenses through the state of Illinois.

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Is New York ‘killing the golden goose’ with high tax rate? %

Some industry experts are questioning whether New York’s move into legal sports wagering could be dragged down by the nation’s highest tax rate on placing bets.

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NJ Sportsbooks Crushed Gamblers Betting With Them In November

In four of the first 10 months of 2021, New Jersey online casino operators produced more than twice as much gross revenue as their sports betting operator counterparts.

But in November, the books beat the sports betters so bad that the two revenue figures were nearly identical, according to figures Thursday from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.

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