Pennsylvania’s lifetime sports betting handle hit $1 billion as the state’s sportsbooks celebrated the industry’s first birthday last month.

According to figures from PlayPennsylvania.com, FanDuel still dominates the growing sports betting scene in the state, despite stiff competition from the recently launched online offerings of DraftKings and Unibet (read more).

Reflecting on the first year of sports betting in Pennsylvania, analyst Dustin Gouker said:

“Pennsylvania has come a long way in a year. Plagued with relatively high gaming taxes and early hurdles to its online launch, Pennsylvania’s future as a legal sport betting jurisdiction was murky at the beginning. But despite the issues in its infancy, the state has proven to be attractive for operators and the market is truly beginning to flourish.”

According to official data, in November Pennsylvania’s sportsbooks accepted $316.5 million in wagers, a significant 31.2% increased on October’s $241.2 million (read more). Those wagers generated $20.6 million in revenue, up slightly from October’s $19.1 million, and yielded $3.9 million in taxes for the state.

Putting things in perspective, back in November 2018, Pennsylvania’s first, and at the time only sportsbook, at the Hollywood Casino, generated $1.4 million in bets and $508,997 in gross revenue. Since then the state has grown to become the third-largest legal sports betting jurisdiction in the United States, after Nevada and neighbouring New Jersey (which accepted $562.2m in bets in November).

The state’s betting fortunes were boosted greatly in summer 2019, with the launch of online betting, and more operators have since entered the market, bringing the total to seven. Unsurprisingly, online sports betting is now dominating the market, generating 84.3% of the state’s November handle.

Commenting on this Gouker added:

“Online sports betting has unquestionably been the key driver of the state’s growth. Not only has online betting grown to account for an overwhelming majority of the state’s handle, but it has also helped spur growth among retail sportsbooks. That is a pattern that we saw in New Jersey, too.”

For more information on the revenue generated by Pennsylvania sports betting, visit https://www.playpennsylvania.com/revenue/.

Staying with US sports betting, don’t miss WHY THESE TWO SPORTSBOOKS CONTINUE TO DOMINATE THE US MARKET.

PointsBet, the Australia-based online sports betting operator has appointed Eric Foote as the new Chief Commercial Officer of its US business.

Foote, who has been Vice President of Business Development and Partnerships for CBS Sports Digital, is set to take up his new position on 6^th January 2020, and will be based in Denver, Colorado.

With more than twenty years of experience in the North American sports and media industry, he will help the Australian operator make the most of the emerging US sports betting markets.

Commenting on his new appointment, Foot said:

“Sports betting is just getting started in the US and I’m excited to be joining such an ambitious, talented and well-positioned team. PointsBet has already established a successful business and made significant progress since PASPA repeal, and I look forward to working with the team in pursuit of market leadership.”

While PointsBet’s Chief Executive, Sam Swanell, added:

“We are very pleased that a senior executive of Eric’s quality and experience is joining PointsBet.

“His understanding of the US media landscape and the opportunities that this can provide our company will be invaluable as we continue to expand across the United States and seek strategic partnerships.”

AYO.NEWS says:

As with European sports betting operators, PointsBet clearly understands that the future of the industry will be US-focused, and that there is going to be one almighty battle to dominate the markets over the next few years. At the end of October we reported that PointsBet had revealed it plans to raise over $80m to power its expansion in the growing US market (read more).

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

Slovenia-based ORYX Gaming, a Bragg Gaming Group Company, has expanded its footprint in the rapidly growing Colombian market, going live with FullReto.co.

The partnership sees ORYX provide Grupo Vinnare, the company that runs FullReto.co, with a full turnkey solution including its iGaming platform, proprietary sportsbook, and access to a wide range of casino content, including ORYX proprietary titles and games from suppliers including Gamomat, Amatic, Isoftbet, Microgaming, EGT, and MGA via the ORYX Hub.

Operator of a significant number of land-based casinos and a retail network of more than 250 locations, in September Grupo Vinnare became the 16^th operator to receive an online permit from Colombia’s regulator Coljuegos.

Discussing the news Managing Director or ORYX Gaming, Matevz Mazij, said:

“This deal is an important milestone for us as we have provided all the components to ensure a streamlined and painless launch of the FullReto.co website. This year we have significantly grown our presence in Latin America, and we believe Colombia is a market that has great potential for us business-wise. Our partnership with FullReto.co will enable us to grow further in Colombia.

“Our turnkey solution provides Grupo Vinnare with all the tools and features they need for a smooth and successful start of the online operation and offers their customers an exciting betting and gaming experience.”

While General Manager of FullReto.co, Juan Pablo Barahona, added:

“We are very excited about launching our online sportsbook and casino and partnering with ORYX has provided us with a comprehensive solution that supplies us with all the elements we need in order to offer our customers top gaming experience while being fully compliant.”

ORYX says it has adapted its iGaming platform to fully comply with Colombian regulations, and has also provided Grupo Vinnare with the option of setting up their financial and reporting processes. ORYX entered the Colombian market in 2018 with Wplay.co (read more).

Multi-tenant B2B sports betting software provider Metric Gaming has secured a Class 4 license from the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA).

The Las Vegas and London-based company can now provide its products and services to the many potential customers operating from the Mediterranean online gambling hub.

Commenting on the news Metric Gaming’s CEO, Martin de Knijff, said:

“Securing this licence from the MGA is an important step in Metric’s evolution from a start-up to becoming the disruptors-in-chief of an industry ripe for disruption.

“We have been thrilled by the market’s reaction to our multi-tenant Sportsbook proposition, particularly from Malta-based operators. In the coming days we will announce the first Malta-based Sportsbook brands that will be launched using our Modulus platform over the next few weeks.

“We’ve spent the last three years and significant capital developing an organization and product proposition capable of solving the biggest challenges facing the B2B sector of our industry. We are excited to be showcasing the modern capabilities of our multi-tenant platform and each customer will benefit from near total product autonomy from the rest.

“We are confident this unrivalled degree of customisation paired with our superior sports betting products and features will deliver real leapfrog ability for our customers over their rivals.”

Metric Gaming is also licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission.

Staying with Metric, two weeks ago AYO.NEWS reported the company had partnered with oddsmaker Sports IQ to build and launch a full suite of next generation US sports betting products (read more).

The Norwegian gambling regulator, Lotteritilsynet, has confirmed amendments to the unlicensed operator payments ban will be in effect from 1^st January 2020.

Though there has technically been a ban on payments to unlicensed gambling operators since 2010, it is estimated that around NOK6bn ($659.9m) is still being spent with offshore operators, so Lotteritilsynet has requested sweeping new powers.

The new amendments will give the regulator the power to request transactions are blocked based on company names and account numbers, and also cover payment intermediaries.

Discussing the new powers Lotteritilsynet lawyer and advisor, Gram Skår, explained:

“The foundation of the Norwegian gambling model is to help protect vulnerable groups from becoming gambling addicts. Good public control of gambling offsets both crime and gambling addiction. We see the effect of work we are doing today, but the purpose of the changes is to make the payment service ban more effective. This means we can, to a greater extent, prevent gaming companies from accepting deposits from Norwegian players.”

The regulator estimates around 250,000 Norwegians currently gamble with unlicensed offshore operators.

AYO.NEWS says:

If this payment ban is effective it is bound to sting quite a few operators and affiliates who’ve grown used to relatively high spending Norwegian players.

Coupled with the strict new regime in Sweden, it seems the Nordic countries are becoming decidedly less appealing to gambling operators – many of whom are looking across the Atlantic to North and South America, as well as emerging markets in Africa and Asia, for future growth.  

Just last week we looked at the state of the Norwegian gambling market – see GAMBLING IN NORWAY – A MONOPOLY OR FREE MARKET?

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

Swedish betting and gaming operator ATG has been warned by Swedish Gaming Inspectorate (Spelinspektionen) for allowing betting on two unregistered horseracing courses.

In the letter to the Gaming Authority, ATG states that it was a failure due to a human factor. Luckily for ATG, though the penalty could have been a revoked license, it was just a slap on the wrist this time.

On the 4th of July ATG sent in a letter to Spelinspektionen to inform that gambling has been allowed on horse tracks that had not been registered with Spelinspektionen. The breaches related to the horse track Tingsryd the 12th and 31st of May and Ovikens horse track (ovalla) on the 22nd June this year.

Commenting on the incident, Spelinspektionen said:

“ATG has stated that they take a serious look at what has happened and that they have now reviewed the procedure for registering agents and have taken measures to ensure that games through agents are provided only when registration has been granted by the Gaming Inspectorate.

“ATG has also reported its wrongdoing to the Gaming Inspection itself. In addition, the violation took place for a limited time. In a joint assessment, the Gaming Inspectorate therefore considers that the intervention may stay on a warning.”

In response, ATG’s Hans Lord Skarplöth said:

“We humbly respect the decision. We made a mistake and reported it to the Gaming Inspection. Now we have changed the routines to prevent it from happening again. We were wrong.”

AYO.NEWS says:

Yet again you may ask yourself if the Swedish Gaming Inspectorate have double standards when responding to violations against the Swedish license. It seems that the old Swedish monopoly ATG and Svenska Spel get away with much more than other operators (see SWEDISH REGULATOR’S DOUBLE STANDARDS? NO ACTION AGAINST STATE-OWNED SVENSKA SPEL).

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.