And they're off ...
Kentucky, Kelce make Swift moves as Florida is left at the starting gate
Congratulations, Kentucky.
All of you aged 18 to whatever from Ashland to Paducah and all the villes in between have as of this second joined the American mobile sports betting revolution, able to make legal sports wagers on your phones and computers.
What’s first?
Gators at Wildcats?
Cardinals at N.C. State?
Bengals at Titans?
Finishing the Gaming Today Playbook is first, of course.
Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat who seems to be staking a lot of his re-election campaign on having legalized sports betting - in a state where only the grass and Wildcats are blue - claimed that $4.5 million was wagered in the two weeks since the retail rollout of legal wagering.
Assuming that cell reception has improved between Ashland and Paducah, the mobile iteration shows great promise.
For those of you in the Commonwealth, here are some must-have resources:
Speaking of Florida vs. Kentucky, when it comes to sports betting, Kentucky seemed to be cruising to a win and cover earlier this week.
Now Florida is rallying late. Or would that be Florida State?
On Thursday, the US Court of Appeals, DC District denied a request by West Flagler Associates to prevent the Seminole Tribe of Florida from re-launching in the state with its Hard Rock Bet app. West Flagler sought the stay to petition the U.S. Supreme Court by Dec. 10.
This matter is officially over in that court, and the Seminoles were free to flip the switch …. but! …. always a but in Florida.
Earlier in the week, West Flagler opened up a second front by asking the Florida Supreme Court to freeze a re-launch (even if allowed by the federal court).
The reason: West Flagler claims Gov. Ron DeSantis and the State Legislature didn’t have the power to enter into the 30-year compact in 2021 that gave the Seminoles an even firmer gambling monopoly in the state by adding state-wide mobile sports betting, craps, and roulette.
The gist: The new litigation in Florida figures to greatly bog down the process of legal sports betting returning, even considering the federal win. The Florida Supreme Court could issue its own stay and having to shut back down could make for a confusing public relations fiasco for a Seminole organization that cares about appearances.
The state has 40 days to respond to West Flagler’s latest plea, meaning all those Floridians giddy about a possible Sept. 19 launch are going to be left betting among themselves whether their anguish or hurricane season ends first.
This was the scene from my phone at roughly 12:24 p.m., give or take, on Thursday from Playbook HQ in St. Petersburg. (I didn’t want to embarrass you with my balance).
As for what the Seminoles will do next, I got this from a spokesperson following the federal stay denial (and how you take it might determine whether you’re an optimist or pessimist):
“It’s another positive development, but it will have no immediate effect on the Seminole Tribe’s plans.”
There’s also been a fair amount of navel-orange-gazing on the issue locally about whether the Seminoles should have a monopoly in such a large state, whether DeSantis should have entered into this deal [We’ll let you insert your own comment here depending on how you lean. Don’t tell anyone, but we completely agree with YOU] and if this could eventually lead to an opening of the market … in about 50 years.
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Thursday Night Football: Lions and Packers odds and such
College football Week 5 (already!?)
Taylor Swift ate the NFL last week
There’s this pop star that came to a football game last week and it was apparently a big deal.
Read how Taylor Swift is already turning the NFL into a Swiftie zone.
Texas mess with you?
How’s your NFL eliminator pool looking after last week? If you’re in a second-chance format, you’re probably equal parts grateful, fuming, and sweating like it’s Galveston in August. Which is fitting, because the state of Texas messed a lot of us up in Week 3. (You’re not absolved, Baltimore, just don’t fit the theme.)
According to ESPN, in Week 3:
19% picked the Cowboys. Dallas was stunned on the road by the winless Cardinals, 28-16.
17% picked the Jaguars, who lost, 37-17 at home to winless Houston.
7% picked the Ravens. Baltimore fell, 22-19, in overtime at home to the Colts.
On to Week 4, the Alamo of your eliminator campaign. (Mine, too).
Betting and streaming on the Fanatics app
It wasn’t really a secret for Fanatics users in Ohio, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Maryland, but the upstart sportsbook in the process of consuming PointsBet officially announced it had been streaming select NFL since Week 1.
The technology, which allows viewers/bettors to watch games closer to real-time than broadcast, is provided in conjunction with data-provider Genius Sports.
The caveats:
You must be in a state where Fanatics is taking mobile/online bets. (It added Kentucky this week.)
Have money in your account
Have bet previously with Fanatics Sportsbook
Make a bet of at least a dime on the game you want to watch
The game must be available in your market
Caesars is also utilizing the so-called BetVision platform.
Damian Lillard traded!
The superstar’s move from Portland to Milwaukee sent some rumblers through the preseason NBA betting market on Wednesday. Here’s what happened at DraftKings.
Women’s sports gaining popularity at BetMGM
Betting on women’s sports is increasingly popular, at least at BetMGM.
The company registered a 27% increase in active WNBA bettors over the past year.
More than a 40% increase was noted in betting on women’s tennis and golf, as compared to an 18% rise in MBL and 25% for the NHL.
The 2023 Women’s FIFA World Cup drew the highest amount of bets ever for the event.
The 2023 NCAA women’s basketball tournament generated a 30% increase in handle over the previous year.
(Golden) nuggets
WagerWire, a platform for buying and selling sports bets, announced a technology integration partnership with the SB22 sportsbook platform-provider. WagerWire’s sports bets marketplace is scheduled to debut with Betr in 2024.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred envisions gambling-focused broadcasts.
Game, set, match.
