New Jersey Lawmakers Move On Sports Betting (Update)
Assembly Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee hearing scheduled for next Monday
A growing sense of urgency appears to be driving New Jersey lawmakers regarding intrastate sports betting legalisation following the recent overturning of PASPA by the US Supreme Court.
On Monday the state Assembly Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee has scheduled a hearing after legislators vowed to move quickly to enact a framework for legalised sports betting.
New Jersey was the main challenger to the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, fighting the national sports leagues through lower courts all the way through to the Supreme Court appeal that finally liberated sports betting in the United States.
The Assembly bill, A3911, on which Monday’s hearing will focus, was introduced a week prior to the court’s ruling, and a Senate version was proposed on the day of the court’s decision. Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling, Assemblywoman Joann Downey and Assemblyman John Burzichelli are the Assembly bill’s primary sponsors.
In a press release following the Supreme Court decision, Houghtaling said sports betting could be a “great opportunity” for New Jersey and invited feedback on his bill, which he said was still a “work in progress”
Committee member Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo said this week that he expects there will be some changes to the final version of the bill, including possibly taking a harder look at the proposed online tax rates, which are proposed in the Assembly bill as 12.5 percent of GGR and in the Senate version at 15 percent.
A tax rate of 8 percent is proposed for sports betting at brick and mortar casinos and racetracks.
Mazzeo has cautioned that too high a tax on online activity will persuade players to bet elsewhere.
“There are still questions and things we need to iron out but we recognize that it’s important to get up and going. And we’re trying to expedite that,” he said.
The question of the sports leagues’ demands for an “integrity fee” in the legislation is also up for discussion, with several voices in the Senate and Assembly strongly opposing such a proposal.
Senate President Steve Sweeney says that he plans to bring his version to the Senate floor for a vote by June 7.
Kindred – Draftkings Acquisition Rumours Surface
Indications that European gambling group has sports betting ambitions in the USA
Last week’s news that Paddy Power Betfair has acquired DFS operator FanDuel with the US sports betting market in mind has been followed by as yet unconfirmed reports that the Kindred Group is considering an acquisition bid on DraftKings for similar reasons.
Breaking the news Friday, the usually reliable US publication Legal Sports Report quoted multiple but anonymous sources, which were not in a position to publish full details of the bid or how advanced negotiations may be.
The report notes that DraftKings has been working on its DK Sportsbook with sports betting specialist Kambi, a business-to-business spin-off from the Unibet Group, which morphed into Kindred Group in 2016.
DraftKings is well established as a US brand and is known to have ambitions in the newly liberated US sports betting sector; the DFS firm recently announced a partnership with Atlantic City’s Resorts Casino.
A deal with a strong gambling group like Kindred would represent a powerful combination of resources and experience; Kindred has assets like 32 Red and Unibet among its dozen or so subsidiaries, has bases across Europe and last year posted revenues of GBP 750.
At the end of last month Kindred indicated its interest in the US sports betting market when it announced the appointment of Manuel Stan as senior vice president and head of a new American business division (see previous InfoPowa report).
Draftkings Signs Partnership Deal On Sportsbetting With Resorts Casino
Powerful Atlantic City partnership will capitalise on emerging US legal sports betting market
Daily fantasy sports US market leader DraftKings, which has reportedly been working on a sportsbook offering for s0me time, has inked a partnership agreement with Atlantic City’s Resorts Casino with the goal of capitalising on the emerging legal sports betting market.
The Associated Press new agency reports that the partnership will focus on New Jersey, where legislative arrangements are already in preparation.
The deal follows the overturning of the restrictive Professional and Amateur ports Protection Act by the US Supreme Court, liberalising sports betting at the discretion of individual US states.
In an interview with AP, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said: “It’s a new thing, so people are trying to see how they want to go about it, who they want to partner with. Anytime you’ve got a big market about to be created, there’s so much opportunity out there that everyone should benefit, as long as you do it the right way.”
Morris Bailey, the owner of Resorts, welcomed the new revenue stream and called DraftKings “a dynamic brand.”
“The market is huge,” he said. “It’s how much of that market we’ll be able to get.”
Bailey is among those who strongly oppose the so-called “integrity fee” payments that the professional sports leagues are seeking, ostensibly to help them police betting on the games. The leagues all opposed sports betting and fought New Jersey in the court case that the state eventually won.
“It’s totally inappropriate,” Bailey said. “It’s the height of hypocrisy to take the position they did.”
DraftKings plans web-based and mobile operations, and will offer numerous in-game betting opportunities in addition to more traditional bets on the outcome of games, according to the AP report.
Robins said his company is best positioned to succeed in the new market and is “ready to go” as soon as it gets the green light from New Jersey regulators.
“We have a well-known brand that’s very closely identified with winning money on sports,” he said.
By pairing up with Resorts Casino DraftKings has positioned itself strongly in the new market following the news last month that Paddy Power Betfair has acquired rival American DFS giant and DraftKing’s rival FanDuel (see previous InfoPowa reports).
Other partnerships with sports betting ambitions include Churchill Downs, which reached deals with a tech company for its platform and the Golden Nugget casino in Atlantic City for its license in New Jersey. It bought Presque Isle Downs & Casino in Pennsylvania in March and owns two casinos in Mississippi, with plans to offer sports betting in all three states. And William Hill recently announced it is partnering with Atlantic City’s Ocean Resort Casino (see previous InfoPowa reports).
Delaware Sports Betting To Be Powered By Scientific Games
Launch next week will give Delaware a head start in the legal US sports betting market
Scientific Games Corporation revealed in a press release Friday that it has been selected to implement the Delaware Lottery’s expansion to full-scale sports betting following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturn of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992 on May 14, 2018.
Delaware is the first U.S. state to add full-scale sports betting after the PASPA ruling (see previous InfoPowa reports). As the Delaware Lottery’s sports betting provider, Scientific Games is supporting the expansion to full-scale sports betting with its integrated sports wagering technology, content and managed services.
“In anticipation of the Supreme Court’s ruling on PASPA, we have been working with Scientific Games, our longtime sports betting provider, as well as training our lottery and casino staff, so that we were ready to launch full-scale, head-to-head betting on single games,” said Vernon Kirk, director of the Delaware Lottery Friday.
Pat McHugh, Senior Vice President, Global Lottery Systems for Scientific Games, said: “Since Delaware is known as ‘The First State’, it’s appropriate they were first in the nation to expand regulated sports betting after the PASPA ruling. We are proud to support the Delaware Lottery’s long history of industry firsts.
“The combination of Scientific Games and NYX Gaming Group earlier this year created a global leader across iLottery, iGaming and sports betting that offers unrivaled capabilities to lotteries worldwide,” said McHugh.
New Jersey Forging Ahead With Sports Betting Bill (Update)
Committee Chairman lashes out at league representatives looking for a cut
The State of New Jersey’s sports betting draft bill A-4111 has received the green light from the New Jersey Assembly Tourism, Gaming and Arts Committee, US media report.
The bill, newly submitted as A-4111 today (Monday) and replacing Bill A3911, reportedly proposes a tax rate on gross gaming revenue of 13 percent for online and 8.5 percent on “in-person” bets with an additional 1.25 percent payment to assist Atlantic City in paying down its debt, although the text of the bill is yet to be posted online.
It’s no surprise, given the history of New Jersey’s fight to legalise sports betting, that sports leagues such as Major League Baseball, the NBA and the PGA Tour will have no claim to an “integrity fee” despite vigorous presentations before the State Assembly committee today (Monday), which were unceremoniously shot down by the Committee.
“You guys aren’t asking for an integrity fee are you?” Gaming Chairman Ralph Caputo (D-28th District) is reported to have asked league representatives prior to presentations, “You’re in the wrong room.”
Following presentations, Caputo laid it on the line, asking league representatives:
“Why do you think you’re entitled to an integrity fee? After trying to ‘kill us’ from sports betting, which we had a right to do, as the Supreme Court told us so.
“What gives you the right other than desire for additional revenue? The tool you’re looking for is money and you’re not getting it in New Jersey. You might as well face that reality.”
Continuing, Caputo reportedly fired: ”You guys are in it to make money. This is hypocrisy. Nine years of fighting the state of New Jersey, and you come here? It’s disgraceful. Just a suggestion: You may want to write a check to the state of New Jersey for $9 million for all the money we lost fighting the league in court.”
The bill now moves to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee for consideration before reaching the Senate floor for a vote which is expected Thursday. If a favourable vote is received from the floor, A-4111 moves to the desk of New Jersey Governor, Phil Murphy.
New Jersey Sports Betting Legalisation Bill Through Committee Stages (Update)
Lawmakers race to get bill to the floor for a vote…and there’s no integrity fee for sports leagues
Monday was a hectic day for New Jersey lawmakers as they ploughed through objections from major sports leagues in a bid to get intrastate sports betting through committee stages and onto the floor for voting.
They were successful to the chagrin of the leagues, driving legislation through the Assembly Appropriations Committee, the Assembly Tourism, Gaming at the Arts Committee and the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee…all without including the “integrity fee” the leagues have been trying to squeeze from various states enacting sports betting legislation following the recent overturning of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act by the US Supreme Court.
New Jersey lawmakers made clear that so-called “integrity fees” would not be included in the bill, which now advances to the Senate and Assembly floors for a vote on Thursday.
State legislators are trying to move rapidly on the legislation in order to permit sports betting to launch at land casinos and race tracks in the state, with some operators ready to start offering sports betting as soon as the legislation is passed and signed by state governor Phil Murphy.
Features of the legislation include:
- Confined to state licensed gambling establishments such as land casinos and racetracks;
- Minimum age limit for gamblers of 21 years;
- Prohibits any bets on high school sports, as well as any collegiate athletic events taking place in New Jersey or involving New Jersey collegiate teams;
- State tax of 8.5 percent on GGR at land venues, and 13 percent on GGR from online bets, with an additional 1.25 percent surcharge for tourism promotion;
The governor’s office estimates that legalised sports betting will generate about $13 million in tax revenues for the state in the fiscal year beginning July 1, but many observers believe that estimate to be too conservative.
Major League Baseball, NBA and PGA tour lobbyists appealed unsuccessfully for the “integrity fee” and a requirement that sports betting operations and state regulators share real-time data about bets to the leagues.
Dan Spillane, senior vice president and assistant general counsel for the NBA, outlined the leagues’ rationale for the integrity fee, observing:
“The business of sports betting is built on our products, on our games and the fan interest we generate,” he said. “This is a unique circumstance and for us to come in and just want some small percentage of the the amount that is bet on our games to compensate us for the value we contribute, for the risk we’re taking on, for what we have to spend. We think it’s a quite modest request.”
Several lawmakers responded by noting that the leagues had fought New Jersey’s efforts to offer legal sports betting and forced the state to spend millions of dollars on an over eight-year legal fight.
“If the tool you need is money, it’s not going to happen,” said Assemblyman Ralph Caputo, chair of the Assembly Tourism, Gaming at the Arts Committee, who noted that Nevada has had sports betting for years without an integrity fee.
Senate President Stephen Sweeney said New Jersey would create a law to regulate betting in a manner that becomes the model for the rest of the nation but would not share revenues with the sports leagues.
“They’ve been betting forever and no one needed an integrity fee. And New Jersey lost hundreds of millions of dollars because of this protracted legal fight,” he said.
GVC’s Stadium Technology Group Powers First Expanded Sports Betting In Delaware
Stadium’s software will be used to power sports betting at Delaware State casinos
GVC Holdings’ proprietary US sports betting platform, held in Stadium Technology Group (“Stadium”), will be powering the first single-game sports bets accepted in the US state of Delaware, the company announced Tuesday, available at the state’s three casinos where previously only ‘parlay-betting’ was permitted.
Describing its position in the market as unparalleled, GVC said the development demonstrates its strength and capability in the shortest possible time frame.
Adam Greenblatt, Director of Development and Corporate Strategy for GVC Holdings, said:
“We are delighted to be up-and-running as the first – and currently only – provider with a market ready solution for our partners in the new regulatory environment. As legislation evolves in the post-PASPA world, having the capability and flexibility to be able to get to market fast, with proven and compliant technology, is a key advantage for us.”
State Governor Kicks Off Delaware’S Sports Betting Service (Update)
Tuesday a landmark day in state gambling as Delaware becomes the first state to take advantage of newly liberalised market
The US state of Delaware met its pledge to launch intrastate sports betting services Tuesday when Governor John Carney made the first bet – $10 on the underdog Philadelphia Phillies over the Chicago Cubs.
Nevada’s monopoly on full-scale sports betting lasted more than a half-century, but it ended when the US Supreme Court struck down the restrictive federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act last month, liberalising the market for states that wish to offer such betting.
Delaware’s three racinos took their first legal non-parlay sports bets Tuesday, watched by a large contingent of television and other media reporters, but initial reports indicate that it was a modest turnout by punters.
Update: Delaware took in $322,000 in sports bets on opening day.
New Amendments To New York Sports Betting Bill
When is an “integrity fee” a “royalty”?
Industry observers are debating the difference between an “integrity fee” and a “royalty payment” following the introduction to the New York House of Assembly this week of a sports betting amendment draft that whilst closely following its equivalent in the state Senate, has a different take on the US sports leagues’ demands for an “integrity fee” in state sports betting legislation.
Both bills acknowledge the need for a one-quarter percent of all wagers contribution to the sports leagues (the so-called “integrity fee”) but the Assembly bill draft submitted earlier by Assembly Racing and Wagering Committee chairman Gary Pretlow described the proposed payment as a “royalty fee” with no strings attached.
In that respect it followed Senator John Bonacic’s equivalent bill in the Senate, although that bill requires the sports leagues to petition annually for the integrity fee.
In his latest draft, Pretlow retains the “royalty” title for the fee but now imposes the integrity fee-style Senate requirement that the leagues claim annually for the “royalty” every April 13.
Within 30 days of submitting their claims the leagues must meet with a Commission established by the bill to provide “evidence of policies, procedures and training programs it has implemented to protect the integrity of its sports events.”
That seems to be in conflict with the concept of a set royalty fee, and is more in the nature of the integrity fee outlined in the Senate bill, which contains the same requirements for the leagues, and requires that they publish an annual report on usage of the integrity fees, which will be subject to audit by the Commission (the Assembly draft does not include this annual reportage).
Pretlow’s latest draft does add a stipulation not in the Senate bill that sports governing bodies registered to obtain the fee must be headquartered in the US.
With this sort of wrangling going on, it is beginning to look doubtful that the state legislature will be able to pass a final sports betting law before a scheduled adjournment on June 20.