THIS WEEK IN SPORTS BETTING NEWS – SEPTEMBER 3RD, 2021

Chris Altman Sports Betting Expert

7 minute read

ARIZONA SEES POTENTIAL DELAY TO SPORTS BETTING LAUNCH

Arizona had a relatively clear path to legislating legal, online sports betting once they got the proper momentum in the House. Now that HB 2772 has been signed into law and Arizona pre-launch offers have already started to go live, there may be a challenge to sports betting at large in the state.

The Yavapai-Prescott Tribe filed a motion against Governor Doug Ducey and Arizona Department of Gaming Director Ted Vogt last week, claiming that the changes made to the tribal compact were unconstitutional.

The federal government’s Dept. of the Interior had already signed off on the changes, but the challenge seems to be serious enough to threaten the proposed September 9th launch date for legal online bets in the Grand Canyon State.

At the least, this challenge might lead to an injunction delaying the launch of Arizona sports betting in earnest. At the most, it might topple the efforts of lawmakers on both sides to offer sports betting on mobile apps and websites statewide.

OREGON LOTTERY APPROVES DRAFTKINGS SPORTSBOOK BRANDING

At the outset of legal online sports betting in Oregon, the state went with the relatively un-competitive “lottery model” of wagering. That is, the Oregon Lottery was the sole provider of bets, and as such was not incentivized to offer promotions or competitive odds boosts to bring in bettors.

The former Lottery-branded sports betting app, ScoreBoard, has now been replaced. DraftKings, in agreement with Oregon’s Gaming Enforcement division, is now the official provider of branding and sports betting tech in the Beaver State.

Users there will be able to get online with the popular provider to bet on their favorites, but whether or not the industry giant DraftKings will provide the same competitive promotions in a state with no competition remains to be seen.

We’re keeping our eyes on the Pacific Northwest, as Oregon, California, and Washington are all either implementing or considering changes to the legality and structure of sports betting in their states.

MARYLAND PUBLISHES EMERGENCY SPORTS BETTING LAWS

Maryland was a state-to-watch as their sports betting legislation began to take shape. One of the most open, competitive, and forward-thinking bills in the country, Maryland’s wagering package included a relatively limitless playing field for operators as well as socially-conscious kickbacks to minority- and women-owned businesses.

Delays happened as they do, and Maryland wasn’t able to get their betting packages legalized with the speed their proponents had intended. The NFL season is a big target for any state with pending sports betting legalization, and MD lawmakers wanted to hit that target- but after Governor Hogan’s signature in May 2021, matters continued to complicate.

There are developments, however- the proposed ruleset for sports betting have been posted in the Maryland Register. Longer than anyone is expected to read without a law degree, the document details everything in consideration for the September 22nd meeting of the Maryland State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency.

Once the MLGCA meets, the finalization process for rules on sports betting in the Old Line State should commence. It’s expected that lawmakers should be able to start issuing licenses before the NFL Championship in Feb. 2022, but how things develop in the coming months will be fundamental in meeting that deadline.

NEVADA’S BETTING INDUSTRY LOSES, BUT POSTS STRONG NUMBERS IN SUMMER 2021

July was a hard month for most states with legal sports betting, and Nevada typically is no different, but actually pulled in some strong numbers for July. Many sports betting sharps call it the “summer slump”, and the overall slowdown of athletic competitions in the US takes its toll.

Despite Nevada’s reputation as a gambling mecca in the US, its online betting handle continues to disappoint- but July was a ray of sunshine through the clouds. It would be assumed that Nevada would have sports bettors clamoring to bet online, but the in-person experience seems to be a huge draw for bettors in the Silver State.

There’s another reason that online revenues lag behind, and it’s likely the biggest reason: the state still requires in-person registration.

In most states with legal online sports betting, you can simply enter some personal details (almost always including your SSN and address) in order to verify your identity. Legal gambling is serious business in the US, and every provider that wants to be above board in the legal sense has identity and age checks preventing fraud.

Nevada and Illinois are two states that require bettors to register in-person at a casino or sportsbook location before users can legally bet online. This tends to hamper their revenues, and July was an indicator that Nevada legislators might want to rescind this registration requirement, as they could be making even more money without it.

WYOMING LAUNCHES LEGAL ONLINE BETTING IN SHORT ORDER

Wyoming sports betting is now legal thanks to quick action from the Wyoming Gaming Commission, or WGC.

From a legislative perspective, this is one of the quickest turnarounds seen for a sports betting package in the US: bills went from being fully rejected in March to achieving the governor’s signature in early April to going live with a launch in September.

Typically speaking, lawmakers have to amend and compromise over sports betting bills that were initially rejected. This process can take months or, in the case of several states, years, as sports betting becomes increasingly attractive as a source of revenue.

In Wyoming, known as the Equality State, sports betting legislation had surprisingly little pushback once a proper bill was put on the floor. The WY House went from shooting down a bill to approving it after one day of sessions, and the bill was signed into law a month later.

Rules were finalized August 2nd, and many in the sports betting industry expected challenges from interested parties like tribal authorities, political action groups, and opponents in the legislature. None came to pass, and to a considerable amount of surprise, the Wyoming Gaming Commission launched legal sports betting after one special meeting in early September 2021.

Unlike many other states, there was little pushback once the Wyoming Gaming Commission had finalized the ruleset for legal online sports betting. Two providers, BetMGM and DraftKings, have already jumped into the WY market with full approval from the WGC. More are sure to come, as Wyoming law provides for at least five operators to enter the market.

Written by Chris Altman, our US Sports Betting Industry expert. You can learn more about our author's expertise here.

Chris Altman

Chris Altman is a sports betting writer and content expert with almost a decade of experience. He's covered everything, but his current focus is on reviewing sportsbooks and online casinos and keeping tabs on sports betting legislation. Chris has been with VegasInsider since 2019 and has freelanced in the sports betting content industry for years. More from Chris Altman