The Wednesday Line: Hard Rock Up; -105 Lines At Sweeps Sportsbook
Here’s today’s quick rundown in the world of US gambling.
Hard Rock ascendant?
It’s been a good run for Hard Rock sportsbook, which has had a good online casino business in New Jersey but has been one of many online sportsbooks trying to gain meaningful marketshare around the country. Today, Hard Rock announced it launched its enhanced same-game parlay product, SGP Max, in seven states. What’s it do? It allows multiple same-game parlays to be combined into a single wager, akin to SGP+ at FanDuel and SGPx at DraftKings. With SGP’s being the bet type of choice for recreational bettors, it’s becoming necessary to offer this kind of functionality to compete.
And more good news: Eilers & Krejcik Gaming has graded Hard Rock sportsbook as one of the best platforms in the market; more on LinkedIn here. All of that of course is on the heels of Hard Rock opening back up as the only online legal sportsbook in Florida. It will be interesting if all that momentum will get HR firmly into the second tier of US sportsbooks by handle/revenue metrics.
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Sweepstakes sportsbook touts -105 lines
I got a press release this morning telling me that Rebet is offering -105 lines for the NBA playoffs, differentiating itself from the standard -110 lines offered by most regulated sportsbooks in the United States. It is not one of those regulated sportsbooks, however. I wrote about Rebet before, a sweepstakes and social casino, that operates in 47 states much like a real-money sportsbook would. (When I took a look at the sportsbook, there are still a lot of -110 lines for NBA games).
In any event, it’s an interesting strategy to call attention to the fact that your lines are better than regulated sportsbooks. Part of the reason they can even afford that is because they face none of the same taxation, regulation and licensure that legal sportsbooks do.
The legal argument for sweepstakes sportsbooks is actually quite sound. But I am not sure they can survive as-is if the industry actively calls more attention to itself and even tries to undercut the pricing of the regulated industry as a differentiating factor.
Quick hitters
Based on bylines and links to the sportsbook in content, it looks like BetMGM and The Associated Press have a deal. AP previously had a deal to provide FanDuel odds.
Analysts at Truist say that ESPN Bet can be No. 3 in sports betting, which I think everyone can agree is a possibility. They also say that it has about 8% of share by handle, which may have been true at one point, but all the data I’ve seen puts it more like 6% as things stand.
Luckily this is paywalled so you don’t have to read it, but it’s a very bad idea for the future of legal sports betting in the U.S.
More Hard Rock! Its CEO says Florida did the right thing on trying to stop fantasy parlay apps.
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