The Early Line: A 51% Sports Betting Tax?; ESPN+ for ESPN Bettors
TCL offers a roundup of recent US gambling news called The Early Line every Monday.
Regulation matters | 1. A Louisiana lawmaker is proposing a 51% tax on sports betting revenue. 2. Bovada is out of Tennessee.
Reading the line: 1. We’re entering a stage in the lifecycle of legal online sports betting in the US where re-regulation of the industry on various fronts will be considered. Of particular interest to policymakers are tax regimes and how sports betting is advertised to a state’s residents. Continuing to raise the cost of doing business for regulated sports betting operators may create more tax revenue on the top line. But it’s also going to incentivize some to approach sports betting via the gray market rather than deal with the burdens of the white market. 2. Offshore operator Bovada continues to pull out of states as it is asked. But shouldn’t more operators be issued cease and desist letters?
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ESPN+ plus ESPN Bet = ? | ESPN Bet is offering a free month of ESPN+ to new bettors.
Reading the line: This is a move I am a big fan of. It’s a motivator to sign up for both the sports betting app and ESPN’s OTT streaming service. You could definitely see people signing up with this offer becoming sticky users for both products. The only thing I am surprised about is this didn’t happen sooner. (Once in awhile, I have good ideas.)
DraftKings interested in prediction markets? | DK’s CEO said in last week’s earnings call that his company would be interested in getting into prediction markets for elections.
Reading the line: Major sportsbooks in the US have noticed the amount of interest and organic marketing that Kalshi and Polymarket got in the run-up to Election Day last week. So far, laws have kept legal sportsbook operators out of the election betting business in North America, outside of Ontario. But after this election cycle, it’s hard to believe DraftKings et al won’t at least take a hard look at the space, as long as the federal climate doesn’t change.
Quick hitters
Some potentially interesting intel regarding the legal climate for sweepstakes operators.
A look inside some user data at DraftKings and ESPN Bet in Friday’s newsletter (paywalled).
Whether legal sportsbooks can take bets on the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match continues to be a hot topic. Meanwhile, fantasy pick’em operators like PrizePicks are offering props on the fight.
There’s a new casino near Chicago.
There are allegations of fraudulent blackjack hands being dealt at a Pittsburgh casino.
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