The Early Line: Mega Millions Winner Comes From DraftKings' Jackpocket
And some details on a very dumb sports betting bill in Massachusetts
TCL offers a roundup of recent US gambling news called The Early Line every Monday.
Mega Millions winner comes from Jackpocket | A $112 million jackpot hit via the DraftKings-owned lottery courier service; PR here. "This is a transformative moment in lottery history, marking the largest jackpot ever won from a ticket ordered using a lottery courier service," said Pete Sullivan, SVP, Lottery at DraftKings. "As more customers turn to apps like Jackpocket to order their lottery tickets, we are thrilled to be part of this groundbreaking moment."
Reading the line: I agree it’s quite a moment for online lottery services. It’s a major jackpot won online and great PR for Jackpocket in particular. In a day and age when everything is done more easily online, selling draw tickets via an app seems like a no-brainer; this news will help to underline that idea. Lotteries should be finding more ways to adopt online sales; pushback will continue to come from the retail stores where tickets are sold currently. There’s also this news from Lottery Geeks: “The Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation (TELC) last week quietly began selling lottery tickets online, doing so directly to consumers through a new iLottery app that is currently available in Apple’s App Store, which represents a major departure from the state’s status quo. ‘In an effort to increase sales, the Lottery launched the Anytime Powerball app on Jan. 6, 2025,’ TELC spokesperson Kym Gerlock said in a statement issued to Lottery Geeks. ‘Only Powerball tickets may be purchased, and ACH is the only form of payment accepted.’
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Here’s a dumb bill about sports betting in Massachusetts | A new piece of legislation in MA is so silly it’s barely worth giving it more oxygen. But a bill that mirrors the federal SAFE Bet Act — which would cripple the existing regulated sports betting industry — is in play now. It would raise the tax rate to 51% and ban live and prop betting. More from iGaming Business here; bill here.
Reading the line: We might as well just go back to offshore betting and local bookies only if any state passes something like this. The odds of passing this bill in Massachusetts — or the similar federal bill — seem exceedingly long. But the danger stems from someone in some state eventually cherry-picking just one thing out of here and getting it to the finish line. Even just ending all live betting or prop betting would fundamentally alter the landscape for legal betting. So while the Massachusetts effort might be nonsense in a vacuum, the industry still needs to guard against any of the ideas in this bill gaining traction.EMU basketball games under scrutiny for suspicious betting: More from ESPN here: “Betting integrity firms are investigating Tuesday's men's college basketball game between Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan after multiple sportsbooks reported unusual wagering activity. On Wednesday, sports betting monitor Integrity Compliance 360 distributed an alert to its clients, which includes sportsbooks, state gaming regulators, leagues and NCAA conferences, stating that a bettor had attempted to place "their largest wager to date" on Central Michigan to cover the spread in the first half of its home game against Eastern Michigan.”
Reading the line: The intersection of college basketball and betting integrity is at a critical point. This news, coupled with an investigation regarding Temple men’s basketball, may manifest more activity and chatter regarding whether there need to be limits on regulated sportsbooks and college wagers. I, and the industry, would argue that more limits are not needed, and in fact we’re finding out about these betting anomalies and potential bad actors because of the safeguards in place in the regulated industry. (Not to mention any limited ban just sends all this action to the black and gray markets.) But the NCAA is actively advocating for prohibitions on certain types of bets — particularly prop bets — and would still be in favor of full bans on college markets. More scandals will give the NCAA more ammunition for its argument, no matter the reality of the situation.Layoffs for Betr | The well-funded US fantasy and sports betting operator Betr is laying off 19 employees, according to Earnings + More. While Betr tried to put a rosy spin on all of it, there’s this from E+M: “One industry source said Betr had produced ‘a lot of PR and Instagram posts, but no real momentum.’ Another suggested it had ‘absolutely burnt through capital.’”
Reading the line: Most of what I wrote almost a year and a half ago (!) about Betr still applies. There’s not much evidence it’s breaking through as a regulated gambling operator. It’s at least in the discussion as one of the top 5 or 6 fantasy parlay operators, but that’s not terribly exciting given how much money the company raised at lofty valuations. It’s not clear how Betr turns things around, and it’s hard to see how layoffs are going to help beyond saving on the cost side.
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Gambling news today
Eagles are favorites to win Super Bowl LIX (Philly Voice): Go Birds!
A New Era for Social Sweepstakes Casino Technology, as GiG’s SweepX Platform launches Online for the First Time (PR): “Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) has announced its pioneering social sweepstakes casino platform SweepX is now live with new partner Primero under the goldrushcity.com brand, with GiG’s revolutionary technology marking another significant strategic milestone , powering into the sweepstakes and social casino vertical for the first time, underscoring its commitment to fueling growth in new and emerging markets for it’s partners.”
A bad December continues for US sportsbooks (me, paywalled): Here’s a graph that demonstrates MoM declines:
Missouri Gaming Commission talks timeline for online sports betting (Fox 4 KC): More on the hopes of Missouri launching sooner rather than later.
Nebraska intros bill to legalize online sports betting (Nebraska Public Media): “Meanwhile, Sen. Stan Clouse introduced legislation to legalize online sports betting and route that business through the state’s casinos. He said that’s a way to make sure the state gets its share of tax revenue from bets. ‘They would be tied into the brick and mortar casinos that we have, so that they have the capacity or the structure in place where they can manage that and make sure that we are capturing the revenue, and that would be a partner with the existing casinos that have been approved by the voters and are presently under construction,’ Clouse said.”
New Texas House Friendly To Sports Betting (Legal Sports Report): “Rep. Dustin Burrows beat fellow Republican Rep. David Cook in an 85-55 vote Tuesday to become the new Texas Speaker of the House. … While Burrows voted against both sports betting and casino gambling bills, and Cook voted for both, Burrows’ selection opened up a lane for the bipartisan cooperation needed to pass sports betting. The speaker election represents a larger political statement, with Burrows representing establishment Republicans.”
Sorry, Minnesota still doesn’t need sports betting (Column, Minnesota Star Tribune): Minnesota is one of the main targets for sports betting legalization in 2025, but there continues to be quite a bit of pushback. And this piece echoes some of the negative PR and reporting we have seen in recent months. ”For the past few years, the legislative debate on sports betting focused on the minutiae of pleasing various constituencies that have a financial stake in the outcome. Now, the vibe is shifting to whether we really want this at all.”
BetMGM Secures Exclusive Online Casino Content Rights To "Family Feud" and "The Price is Right" With Fremantle Partnership (PR): “The multi-year agreement secures the intellectual property rights for iconic game shows "The Price is Right" and "Family Feud" for slots, table games and non-traditional casino games. The partnership establishes the foundation for BetMGM to create customized online casino content around both game show brands.”
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