Each Wednesday and Sunday, Digital Wager Wire highlights the most important events impacting the domestic and international sports betting and gaming industry landscape.
Kentucky Surpasses Expectations
Mobile sports betting in Kentucky launched on September 7th, 2023, and the projections for its inaugural yearly contribution to the state’s tax coffers were estimated at $23 million. However, bettors in the Bluegrass State have embraced the free and regulated sports betting market much more passionately than the experts predicted, with $39.1 million in tax revenues based on the state’s top-rated sportsbooks‘ combined annual adjusted gross revenues.
After the predictable malaise in June and July where Major League Baseball is the only active regular season league of North America’s four major sports, August’s numbers improved with the opening of early college football and the NFL’s preseason slate stirring up renewed interest.
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission announced that mobile and retail sportsbooks in the state had a combined handle of $151.4 million in bets during the month of August, a 17.2% increase from July. However, due to a hold, or win rate, that tumbled from July’s 11.5% to just 8% in August, the state’s tax cut was $1.7 million on sportsbooks’ adjusted gross revenues of $11.8 million, $500,000 less than the previous month.
ESPN BET’s First Weekend Report in New York
ESPN BET’s parent company, Penn Entertainment, acquired Wynn Interactive Holdings’ New York licenses in February to gain access to the nation’s most robust online sports betting market. The strategy was designed to get regulatory approval for the license transfer in time for the NFL regular season.
At the time, Penn’s CEO Jay Snowden said, “This is an important development that will bring ESPN BET to the largest regulated online sports wagering market in North America. Together with ESPN, we’re building a brand that is synonymous with sports betting, and operating in the New York market is key as we grow ESPN BET across the U.S.”
However, the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) did not put the license transfer on its itinerary until September 23rd, which was weeks after the NFL began its 2024 campaign. The regulatory body ultimately approved the transfer, and ESPN BET launched on Friday, September 27th, and entered the New York mobile sports betting market along with Fanatics, FanDuel, Caesars, BetMGM, DraftKings, BetRivers, Bally Bet, and Resorts World Bet.
In its first full weekend, ESPN BET handled $3.04 million, which generated revenues of only $165,673 due to an underwhelming 5.4% hold.
Two Non-QB’s Enter the Heisman Race
Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter and Boise State Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty have been bet so heavily to win the college football’s most coveted personal award that Jeanty (+1000) is now the fourth choice while Hunter (+700) is the third choice behind quarterbacks Cam Ward of Miami (+500) and Alabama’s Jalen Milroe (+250).
We don’t normally see a non-quarterback vying for the Heisman, but it is not unheard of, as the Crimson Tide’s wide receiver DeVonta Smith captured the award in 2020 and another Alabama superstar, running back Derrick Henry, did the same in 2015.
Max Meyer, the senior editor at Fanatics Sportsbook, lauded both players recently.
“The Heisman has mostly been a quarterback award, but what Hunter and Jeanty have accomplished so far is absolutely remarkable,” said Meyer. “I think the difference is that Hunter is doing something that we’ve never seen before by playing elite football at two different positions. Jeanty probably would need to break Barry Sanders’ seemingly unbreakable single-season rushing yards record to have a strong chance.”
