Canada
PlayPennsylvania.com: Sports wagering falls to lowest level since July 2020
Pennsylvania’s sports betting volume slipped in July to the lowest level since July 2020, falling to $304 million and continuing a slowing trend in July that has affected nearly every major U.S. market, according to PlayPennsylvania, which tracks regulated online gaming and sports betting in the state.
“Even with the NBA Finals and the Olympics to help boost the schedule this year, bettors in Pennsylvania and beyond just don’t engage sportsbooks as much during July,” said Dustin Gouker, lead analyst for the PlayUSA.com network, which includes PlayPennsylania.com. “This year in particular saw a surge in nationwide travel, which means people were occupied with family vacations and other summer activities. That said, sportsbooks cannot wait for football season to ramp up.”
Bettors placed $304.4 million in wagers at Pennsylvania’s online and retail sportsbooks in July, down 27.6% from $420.2 million in June, according to official data released Monday. July’s handle was up 84.7% from $164.8 million in July 2020, which was the last month with a handle of less than $364 million and featured the relaunch of baseball and the NBA after a months-long hiatus.
Lower volume sapped gross gaming revenue, which fell 35.3% to $27.5 million from $42.5 million in June, but up 101.3% from $13.7 million in July 2020. The month’s gross receipts led to $19.9 million in taxable revenue, which yielded $6.8 million in state taxes and $397,124 in local share assessments.
The drop in wagering has historical context. July was the lowest volume month in the U.S. in both 2018 and 2019, before the pandemic permuted sports betting data in 2020.
“The time zone difference dampened interest in the Olympics, but they were likely never going to move the needle significantly anyway,” said Valerie Cross, analyst for PlayPennsylvania.com. “The Phillies playing better almost certainly helped. But seasonal dips this time of year are nothing to be concerned about.”
Online betting accounted for $275.4 million in wagers, making up 90.5% of the state’s total handle in July. Once again, FanDuel topped the online market with $106.7 million in online wagering — down 34.3% from $162.5 million in June but capturing 38.7% of all online wagers in July. FanDuel’s gross gaming revenue from online betting fell to $12.3 million from $19.7 million in June, yielding $9.5 million in taxable revenue.
DraftKings followed with a $66.2 million handle, down from $86.0 million in June. July’s handle produced $4.0 million in gross revenue, down from $6.4 million in June, and $2.8 million in taxable revenue.
Penn National’s Barstool-branded app finished fourth in the state, behind BetMGM, with a $24.5 million handle in July, down from $31.9 million in June. Those bets led to $2.3 million in gross revenue and $1.7 million in taxable revenue.
The online leaders were followed by:
- BetMGM ($29.0 million handle, down from $37.4 million in June; $2.3 million in gross gaming revenue, up from $2.2 million)
- BetRivers ($14.5 million handle, down from $18.5 million; $1.3 million GGR, down from $1.4 million)
- Fox Bet ($10.0 million handle, down from $12.6 million; $709,376 GGR, down from $934,728)
- SugarHouse ($9.0 million handle, down from $11.3 million; $680,099 in GGR, down from $918,873)
- Parx Casino ($7.9 million handle, down from $9.8 million; $745,087 GGR, down from $1.1 million)
- Unibet ($4.5 million handle, down from $4.7 million; $316,936 GGR, down from $376,848)
- TwinSpires ($2.1 million handle, down from $2.2 million; $179,276 GGR, down from $194,104)
- Caesars ($947,532 handle, down from $1.5 million; -$126,967 GGR, down from $56,986)
- Wind Creek ($406,259 handle, down from $771,648; $6,284 GGR, down from $33,801)
- Betway ($563,481 handle; up from $14,883; -$32,239 GGR, down from $3,655)
Meanwhile, retail sportsbooks took in $29.0 million in wagers in June, down from $40.9 million in June. Those bets yielded $2.7 million in gross gaming revenue, down 45.4% from $4.9 million in June. Rivers Philadelphia topped the retail market with $5.9 million in bets, ahead of Parx Casino’s $4.0 million handle.
“The pandemic will continue to be the most important factor for the retail market for the foreseeable future,” Gouker said. “As the latest surge shows, the hope that retail sports betting would return to normal by football season seems overly optimistic.”
Online casinos and poker
Gross gaming revenue from online casinos and poker rooms rose 3.6% to $104.5 million from $100.8 million in June. Year-over-year, iGaming gross revenue is up 52.9% from $68.4 million in July 2020. July marks the fifth straight month surpassing $100 million in gross revenue.
July’s gross revenue was whittled to $88.7 million in taxable revenue, down from $88.9 million in June. That still produced $38.2 million in state and local taxes.
Online casinos and poker rooms have now produced $508.1 million in state and local taxes over the more than two years since launching in July 2019. Only New Jersey has wrung more tax revenue from online casinos and poker with $662.6 million — but that market launched in November 2013, nearly six years before Pennsylvania.
“As closely as it now tracks with New Jersey, no state benefits more from online gambling than Pennsylvania,” Cross said. “There was a lot of concern in the industry that regulators had initially set tax rates too high, and a slow start to the industry seemed to back that up. Now it seems that Pennsylvania’s aggressive taxing has been a clear win for the state.”
Other highlights from July:
- Wagering on online casino games reached $3.2 billion in July, down from $1.8 billion in July 2020.
- Online casino and poker rooms generated $3.4 million in gross gaming revenue per day over the 31 days of July, even with June.
- Penn National, which includes the DraftKings, BetMGM, Barstool, and Hollywood casinos, topped the market with $36.9 million in revenue. Rivers Philadelphia, which includes SugarHouse, Borgata, and BetRivers casinos, was second with $30.9 million.
- Poker generated $2.6 million in revenue, down from $3.0 million in July 2020. Mount Airy/PokerStars topped operators with $2.0 million.
Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO)
Soft2Bet strengthens integrity monitoring with IBIA membership in Ontario
Soft2Bet, a leading casino and sportsbook platform provider, has joined the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) and activated its membership in Ontario, Canada, following its licensing in the Canadian province.
Soft2bet obtained its Certificate of Registration from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) at the end of March, where the company’s Ontario-focused brand Tooniebet.com will now feed into IBIA’s world-leading sports betting integrity monitoring platform before worldwide implementation in the coming months.
IBIA includes over 50 of the world’s leading sports betting and gaming companies, who operate over 125 sports betting brands. Soft2Bet’s decision to join the association further strengthens its own internal betting integrity protocols and IBIA’s position as the world’s leading sports betting integrity monitoring body.
David Yatom Hay, General Counsel at Soft2Bet, commented: “Soft2Bet is delighted to be joining the IBIA as we strengthen our own betting integrity monitoring processes and play our part in furthering the IBIA’s long-standing work on this key issue. Ontario is a world class iGaming jurisdiction; it will be the first market where we will implement our IBIA membership and we look forward to deploying the monitoring infrastructure worldwide in all the other markets in which we operate.”
Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, said: “Soft2Bet is a very welcome addition to IBIA, further strengthening our position in the Ontario market. The operator’s decision to join IBIA demonstrates its desire to utilise the best integrity protection available for its sportsbook product. The association is delighted to be able to integrate Tooniebet within our integrity monitoring system and looks forward to working closely with Soft2Bet to maintain the high integrity of its sportsbook.”
IBIA is a not-for-profit body that has no competing conflicts with the delivery of commercial services to other sectors and is run by operators and for operators to protect regulated sports betting markets from match-fixing. IBIA’s global monitoring network is a highly effective anti-corruption tool, detecting and reporting suspicious activity in regulated betting markets.
Through the IBIA monitoring network it is possible to track transactional activities linked to individual customer accounts. IBIA members generate more than $300bn in annual betting turnover (handle), accounting for approximately 50% of the global commercial regulated land-based and online sports betting sector, and in excess of 50% for online alone.
IBIA recently released a report on the Availability of Sports Betting Products which highlighted Ontario as a leading regulated gambling jurisdiction, with an expected onshore channelisation for sports betting of 92% in 2024 forecast to rise to 97% in2028. IBIA currently represents over 60% of the private sports betting operators licensed in the province. All online sportsbetting operators licensed in Ontario are required to be part of a betting integrity monitoring body.
IBIA’s Q1 2024 report detailed 56 alerts during the quarter. IBIA alerts contributed to the investigations and subsequent successful sanctioning of 21 clubs, players and officials in 2023, an increase on the 15 sanctioned in 2022.
British Columbia Lottery Corporation
SCCG Management Signs Contract with British Columbia Lottery Corporation
SCCG Management has signed a contract with the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC), the B.C. Crown corporation which conducts and manages commercial gambling in the province, including lotteries, casinos, and online gaming. This partnership aims to undertake a comprehensive assessment and strategic enhancement of BCLC’s diverse operations.
The work between SCCG and BCLC will involve a thorough review of technological infrastructures, strategic market positioning, and the integration of various gaming modalities. SCCG’s extensive expertise will be pivotal in harmonizing BCLC’s online and physical gaming experiences.
Stephen Crystal, Founder and CEO of SCCG Management, said: “Our collaboration with BCLC represents a remarkable opportunity to push the boundaries of innovation within the gaming industry. We are committed to deploying our resources and expertise to enhance BCLC’s operational efficiencies and customer engagement strategies. It’s an honor to partner with an organization that has a robust impact on the community through its support of public initiatives.”
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has mandated all Ontario-registered sportsbook operators to halt offering and accepting wagers on World Boxing Association (WBA) events immediately. This measure is being taken to protect the Ontario betting public following concerns that WBA-sanctioned boxing matches are not adequately being safeguarded against match-fixing and insider betting.
Since December 2023, the AGCO has been conducting a comprehensive review of suspicious wagering activity on a WBA-sanctioned title fight between Yoenis Tellez and Livan Navarro that was held in Orlando, Florida. Suspicious betting patterns on the bout lasting over 5.5 rounds were reported to the AGCO by two registered independent integrity monitors and detected in Ontario by a registered igaming operator. Media reports also alleged that Tellez’s Manager placed $110,000 on the match lasting longer than 5.5 rounds at a Florida casino. The bout ended with Tellez knocking out Navarro in the 10th round.
Following an intensive review that included outreach to the WBA, Ontario-registered gaming operators, independent integrity monitors, and regulators in other jurisdictions, the AGCO has concluded that bets related to WBA events do not currently meet the Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming.
The AGCO requires all Ontario-registered gaming operators to ensure the sport betting products they offer are on events that are effectively supervised by a sport governing body. At a minimum, the sport governing body must have and enforce codes of conduct that prohibit betting by insiders.
Registered gaming operators were unable to demonstrate to the AGCO that the WBA prohibits betting from insiders, which could include an athlete’s coaches, managers, handlers, athletic trainers, medical professionals, or others with access to non-public information. Further, registered gaming operators were unable to demonstrate that the WBA took any action to investigate or enforce the allegations of potential match-fixing and insider wagering.
The AGCO has indicated to registered operators that in order for WBA betting products to be reinstated in Ontario, operators must demonstrate that the WBA effectively supervises its events, thus bringing them into compliance with the Registrar’s Standards. In December 2022, the AGCO required gaming operators to stop offering bets on UFC events for similar issues related to insider betting safeguards. Within a month, UFC amended its policies and implemented new protocols that allowed the AGCO to reinstate betting on UFC events in the province.
“Ontarians who wish to bet on sporting events need to be confident that those events are fairly run, and that clear integrity safeguards are in place and enforced by an effective sport governing body. Knowing the popularity of boxing in Ontario, we look forward to reinstating betting on WBA events once appropriate safeguards against possible match-fixing and insider betting have been confirmed,” Dr. Karin Schnarr, Registrar and CEO of AGCO, said.
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