fanduel Archives

Curated iGaming News – August 9, 2017

iGaming

American Gaming Association Taking New Responsible Gaming Code Online – The AGA released a new code of conduct for responsible gambling, extending it to online gambling operations for the first time, and includes increased transparency surrounding odds and payouts on casino games.
Michigan Online Gaming Bill in Revision Process – SB 203 is still in play, and a new draft is in the works in an attempt to legalize iGaming in Michigan.
Is US Online Gambling Regulation One Step Closer? – Article from the London Economic explores the high-level politics.

Esports

Team EnVyUs To Receive $35 Million Investment from Hersh Family Investments – The deal is one of the largest reported esports team acquisitions in history, but does not eclipse the $100m investment in Virtus.Pro from Alisher Usmanov.
Gfinity’s UK Broadcast Deals Highlight Esports Gambling Opportunities, Challenges – Three recent announcements from UK-listed esports tournament and broadcasting provider Gfinity have highlighted the potential for esports to enter the entertainment mainstream, but they leave open questions regarding the opportunity for gambling operators to capitalize on the growing popularity.
Paris Mulling Inclusion of Esports in 2024 Olympic Program – Co-President of the Olympic Committee Tony Estanguet told AP that he is mulling the addition of video games to the agenda.

Daily Fantasy Sports

Fanduel Introduces Hybrid Daily Fantasy and Season Long Contests – In a smart move, Fanduel moves to leverage a broader audience with a new piece of technology.

Payments

Caesars Launches WeChat Pay for Chinese Visitors – Chinese tourists can now use WeChat Pay, a Chinese digital wallet similar to Apple Pay, to buy food, show tickets, or souvenirs at 16 POS locations inside Caesars Palace, the Linq, and Paris.

Curated iGaming News – August 1, 2017

New Jersey Online Gambling

Strip Club “Scores” Goes Live With Real Money Online Gambling Product in NJ – Operating under the Borgata brand and using the Pala Casino software, the famous strip club chain is trying its hand in the online gambling market.

Sports Betting

Former MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent: “Legal Betting on All Major Sports Is Not Far Off” – MLB commissioner from 1989 to 1992 penned an editorial to the NY Times, showing his bullishness on the legalization of sports betting in the USA.
Sports Betting Legislation Will Need Approval of Tribes in Many States – Legal experts say that efforts to legalize sports betting may conflict with federal law and casino regulatory agreements governing American Indian tribes in 29 states.
NIGA Joins Coalition to Fight for Sports Betting – the National Indian Gaming Association has joined the American Sports Betting Coalition in its push to repeal the federal ban on sports wagering.

New Jersey Online Poker

Shared Liquidity Plans Between NJ and UK Stalls – Last year the NJDGE and the UKGC agreed to allow three gaming companies to have shared online poker liquidity, but there has been no movement.
NJ Eyes Online Poker Compacts with Nevada and Pennsylvania – Wide ranging interview with Dave Rebuck sheds some light on NJ iGaming plans.

Daily Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Sports Should be Treated Like Online Gaming, MA Panel Says – A special commission in Massachusetts voted to recommend that DFS be included under a definition of online gaming, despite push back from Draftkings.
Fanduel Withdraws From UK Market – Said to be focusing efforts in North America in what many view as a make-or-break NFL season for the company.

Esports

Madison Square Garden Company Buys Controlling Stake in Counter Logic Gaming – MSG’s first foray into the esports market, and reality esports TV show coming out of Australia and Southeast Asia.
BBC To Begin Covering Esports – UK National broadcaster is to begin showing live esports coverage through a deal with the newly-formed Gfinty Elite League.
Philippine Government Signaling Support for Esports Market – Esports in the Phillippines has received a significant boost after the country signals its official support for the industry.

Lottery

Massachusetts Lottery Profits Top $1B as Overall Sales Dip – MA tops $1B in profit for the first time in 45 years.

International News

Hao Tang Buys Up 15% of Amaya – Investors formerly linked to David Baazov have been increasing share in Amaya through stock purchase.
Japanese Casino Regulations Might Hinder Market – Operators considering scaling back proposed investments.
IGT Forms Chinese Lottery Venture – Links up with a subsidiary of Telling Telecommunication Holding Co to launch a new lottery venture in China.
Australia’s Online Gambling Crackdown Attracts Black Market Experts – Ignition Casino enters the market as most plan their exit.

Curated iGaming News – July 27, 2017

Massachusetts

Study Group Recommends MA Wait to Legalize Online Casinos – A special legislative commission in MA is recommending the legalization of fantasy sports, but to hold off on sanctioning additional online gaming.
Stronach Group Mulling Plans for MA Racing – The Stronach Group has asked the MA legislature to give the state gambling commission more power to change simulcasting and account-wagering laws in order to pave the way for a proposed partnership on a Thoroughbred meet at the defunct Raynham greyhound track in 2018. Intent of request is to control simulcasting in the state and to receive a cut of revenue from companies that compete with XpressBet.

Daily Fantasy Sports

Delaware Legalizes DFS, Draftkings and Fanduel to Reenter Market – Delaware became the 14th state to put (fee and tax heavy) fantasy sports law on the books. It calls for a $50k fee and 15.5% tax on GGR. Minimum age of 18 years old, bans contests on college events, horse racing, and law sunsets in 2019 with instructions for a report to revise the law due in that year.

Pennsylvania

PA Senate Back in Session, But iGaming May Have to Wait Until The Fall – If legislators cannot reconcile their differences over the next few days, iGaming will be pushed off. This article takes a more optimistic view of PA legalizing iGaming with immediacy, and this describes how the Senate Budget Plan Counts on $200m from Gaming.

Esports

Minimum Salary Set at $50k Per Player for Overwatch League – Blizzard releases more details about their Overwatch League. Signings begin August 1st.
GameCo Targets Australia, But Hurdles Remain

United Kingdom

Digital Offsets Land Based Decline at Ladbrokes

Good Reads

Curated iGaming News – July 24, 2017

Sports Betting

New Jersey Can’t Have Sports Betting Yet, Or Can It? – NJ pushing the envelope with Fastpick, what many are dubbing “legal” sports betting

Daily Fantasy Sports

WNBA Sees ‘Tremendous Growth” With Technology Platforms Like Twitter and Fanduel – WNBA Commissioner talks about viewership data and new exposure.

Esports

Banned CS:GO Twitch Streamer PhantomL0rd Seeks Legal Options Against Twitch Following Gambling Scandal – James Varga was implicated in being involved with skin gambling sites and allegedly rigging percentage of wins and losses.
Esports Wagering Remains Murky Area for Casinos – The casino industry is working to integrate gambling with esports, or competitive video gaming. “Money matches” abound – but this has been occurring for over a decade.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence Helps Tailor Fit Game Offerings – AI can create more personalized gaming offerings.

New Jersey

Governor Christie Signs Resolution Urging Trump to Oppose iGaming Ban

International

Israel Passes Internet Censorship Law – The law targets illegal gambling, among other categories.
India: Casinos Have Provided Jobs, Revenue – Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the Goa legislative assembly that casinos have contributed to the state’s economy by way of revenue and employment generation.

Curated iGaming News July 14, 2017

Esports

GameCo Secures License Agreement with BANDAI NAMCO to Adapt SOULCALIBUR II as a Skill-Based Video Gambling Game – the companies will jointly develop a skill-based gambling video game based on the popular fighting game SOULCALIBUR II.
DOTA 2 Prizepool Eclipses $20 Million, Now Largest in Esports History– the prize pool for The International nears $21 million.

Sports Betting & Daily Fantasy Sports

Will The Supreme Court Give Gambling Back to the States? – Nelson Rose examines the states rights issue that will be decided in the Supreme Court.
Sports Betting: Opportunities Outside of Nevada – August 9th webinar will feature Will Green, Dan Kustelski, and Dan Shapiro.
Op/Ed: Will Fanduel and Draftkings Get Into Sports Betting Now That the Merger is Off the Table? – Dustin Gouker explores.

Lottery

State Lotteries Fight “Jackpot Fatigue,” Casino Competition – With lottery proceeds flat or declining, and states reluctant to raise taxes to make up the difference, pressure is mounting to keep players playing and money rolling in. Another article discusses the declining trend further.

Online Gambling

Debate Over Online Gambling Laws for Tribes in Michigan Continues – SB 203 continues to undergo amendment in effort to alleviate issues.

Cryptocurrency and Blockchain

Peerplays Blockchain Michael Maloney Interviewed by Becky Liggero – article discusses blockchain technology as it relates to gambling and regulation.

Other News

Cirsa Acquires Novomatic’s Casinos in Peru – the move is reported to allow Novomatic to focus strategy on commercialization of gaming machines within the Peruvian market.
Resorts World Announces $400 Million Expansion – the project includes a hotel, restaurants, retail stores, and additional slot machines.

Curated iGaming News – July 12, 2017

Sports Betting

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred Wants to Help Shape The Regulatory Scheme for Sports Betting– these appear to be the first comments from any of the leagues in wake of the news that the US Supreme Court would hear NJ’s case in its ongoing quest to legalize sports betting.

Esports

Blizzard Announces First Seven Overwatch League Owners and Cities: Owners include Robert Kraft (New England Patriots), Jeff Wilpon (New York Mets), Ben Spoont (Misfits), Noah Whinston (Immortals), Andy Miller (NRG), Kevin Chou (Kabam), NetEase. Cost of entry is $20 million.
Riot Games’ Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) Had More than 360 million Unique Viewers – according to statistics from Riot Games, a total of 364 million unique viewers from around the world watched the event, with a peak of 4.3 million concurrent views.

Daily Fantasy Sports

NJ Ready to Legalize and Regulate Daily Fantasy, Still Big But Not Booming: The Senate two weeks ago passed and the Legislature sent to the governor a bill to allow daily fantasy sports betting in New Jersey.
Fanduel Evaluating Whether or Not To Drop Merger with Draftkings: A challenge by the U.S. government has the company evaluating its next steps, says CEO Nigel Eccles. Another article here.
Draftkings & Fanduel Class Action Lawsuit Begins in Massachusetts Courtroom: Attorneys for Draftkings and Fanduel will be in a Boston courtroom on Wednesday as a hearing gets underway to dismiss a class action lawsuit against the DFS sites.

Pennsylvania Online Gambling

Pennsylvania Gambling Expansion Still on The Table, Governor Tom Wolf Allows Underfunded Budget to Pass: Expanding Pennsylvania’s gambling to the internet is not dead yet as budget deficit still looms.

Michigan Online Gambling

Amended Online Gambling Bill Emerges in Michigan – Senator Mark Kowall submits slightly revised bill, iGaming still alive for debate in MI.

Gambling and the Law

Lawmakers Press Attorney General Jeff Sessions Over Online Gambling: Virginia Democrat Mark Warner recently wrote a letter to Sessions that was a demonstration in misinformation. This article explains why Warner gets his facts wrong.
Malta Gaming Authority Publishes a White Paper Proposing Major Reforms to their Gaming Legal Framework: The main objective behind this proposed overhaul is to repeal all of the existing legislation and replace it with a more streamlined solution.
Florida Judge Reverses Ruling, Rules Pre-Reveal Games Are Illegal Slot Machines – Judge John Cooper files a final declaratory judgment which allows Gator Coin II – The Jacksonville company that distributes the games – to now appeal to the 1st district.

Fanduel and Draftkings Merger Not a Sure Thing

Fanduel fails to convince judge to move FTC case to Boston

FTC Temporarily Halts Proposed Draftkings-Fanduel Merger

The proposed merger between daily fantasy sports powerhouses Fanduel and Draftkings is in jeopardy, and most recently a judge declined to allow the case to move to Boston – where Draftkings is based – and with an ostensibly more friendly legal environment for the two DFS giants.