sports betting

Sports betting continues to be key for a growing sports future, say professional leagues — and hopefully for TV networks that air those sports. But for now, effects from sports betting aren’t clear for TV networks.

Verizon Media’s Yahoo Sports is getting into the gambling business with the launch of a new section that lets fans see betting odds for various sports. But for now, only users in New Jersey will be able to place actual bets, through the separate BetMGM platform operated by MGM Resorts International.

Verizon Media’s Yahoo Sports has entered into an exclusive multi-year partnership with BetMGM to power sports betting for Yahoo Sports and create what it’s calling “collaborative content experiences and live events.” As part of the deal, which kicks off next month, MGM Resorts and Yahoo Sports will collaborate on exclusive live events, broadcast productions, and promotional marketing efforts.

TV’s gambling bonanza remains on the horizon as states hold back on legalization.

Prior to this week’s Eagles-Packers game on Thursday Night Football, the Philadelphia Fox O&O will debut Props and Locks, a weekly sports gambling show hosted by former Eagles linebacker Garry Cobb, Fox 29 sports anchor Scott Grayson, and Fox Bet gambling expert Todd Fuhrman (above). The show will air for 12 straight weeks, through the end of the current NFL season.

Regional cable network NBC Sports Washington will continue to offer a traditional telecast on its main channel, while the gambling-focused telecasts of four preseason games will air simultaneously on its secondary channel, NBC Sports Washington Plus.

The state’s entry comes more than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the ban that had restricted sports betting outside of Nevada. Gambling officials and casino executives in New York are eager to catch up to New Jersey, where gamblers have placed more than $3 billion worth of sports bets in the first full year since wagering became legal in that state.

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law a measure that legalizes betting on professional sports and most Division I college sports, excluding games involving New Hampshire schools. Mobile betting as well as retail gambling at 10 locations will be allowed, though it will take some time to set up. The wagering is expected to produce an estimated $7.5 million for education in fiscal year 2021 and $13.5 million two years later.

MSG Networks said it has reached an agreement with the Vegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN) to bring its sports betting content to the regional sports network five days per week.
VSiN’s Follow the Money began airing on July 1 and will be available every weekday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on MSG.

A year after the United States Supreme Court struck down a 26-year-old federal law that prohibited sports betting, many broadcasters are still hedging their bets on where television fits into the picture. However, Sinclair Broadcast Group has gone all in. And Sinclair isn’t the only player at the table.

Many of the nation’s big media companies have already started to talk about wagering on sports. The media companies have wanted a piece of the action ever since the May 2018 Supreme Court ruling that left individual states free to legalize sports betting. Eight states currently allow it, and if a company happens to reach viewers in one of them then it can run ads for apps that help roll the dice, so to speak.

The New York state gaming commission on Monday approved 6-0 rules governing sports betting at four upstate casinos — paving the way for gamblers to wager on pro sports as early as next month.

CBS Corp. sees sports betting as a “huge” and growing business opportunity as it gets legalized in more states, particularly in terms of advertising revenue, acting CEO Joe Ianniello told an investor conference Wednesday. He said: “It’s an advertising play for us. It’s digital advertising, the demographics are very favorable, so we are leaning into that with our trusted brands — CBS Sports HQ, CBSN, ET Live.”

FuboTV signed a new agreement with fantasy sports provider and bookmaker FanDuel to integrate sports betting data with the FuboTV streaming service. The companies said this agreement is FanDuel’s first strategic partnership with a third-party OTT internet television service. FanDuel’s betting data will be integrated on the Fubo platform in the coming weeks.

A year on from a vital Supreme Court ruling, sports betting is likely to have a wide-ranging impact on the media. When and how much that will be is still anybody’s bet.

Fox Sports says it is buying just under 5% of The Stars Group, the parent company of PokerStars, for about $236 million. Both companies will offer real-money sports betting this fall in states where it is legal and they are licensed.

Now, nearly a year after the Supreme Court cleared the way for any state to choose whether to take wagers, professional sports leagues have completely changed their tune to embrace the private deals offered via legalized sports gambling, both in young markets and prospective ones.

Just because sports betting is currently legal in only one New England state — Rhode Island — that has not stopped NESN from broadcasting a three-hour show five days a week devoted completely to the practice. Follow the Money began airing Monday morning on NESNplus from 7 until 10, and beginning next month it will air on NESN from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

ESPN has showcased sports betting segments on SportsCenter for years, from Chris Berman’s “Swami Sez” NFL picks to Scott Van Pelt’s “Bad Beats.” In this era of expanded legal sports wagering, the media giant is going all-in on a sports betting show for the first time with Daily Wager, which debuts today on ESPNews.

Gerard Waldron of Covington & Burling will present a comprehensive look at the  federal and state laws and the Supreme Court ruling that paved way for sports betting.

Sports betting media startup The Action Network said on Thursday it has raised $17.5 million of funding from private equity, team owners and media and esports investors. The investments come as the sports and media industries try to figure out how to capitalize on the nascent American sports betting market.

The Garden State is flush in Super Bowl bets. The big game is expected to attract $100 million in wagers for New Jersey’s sportsbooks in the first year that gamblers can legally place bets on games at casinos in the state, a gambling association said on Monday.

Maryland voters endorsed a constitutional amendment allowing casinos in 2008, but further commercial gambling expansion requires another voter referendum. Lawmakers failed to pass legislation to put sports betting on last November’s ballot, but momentum appears to be building to act this year.

The Super Bowl may be the biggest sports wagering event in the United States each year, but announcers will not be talking about betting during the broadcast of the big game next month, CBS said on Thursday.

Turner President David Levy picked perhaps the perfect venue, Las Vegas, to offer his bullish predictions about the future of sports betting. Levy said this change in the legal landscape is a boon for sports broadcasters like Turner, allowing them to capitalize on new experiences and revenue opportunities. “Here’s what we know about sports betting,” Levy said in remarks Wednesday at CES. “If you bet on a game, you’re 80% to 90% more likely to watch the event. If you’re more engaged, guess what happens to ratings? Ratings will go up.”

Gov. Larry Hogan, House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. are hoping to forge an agreement during the 2019 legislative session on a measure to expand legalized gambling in Maryland to include wagering on professional sports teams and contests. The D.C. Council voted on Tuesday to legalize sports betting, becoming the first jurisdiction in the region to do so.

Congress is looking to regulate sports betting nationwide under a bill introduced Wednesday. In what looks like the first federal response to New Jersey’s victory in a Supreme Court case in May that paved the way for legalized sports betting nationwide, the bipartisan bill would require the Department of Justice to establish minimum standards for all states that legalize the activity.

Draft legislation that aims to provide federal oversight to sports betting surfaced out of retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch’s office this week. The 37-page untitled discussion draft, obtained by ESPN, is viewed as an initial step in what’s expected to be a long, tedious process that will play out as legal sportsbooks pop up in an increasing amount of states.

Green is flowing in the Garden State. Bettors in New Jersey have plunked down nearly $600 million on their favored teams since sports betting began there a little over four months ago. In October alone, $260 million was wagered across the state, according to the New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement.

The New York legislature passed a law legalizing and regulating fantasy sports in 2016. But now a state court has called into question whether the legislature had the power to legalize fantasy sports given a provision in the state constitution, renewing the debate over the legal status of fantasy sports contests – and whether such contests can be legally advertised – in the state.

Five states have cleared the way for sportsbooks, and more than 20 others, plus Washington, D.C., are debating legislation and could start the betting in the coming year or two. It’s an industry that some believe topped $100 billion as an underground market and some analysts think could grow into a $6 billion to $16 billion industry, depending on how many states get onboard.

Regulators on Wednesday awarded Pennsylvania’s first sports betting licenses to two casinos, although the casinos have other requirements to meet that could take a couple months. The owners of Parx Casino plan to offer sports betting through the suburban Philadelphia casino and racetrack and at an off-track betting parlor in Philadelphia. Penn National Gaming applied for the Hollywood Casino and racetrack it owns near Hershey.