It’s official. The Governor of Kansas, Laura Kelly, signed the bill that will legalize sports betting in the state. The ceremonial signing of Senate Bill 84 took place on Monday in the company of multiple stakeholders in the state’s casino industry.
SB 84 will allow places such as restaurants and non-profit organizations to offer sports wagering. It will also allow state casinos to use digital platforms and create sportsbooks. The bill also allows the negotiation of sports betting gaming compacts with Native American tribes.
At the signing ceremony, Gov. Kelly said that sporting events, casinos, restaurants and other entertainment venues will soon have a new way of attracting state residents to their venues.
“Legalizing sports betting is a common-sense solution that will keep Kansans’ money in Kansas,” she said. “It’s one more way my Administration is working to make Kansas the most pro-business, pro-growth state in the country.”
Sports wagering becomes effective from July 1, although Gov. Kelly believes that it is more realistic to expect state regulators to have live betting in operation from the upcoming football season.
Sports betting will be controlled by the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission. Regulators have until January 1st, 2023 to set up guidelines and launch operations.
A number of major operators such as FanDuel, BetMGM and DraftKings have already announced plans to partner with state casinos in order to offer sports betting services.
According to a report by CBS Sports, industry analysts believe that Texas could legalize sports betting by 2023. If this happens, Texas will become the largest state with legal sports betting.
Lawmakers missed the deadline to bring legal and regulated sports betting to the Lone Star State last year, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t come back on the agenda next year.
The move has generated a lot of interest by major stakeholders, including Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, the Dallas Mavericks and the Texas Rangers – all which have formed a coalition to push the issue.
We’ve being seeing a lot of action in Texas’ gambling industry in recent months.
Just last week, the Supreme Court ruled 5 – 4 that the state doesn’t have the authority to ban electronic bingo on tribal lands since it is not a game that’s prohibited by state law.
Operators are making a move to ready themselves for entry into any potential sports betting market. In May this year, BetMGM announced that it was the exclusive sports betting partner of the Houston Astros – the group’s first collaboration in Texas.
Beto O’Rourke, in the running to be elected governor of Texas, said in April that he would support a sports betting measure if he got the vote.
“It’s something I’m inclined to support,” he’s on the record for saying.
There is much speculation that the Japanese government wants to ease restrictions that it has in place on sports betting.
According to AsiaNews.Network, the Economy, Trade and Industry Minister, Koichi Hagiuda has drafted a proposal to lift restrictions, although he has publicly stated that there are no moves in place to realize the proposal immediately.
It is assumed that the Japanese government wants to increase revenues from advertising to boost its local sports industry. Several years ago, plans were set in motion to expand the sports market from 5.5 trillion JPY in 2015 to 15 trillion JPY by 2025.
The proposal will be heavily opposed by multiple parties, with reasons ranging from fears of gambling addiction to fears of match fixing in sports.
The Ministry has said that it will meet with the Sports Agency to review the idea of lifting restrictions.
As per Minister Hagiuda: “We’ll resume discussions, taking into account changes in the structure of the global sports industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic and digitalization, but when to start the discussions and what to discuss is not yet decided.”
Proponents say that the revenue generated from gambling could be used to promote sports and to cover the cost of club activities in Japanese schools.
However, opponents such as Motohiro Ohashi said that it would be “outrageous if children’s club activities were used as the basis to promote the legalization of sports betting.”
The online casino and sports betting group, Rush Street Interactive, has become the latest company to enter the West Virginian sports betting market.
Rush Street’s online sportsbook will now be added to the group’s online casino that has been in operation with BetRivers since April last year.
Rush Street maintains a good share of the West Virginia online gaming market, despite stiff competition.
As per the chief executive officer of Rush Street Interactive, Richard Schwartz: “We expect our BetRivers sportsbook app to be well received as many West Virginians are now familiar with the BetRivers brand and have come to appreciate and trust our high-quality products and responsive customer service.”
What will the new BetRivers Sportsbook Offer?
- Players and sports betting fans in West Virginia will be able to place bets securely on the latest sports events.
- Bets can be placed via the BetRivers iOS and Android apps, as well as its website.
- Among the betting markets will be live-streamed events, where players can place in-play bets.
- The new sportsbook will also offer a loyalty program that boasts integrated bonuses.
- One of the reward features is a Refer a Friend program. Players who refer their friends to the platform will receive a scratchcard which guarantees them a win of up to $500.
April 2022 was the second month that Illinoisans were allowed to register their accounts at sportsbooks using remote means.
This had an incredible effect on the local sports betting industry, with the Illinois Gaming Board reporting that sportsbooks took in $839.4 million in April – a 56% jump in comparison to the same total year on year.
In March 2022, a requirement that gamblers sign up at sportsbooks by making their way to a physical location expired. As a result, sportsbooks were able to report on a record $971.3 million in wagers made.
Other key points of April 2022 Illinois report:
- Operators held $68.2 million in revenue – an increase of over 12% from the $60.6 million reported in March, 2022.
- Sportsbook operators generated $38.1 million in revenue on parlays.
- $10.6 million was paid out to the state in taxes.
- The vast majority (97%) of the handle came from online sports betting.
- Out of the seven sportsbooks in operation, FanDuel led the way by taking $286.3 million of the online bets in April 2022.
- DraftKings came a close second with $213.9 million.
- BetRivers and PointsBet took third and fourth spot respectively.
- There has been increased traffic in the state, thanks to the addition of new sportsbooks in the market. This includes BetMGM which launched in March.