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.

A multi-million-dollar deal was announced in the online betting world this week, after Entain agreed to purchase the Dutch-based online sports betting group, BetEnt BV.

A total purchase price of $885 million was agreed. If all goes according to plan, the deal is expected to be finalized by the second half of this year.

Entain will pay $312 million up front for BetEnt, which trades under its BetCity brand. 

The rest of the money is due before the end of next year. 

A final contingent payment will be paid to current owner, Sports Media Entertainment, in 2024.

Foot into Dutch Sports aBetting Market

Entain’s reach spreads across the world, with a business worth over $12 billion. Nevertheless, the company has been eying an entry into the fast-growing sports betting market in the Netherlands and the latest deal to acquire BetCity is exactly what it needs to do so.

BetCity has a license to operate in the newly legalized sports betting industry in the Netherlands, and this license will now be owned by Entain. 

Eantain Brands

Some of the most popular gambling brands in the world fall under the Entain umbrella. 

These include:

• Bwin
• Ladbrokes
• Coral
• SportingBet
• BetBoo
• GameBookers
• CrystalBet
• EuroBet
• BetMGM
• Borgata
• PartyPoker
• PartyCasino
• Gala Bingo
• FoxyBingo
• OptiBet

The Danish Gambling Authority issued an update of the country’s sports betting market, showing that year on year revenues for the month of April 2022 declined by 16.6%.

The industry was informed that takings on sports betting fell from DKK 222 million in April 2021 to DKK 266 million in April this year. 

Nevertheless, it wasn’t all bad news from the authority, which said that April’s sports betting takings were still a marked improvement from March 2022’s numbers which stood at DKK 155 million.

This shows that the market is slowly climbing back from extremely low numbers overall.

Other points from the Danish Gambling Authority’s report:

• Sports betting earnings during the first quarter of this year declined 3.7% year on year.
• During the first three months of the year, land-based casinos and gaming machine operators had a very successful period. Gross gaming revenue – GGR – was reported to be DKK 589 million during this period.
• In April 2022, land-based casino revenues stood at DKK 35 million. 

Danish Online Gambling Forecast

The authority expects the online gambling industry to meet more challenging times.

Total online casino revenue in April 2022 were reported to be DKK 242 million, a 5.4% decline compared to the same month last year, when earnings were DKK 256 million. 

The seventh most populous state in the US is set to welcome in a new legal and regulated sports betting industry by January 1^st, 2023. Already, players are waiting impatiently to see which operators will launch in the new market.

Industry experts say that the opening party will be huge, with multiple operators due to go live. Many of them have existing retail casino partnerships in place already, and the launch of their sportsbooks products will be much less complicated as a result.

Big names expected to launch in January include FanDuel Ohio, DraftKings Ohio, Caesars Sportsbook Ohio, Bally Bet, BetMGM, Unibet, PointsBet, Barstool, Fubo, BetRivers, Tipico, Hard Rock, WynnBet and MaximBet. 

From the middle of this month until the middle of August, the Ohio Casino Control Commission will start accepting license applications for sportsbooks. 

Fans were initially disappointed that the market wouldn’t be up and running in time for the 2022 football season, but the state’s gambling authorities insist that things be done thoroughly and properly before the official launch.

On the bright side, more time means that a larger number of operators have the opportunity to apply for and receive a license. The bottom line is that there will be a greater number of options to choose from when things finally happen at the start of the new year.