The Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut had its grand opening for its retail sportsbook offering this weekend, which it opened up in collaboration the iconic sportsbook and fantasy sports betting group FanDuel.
The Mohegan Sun FanDuel Sportsbook boasts a massive 11,000 square foot space and is home to a 140-foot video wall, 30 flat screen TVS, close to 40 betting kiosks, six cashier windows and a full bar for patrons to frequent.
The sportsbook opened just in time to welcome in the NCAAA March Madness basketball tournament, considered one of the busiest times on the US sports calendar.
What Mohegan Sun Says
“We’re beyond excited about this new venue which completely transforms Mohegan Sun’s old Race Book space into one of the largest and most dynamic FanDuel Sportsbook’s in the United States,” said Jeff Hamilton, president and general manager of Mohegan Sun.
“The all-new Mohegan Sun FanDuel Sportsbook, led by sportsbook general manager, Brad Bryant, becomes the premier venue to wager on and catch a game while enjoying top-notch service inside an incredibly immersive atmosphere.”
The festivities were kicked off with special guest appearances such as Heavyweight champion Larry Holmes and former NFL wide receiver Chris Hogan.
The sportsbook plans to have special appearances throughout the year as well.
Mobile sports betting became officially legal this weekend in Arkansas.
The first of three casinos in the state to offer online sports betting is the Southland Casino.
Operator, Southland Casino Racing launched Betly online sports book and invited residents of the Natural State to start betting remotely. The sportsbook can be played on PC and Mac browsers and is not yet available on mobile phones.
“The Betly online sportsbook will make it even easier for our patrons, all Arkansas residents and visitors to the state to wager on their favorite teams,” said David Wolf, president and GM of Southland Casino Racing says. “Many patrons are already using our Betly sportsbook kiosks at Southland, so the online sportsbook will be a familiar and convenient extension of our sports betting experience.”
Sports betting is a popular pastime in the state and is a solid contributor to state coffers. Last year, Arkansas enjoyed over a million dollars in tax revenue thanks to people wagering on sports in person. Now that it is legal to bet on sports online in Arkansas, authorities are hoping to see those numbers tripled in a short space of time.
The government is certain that state and local economies will benefit greatly from greater tax revenue and thus passed the law that made it legal to bet online from March 4th.
It was a bumper month for the Colorado sports betting industry, with numbers showing that consumers in the state wagered $573.7 million in January 2022
This beat the previous record set in October 2021, with a rise of 16.7%.
Highlights of the January 2022 report issued by the Colorado Department of Revenue showed:
- Revenue from sports betting in January amounted to $34.6 million.
- Year on year amount spent by players was 75.5% higher, and 24.3% up from the previous month (December 2021).
- The most popular sports wagered on was basketball which saw $163.3 million in total bets made. Trailing was football ($141 million) and college basketball ($62 million).
- Players spent $90.2 million on parlay betting.
- Gross gaming revenue from sports betting was $34.6 million – nearly 50% higher than January 2021 and 40.1% higher than December 2021.
- The state generated $1.4 million in tax from sports wagering throughout January.
The Incredible Popularity of Online Sports Betting in Colorado
The most throught-provoking fact that came out of the January 2022 report, however, was the incredible popularity that online sports betting enjoys in Colorado.
Online wagers amounted to $567.1 million in January, compared to just $6.6 million in bets made at retail sportsbooks across the state.
Some of the biggest names in the US sports betting industry, including FanDuel, SportsBet, DraftKings and Caesars have removed bets on sports leagues in Belarus and Russia, as part of sanctions directed against Russia for its attack on Ukraine.
On Thursday last week, DraftKings announced that it would be halting all bets on Russian sports organizations, teams or leagues in both countries. Later, other sports betting operators announced that they were also taking down these markets from their sites.
Heading its tweet message with a Ukraine flag, DraftKings said that its ban applied to US B2C operations as well as its global B2B operations. DraftKings has an office in Kyiv.
“As of today, we will no longer offer betting on sports leagues and events in Russia and Belarus, such as the KHL,” tweeted DraftKings. “DraftKings has no direct commercial relationship with any Russian or Belarusian league, team or sports organization. Our customer Experience team is prepared to answer questions from any customers impacts by this change.”
The ban will be a blow to many Russian sports leagues, but the one that is set to feel it most keenly is the country’s leading hockey league, KHL which is in the middle of its playoffs.
Others that will be affected are table tennis, badminton, basketball, soccer and volleyball fans.
A new measure is being backed by professional sports teams in Missouri has advanced to the full House, bringing the state closer to legal sports betting than ever before.
The proposal, which is the result of a collaboration between the St. Louis Cardinals and others, emerged with a 4 – 2 vote from the House Special Committee on Public Policy.
It is believed that sports betting could bring nearly $100 million in revenue to the state, as well as $11 million to local governments if the proposal is successful.
Gambling expansion will also bring in funds to sports teams, casinos and betting platforms.
Key features of the Missouri sports betting proposal:
- The 13 casinos in the state will be allowed to offer sports betting.
- Betting on college sports will be allowed, but not on high school athletic events.
- Professional sports teams will be allowed to allow betting at their stadiums through partnerships with established sportsbooks such as DraftKings and FanDuel.
Up until now, the question of gambling expansion has been stalled because of the problem of the controversial subject of video lottery terminal legalization. For the first time, this debate is being kept separate from gambling expansion plans.
“To have this legislation stand on its own, with VLTs debated on a separate track, we feel that we have the best chance of getting something done this year,” said Cardinals President William DeWitt III.