This Week in Sports Betting News, January 21st 2022

Chris Altman Sports Betting Expert

3 minute read

FLORIDA SPORTSBOOK PETITION GETS BACKING FROM BIG OPERATORS

Over 800,000 signatures are required to get online sports betting back in Florida, and big names like DraftKings and FanDuel are contributing millions of dollars in the hopes of re-legalizing the practice.

In an unprecedented court case in late 2021, Florida’s online sports betting program went from live and well to dead on the courtroom floor with one strike of a gavel. With many online sports betting programs, there are agreements between the state government and the tribal authorities responsible for hosting web servers and partnering with sports betting providers, called “compacts”.

Changes to the compact between the Florida Seminoles and the state government were voided by a federal circuit court judge in December 2021, and today, online sports betting in the Sunshine State remains illegal. A petition aims to change that, and FanDuel and DraftKings have already shoved in a good portion of the $37.2 million in funds raised by the campaign to bring online sports betting back.

In addition to the two aforementioned giants, Barstool Sports founder and iconoclast Dave Portnoy has publicly announced his support to bring back sports betting in Florida, which may or may not tilt the scales for voters. There are no definitive changes to report, but it’s expected that the petition will indeed garner enough support to be added to the November 2022 ballot.

MICHIGAN STATE AND CAESARS SPORTSBOOK ENTER PARTNERSHIP

Caesars Sportsbook has been announced as the official betting partner of Michigan State University.

Sportsbooks all over the country are partnering with teams and franchises, especially in states looking to legalize and de-stigmatize sports betting. Caesars has plenty of deals across the board, including agreements with Louisiana State and Madison Square Garden.

The agreement between Michigan State and Caesars is just another in the long and growing list of partnerships between betting sites and collegiate teams. Changes to the landscape of collegiate athletics are increasing players’ abilities to market themselves and profit from their hard work, and many feel that allowing for betting on collegiate events in a safe and regulated way is a win-win scenario.

BETMGM GOES LIVE IN NEW YORK

One of the first platforms to secure an online betting license in the Empire State was BetMGM, and as of January 17th, 2022, the platform is online in New York.

Eligible bettors located in the state, whether or not they’re a resident, can download the BetMGM app or access the site on a web browser to create an account and bet on their favorite sporting events. New users can even net a $1,000 risk-free bet with our code VIBONUS!>

POINTSBET TO GO LIVE IN NY SOON

Australian-based bookmaker and online betting site PointsBet is moving forward with their US expansion, and the next market they have their eyes set on is a big one: New York.

It’s expected that PointsBet will be bringing their unique, well-reviewed sports betting platform to the Empire State soon, and likely before the onset of Super Bowl LVI. When they do go live, they’re reportedly going to go with a similar welcome offer that is available in other states: 2 risk-free bets up to $2,000!

Users who are signing up to the platform in NY for the first time will likely be able to use the same offer code that we provide for other legal states: VIBONUS. Just use that code when signing up to get opted-in to the bonus and pad your initial bets with a bit of insurance.

When PointsBet does finally go live in NY, we’ll keep you up to date with platform availability, where to download the app, and how to get started with legal betting.

Written by Chris Altman, our US Sports Betting Industry Expert. You can read more about our author’s expertise here.

The featured image for this post was sourced from Wikimedia Commons and can be found here.

Chris Altman

Chris Altman is a sports betting writer and content expert with almost a decade of experience. He's covered everything, but his current focus is on reviewing sportsbooks and online casinos and keeping tabs on sports betting legislation. Chris has been with VegasInsider since 2019 and has freelanced in the sports betting content industry for years. More from Chris Altman