Weekly News – Memorial Day Roundup 5/30/2022

Chris Altman Sports Betting Expert

2 minute read

As pools and grills open up nationwide, let's take a quick dive into the goings-on in the online sports betting and news industry.

What are Ontario Bettors Wagering On?

Our expert Dave Schwab covered this in detail, but it's an answer to a question that bears repeating: now that single event wagering is legal, on which events are bettors in Ontario laying their money out?

Turns out lots of bettors are taking advantage of their newly expanded ability to bet on legal markets. Thirty five percent of respondents to a survey conducted by an Ontario-facing betting site said that they'd placed bets at least once a week, while 39% have not bet on sports at all. As far as adopting the new market goes, those numbers are pretty solid, especially for a province that's not as known for betting as, say, New Jersey or Nevada.

The NBA is taking the cake for most wagers, interestingly, even though the Raptors are certainly not in the finals and the NHL playoffs are still in full swing. More interestingly, only 8% of the early betting action went to the Maple Leafs, despite their home field advantage.

Kansas on the Fast Track

It was down to the wire, but legal online sports betting was able to move through the Kansas legislature and be signed into law by Governor Laura Kelly earlier this spring. Now that it's up to the Kansas Lottery and the Kansas Gaming and Racing Commission to establish a ruleset and start offering online bets, regulators are looking at timelines.

The law dictates that legal sports betting should start in earnest on or before January 1, 2023, but regulators are trying to put pedal to the metal and hopefully offer bets in time for the NFL season: Kansas Lottery director Stephen Durrell comments:

The bill doesn’t go into effect until July 1, but we’re not resting on our laurels. There are internal hopes that we can get things done in the near future but making sure it is effective and works is one of our premier goals. There are hurdles between here and there to get it done.

Stephen Durrell, director of KS Lottery

Memorial Day Sampler

?? We're in Game 7 of the Hurricanes v. Rangers series, and the betting action is all over the place as (clearly) they're tied 3-3. Tons of legal providers like PointsBet are offering lines on this game, and bonus codes are available.

?? Ohio may also be aiming for a late summer launch of their online sportsbooks, trying to capture the massive revenues from the NFL season.

?? Colorado reported some disappointing totals for April: we'll see what the earnings for May end up looking like.

Written by Chris Altman, our US sports betting industry expert.

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