THIS WEEK IN SPORTS BETTING NEWS, OCTOBER 29TH, 2021

Chris Altman Sports Betting Expert

5 minute read

ONTARIO RELEASES SPORTS BETTING STANDARDS

Ontario is one of the first among the Canadian provinces to move forward with their competitive sports betting package including single-event wagering.

Regulators from the Canadian Gaming Association and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation have released more details regarding the standards of sports betting in the province. These details include requirements for operators, such as:

• Identifying parlays
• Notifying players of odds changes
• Allowing players to opt out of a wager with changed odds
• Notifying when wagers can and cannot be made
• Games that are free-to-play cannot be misleading
• and more.

Unlike many US sportsbooks are generally required to use official league data, and many national leagues have provided said information. In Ontario, however, operators will be have to report all betting activity to an independent integrity monitor. These integrity monitors will then report suspicious data to the appropriate governing body. Many have suggested that this is an inefficient method when US books are simply using pre-verified statistics, but those are the standards set by the OLG and others.

An interesting caveat to the standards is that esports will be considered iGaming rather than event wagering. In this case, the rules for online casinos will apply, not the rules for sports betting.

FANDUEL, DRAFTKINGS ENTER PARTNERSHIPS WITH NHL

Big-name sportsbooks are establishing league partnerships across the board, and it looks like DraftKings and FanDuel will be entering into partnership with the NHL in Canada.

Earlier in fall 2021, DraftKings announced that they would become the official betting, iGaming, and DFS partner of the National Hockey League. Similarly, FanDuel announced a partnership with Canadian telecomms giant Rogers, which has broadcast rights to the NHL.

It looks like both FanDuel and DraftKings are poising themselves to be the premiere sportsbooks in the Canadian market. They've already cemented themselves as some of the top providers of legal sports betting in the US, so it's no wonder that they'd want to keep that title for the Canadian market. Across channels, both of these DFS-gone-sportsbook operators are clearly making the push to corner a sizeable portion of the market across the Northern border- we'll keep you posted as these deals mature.

CAESARS PRE-LAUNCHES IN LOUISIANA

Caesars is at the starting gate, primed and ready for when Louisiana goes live with sports betting, expected on November 1st, 2021.

Ronnie Johns, former state senator and Chairman of the LGCB (Louisiana Gaming Control Board) expected a full retail launch on November 1st, with online sportsbooks to be available shortly after. In anticipation of this, Caesars offers a $100 bonus bet at launch, which users can benefit from by signing up for an account with the platform now before betting goes live later in November.

Caesars also has built a partnership with media organization NOLA.com, which runs several local newspapers and offers a sports betting website showcasing picks and odds for matchups in-and-out of state.

Though the process was slowed by Hurricane Ida, there are now at least thirteen licenses pending in the LGCB, with applicants champing at the bit to offer online betting in what is poised to be one of the top-ten-largest betting markets in the country.

BETRIVERS APPROVED IN ARIZONA

BetRivers has secured market approval in Arizona, nearly a month after the state went live with sports betting.

Arizona's launch contributed massively to the overall success of legal sports betting in the country, bringing in almost $40 million in the first month of the NFL season. GeoComply, a company responsible for a good portion of geotagging services used by sportsbooks nationally, has confirmed this data, cementing Arizona as the fourth largest sports betting market in the US.

Sportsbooks continue to apply for licenses in the state, as there are less than ten spots available for interested operators to enter the AZ market. Those sports are almost gone, and we expect Arizona to continue to be one of the largest betting markets in the country once all parties are accounted for.

SEPTEMBER A BANNER MONTH FOR SEVERAL LEGAL BETTING MARKETS

As is typical, the coming of the NFL season is a welcome occurrence, especially for operators of legal sportsbooks in the US. As the summer winds to a close, sports betting revenues tend to stagnate, but the coming of the football season breathes new life into the market.

This was perhaps the most true for September 2021, which saw the launch of the Arizona market on the first day of NFL season. A state to watch in addition to AZ was Pennsylvania, which continually represents one of the largest betting markets in the country by handle. That month, PA took in nearly $600 million in bets, which reflected a nearly 70% increase over the previous month (August 2021).

New Jersey remains at the top of the heap, however: the state pulled in a cool $1 billion USD in betting handle over the course of one month, a record-breaking figure. Multiple states pulled in figures over $300 million for the month of September, a strong indicator that legal sports betting can be a real moneymaker for state coffers.

Written by Chris Altman, our US sports betting industry expert. You can read about our author's expertise 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