Last week was busy in the sports betting industry with DraftKings, FanDuel, and others announcing their quarterly earnings with the two top online sportsbooks aiming at each other. The DraftKings vs FanDuel fight will move to the U.S. stock markets next year. Another sportsbook, ESPN Bet, is scheduled to launch on Tuesday.
The Worldwide Leader announced how it will deal with employees who have inside information when it comes to gambling on their platform. Meanwhile, C.J. Stroud’s recent performances are moving the markets on his Offensive Rookie of the Year and MVP futures, and we’re still learning how much and what kind of gambling influence we want in our game broadcasts.
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Sports Gambling News: FanDuel, DraftKings Continue their Stock Market Battles, ESPN Bet News, and More
Flutter, the parent company of FanDuel, announced its intentions to join the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) early in 2024. Flutter will remain on the London Stock Exchange but will delist from the Euronext Dublin, Ireland’s stock exchange.
The move sets up a true head-to-head battle in the U.S. stock markets between two of the top sportsbooks here in America. DraftKings, which proclaimed itself the leader as the top online sports betting app in the U.S. during their earnings, announced 3Q revenue of $790 million, an increase of 57 percent from the same period in 2022.
Flutter, meanwhile, missed Wall Street estimates but said on Friday that its U.S. revenue grew by 20 percent year over year to $820. Flutter CEO Peter Jacobson added in his conference call that net profits, not gross profits, should measure the leader, obviously, a measure that FanDuel says it leads. Both FanDuel and DraftKings have some stock market magic they could display in the coming months.
Jacobson added in an interview with CNBC, “We have a billion dollars more in revenue in the U.S., so we’re very clearly number one.”
Despite overall revenue losses, DraftKings (DFKG), which trades on the NASDAQ, has rallied this year as more states continue to add online sports gambling. DraftKings was trading at just over $11 per share early this year but rallied to reach a 52-week high of $36.37 on Nov. 8.
Stay tuned as we head into 2024 and consider getting into the stocks game to make money off the companies that are trying to make money off you.
ESPN Bet is Finally Here
ESPN Bet, a joint venture between ESPN and Penn Entertainment, is launching on Tuesday in 17 states.
In advance of the launch, ESPN announced it is imposing betting guidelines, telling employees who serve as “insiders” or “reporters” and others that they are not prohibited from betting on the sports they cover. The move is an effort to maintain some integrity and prohibit employees from financially benefitting from inside information they could’ve been entrusted with as a media member.
ESPN Bet will be available in the following states: Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
ESPN, a division of Disney, and Penn Entertainment announced this partnership in August. As part of the 10-year agreement, Penn Entertainment will pay cash-strapped ESPN $1.5 billion over the length of the deal, which could be extended another 10 years.
Whether you use Bet365, FanDuel, DraftKings, or soon ESPN Bet, happy betting everyone!
Ohio State CAN Produce At Least One NFL QB… And One Bettor Cashes In
Former Buckeyes QB C.J. Stroud pulled off his second straight last-second comeback win Sunday, lifting the surprising Houston Texans over the Bengals, 30-27, in Cincinnati. A week after beating Tampa Bay 39-37 with a TD pass in the final seconds, his heroics on Sunday that culminated with a game-winning field goal as time expired highlighted five games that came down to the final play in Week 10. More importantly, it has helped Stroud experience something not many Ohio State quarterbacks have experienced in the NFL – success.
According to Bet365, Stroud is now the Offensive Rookie of the Year favorite, with his odds moving from +800 on August 31 to -2000 after Week 10’s win. He also entered the MVP picture this week. According to BetMGM, his odds of winning MVP are at +3000, putting him tied with Christian McCaffrey, Brock Purdy, and Dak Prescott.
They are behind favorite Patrick Mahomes (+275), Jalen Hurts (+300), Lamar Jackson (+600), Tua Tagovailoa (+600), Josh Allen (+1600), and Joe Burrow (+1800). Also, according to Bet365, Texans head coach Demeco Ryans is the second favorite to win the Coach of the Year at +300, behind only Detroit’s Dan Campbell.
Stroud could also be helping himself grow favor among the betting public with his recent play, which includes 15 touchdowns and just two interceptions this season. One bettor cashed in $6 million on a four-leg, $500,000 parlay, according to Hard Rock Bet’s X (formerly Twitter account). Start winning people money, and you quickly become a fan favorite.
College Basketball Tips Off
The college basketball season got underway this past week with little fanfare. While we don’t have any estimates on total wager estimates yet, we did get some minor controversy revolving around gambling and broadcasts.
The Barstool Sports Invitational, pitting FAU against Loyola-Chicago and Arizona State versus Mississippi State, were uneventful games but did get a rise in social media with Dave Portnoy and Dan Katz calling the games on the Barstool platform. The two spent more time than some would’ve liked, according to this article in Awful Announcing, pulling for points in the final minutes of the FAU/Loyola-Chicago game trying to pull for the over.
While it could be construed as over-the-top for traditional sports fans, there have been plenty of times I’ve watched games pulling for the same. It led me to think we should broadcasts start sharing over-under countdowns and other prop plays via graphics as we approach hitting these milestones. I mean, we are all doing the math on our own, so why not make it easy for me?
If leagues are going to accept money from the sportsbooks, promote in-game betting, and more, why not start sharing when we are close to hitting on props and other key bets like first-half spreads and overs/unders? I’m not asking the stuffy play-by-play guys and the analysts who take their X’s and O’s way too seriously to talk about it and, God forbid, tarnish their reputations, but a friendly reminder so I don’t have to have three screens open would be considerate.
