LegalSportsBetting Brief: MA & Ohio Sessions Wind Down 11/24/2020

PointsBet and their mobile application have launched in Colorado while Wind Creek Bethlehem Casino in Pennsylvania will now be home to a retail sportsbook with Betfred USA Sports.
Pennsylvania, Colorado, and other legal sports betting states nationwide will see more sportsbooks opening in the near future as deals continue to be made on a daily basis.
Sinclair Broadcast Group and Bally’s Corp. have partnered with Sinclair now renaming their 21 sports networks, Bally’s Sports.
Ohio and Massachusetts are both nearing the end of their legislative sessions with sports betting bills still open for legalization but Ohio is the best bet in 2020 to make the activity legal.

DENVER – Sportsbooks have flooded the news for the week. Launches occurred in Colorado and Pennsylvania while numerous other platforms are on the cusp of rolling out soon.

A monumental deal was also made in the local TV world. The Sinclair Broadcast Group will be rebranding themselves as Bally’s Sports after entering a partnership with Bally’s Corporation.

And as far as legislation is concerned, both Ohio and Massachusetts still have a chance at sports betting legalization in 2020 with the Buckeye State showing more promise of moving forward than the Bay State.

New Sportsbook Launches In Colorado And Pennsylvania

PointsBet launched their online sports betting platform in Colorado on Wednesday as the mobile sportsbook affiliated with the Double Eagle Casino in Cripple Creek, CO.

The sports wagering outlet boasts a number of events and betting lines for Coloradoans to enjoy. Their launch marks the 16th mobile sportsbook for the Centennial State.

Meanwhile, over to the east, Pennsylvania opened up a retail sportsbook at the Wind Creek Bethlehem Casino. The sports betting venue is operated by Betfred USA Sports.

For now, it will be a land-based sports wagering outlet but there are plans to launch a mobile platform in the future. Wind Creek Bethlehem has decided to dive into the sports betting arena to boost their revenue in a post-COVID-19 closure environment.

Sportsbooks Across The Nation Close To Opening

NYX and their OpenBet Sportsbook were approved for a license to operate internet and mobile sports wagering platform in Pennsylvania. While this platform will be unveiled to Pennsylvanians first, the company was also awarded a license to open a retail sportsbook in the Commonwealth.

GAN Limited acquired Coolbet, a mobile sportsbook, in a recent deal to further expand their presence in the United States sports betting industry. Any retail location in the US with GAN can launch the Coolbet sportsbook platform beginning in 2021.

Maverick Gaming will now have their Maverick Sports application through the help of a partnership made between the company and the International Game Technology PLC (IGT). The mobile app, known as Maverick Sports, will make its debut in Colorado.

The Golden Nugget will be entering the state of Illinois’ sports wagering industry with their mobile and internet sportsbook.

The partnership between Wilmot Gaming Illinois LLC and Golden Nugget Online Gaming (GNOG) is making this offering to the people of the Prairie State possible. A future retail site will open in Danville, Illinois. Golden Nugget also partnered with The Greenbrier to launch in West Virginia as well.

Sinclair Broadcast Group To Be Renamed Bally’s Sports

Sinclair Broadcast Group’s (SBG) 21 regional sports networks will now be known as Bally’s Sports after a 10-year deal was made between Bally’s Corp. and SBG. Sinclair will receive a 15% stake in Bally’s and Bally’s hopes to attract more sports bettors to their operation with the broadcasts that will be aired by the newly named network.

Bally’s has locations in areas with legal sports betting like that of Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.

Ohio & Massachusetts Nearing The End Of The 2020 Sessions

Ohio has six weeks left in their lame-duck session to make sports betting legal. They have two bills on the table that could make this possible, House Bill 194 and Senate Bill 111.

At the moment, OH SB 111 is seeing movement and its sponsor, Senator John Eklund is confident that six weeks is enough time to make gaming on sports a legal activity in Ohio.

Massachusetts is on its Hail Mary attempt to get sports betting made into a legal industry. The new 2021 fiscal budget left out of the market as a source of revenue.

However, Governor Charlie Baker is in favor of making the pastime legal and including it within the budget. The Senate says there is still time between now and January to make that happen although it’s unlikely with such a short timeframe ahead.

Looking Ahead

Thanksgiving Day will see three football games played; the Houston Texans (-160) against the Detroit Lions (+135) at 12:30 p.m. EST, The Washington Football Team (+130) at the Dallas Cowboys (-155) beginning at 4:30 p.m. EST, and the Baltimore Ravens (+170) against the Pittsburgh Steelers (-230) at 8:20 p.m. EST.

November 26 marks the second anniversary for Rhode Island’s first sportsbook launch. The sports betting industry in the Ocean State has brought in over $25 million in revenue since it’s opening.

The state continues to grow within the market as mobile sports betting can now be done without in-person registration.

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Christina Monroe

Christina has been writing for as long as she can remember and does dedicated research on the newly regulated sports betting market. She comes from a family of sports lovers that engage in friendly bets from time to time. During the winter months, you can find Christina baking cookies and beating the entire staff at Mario Kart…the N64 version of course.