Top stories around our network this week
No one’s expecting Massachusetts to be a billion-dollar state in monthly handle like fellow newcomer Ohio, but its launch of digital sports betting Friday represents another major stride for the industry. The largest state in New England becomes the 24th in the U.S. where individuals are able to bet legally on games by phone and computer. The timing couldn’t be better, considering the upcoming NCAA Tournament represents the biggest prolonged betting event of the sports calendar for U.S. operators.
Six of those national operators – including top two heavyweights FanDuel and DraftKings'- started online operations as soon as they could Friday morning, while four more are expected to do so in the weeks or months ahead. Even with stricter regulations applying to advertising and marketing than has been common in states earlier to legalize and launch, Massachusetts represents an attractive new business opportunity'- particularly for DraftKings, which is headquartered there, and for PENN Entertainment, which makes use of Boston-based Barstool Sports to brand its Barstool Sportsbook.
Due to some unique restrictions, such as prohibiting most but not all betting on in-state collegiate sports teams’ events, there have already been some regulatory violations at the three retail sportsbooks in Massachusetts casinos. It remains to be seen if online operators encounter any similar difficulties, but will be monitoring that along with wide-ranging other developments in the industry, as this week’s stories from our network of sites demonstrate.
Marketers being sent a message
Conference review: Crackdown on betting ads dominates conversation in NYC
No B.S.: Simmons’ Ringer podcasts slow down problematic FanDuel ad reads
Four states, four ways to look at changing sports betting advertising
Politicians poke at sports betting ads but pander to lotteries and their cute groundhogs