Top stories around our network this week
Move over, TwinSpires, Fubo Sportsbook, Maxim Bet, and FOX Bet. Make room in the U.S. betting site graveyard for a new tombstone carrying the name of Unibet.
The European-based Kindred Group, which owns Unibet, essentially threw up its hands in surrender this week at the cost of competing in a North American sportsbook marketplace dominated by DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and a few others. It announced plans to shut down the Unibet platform in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Arizona, Indiana, and Virginia by mid-2024. Its resources are better devoted elsewhere around the globe, officials said.
That’s the kind of decision executives make when your brand can’t reach even a 1% share of the markets in which it operates, falling below the expectations of Kindred executives who quickly pushed Unibet into entry in major states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania once they became legal. Of course, there are more than a few other operators with similarly minuscule handle/revenue numbers in multiple states, and it will be interesting to see if any follow in Unibet’s wake … and have their own wake.
At the same time, having one fewer competitor can work to the benefit of other sportsbooks, and those with big financial backing and name recognition like Fanatics Sportsbook are seeing this as a time for expansion rather than closure. It made a splash Friday with the announcement it will be the new online and retail sports betting partner of the Connecticut Lottery. In that state, it will need to compete only with the betting apps of FanDuel and DraftKings, and Fanatics hopes to improve upon the 15% market share that Rush Street Interactive was able to attain there before pulling out.
'veteran staff and affiliated sites excel in lending context to all of these ups and downs in the industry, as well as covering the breaking news itself, as the stories linked below from the past week show. And for additional gaming industry news, be sure to check out , including its weekly Double Down recap column and podcast.
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