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PlayVirginia.com: Sports betting volume slows in July

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Former U.S. Attorney Tom Marino Exposes Illegal Gaming In Virginia

 

Virginia’s sports betting volume slumped in July to the lowest level since sportsbooks first launched, echoing a trend that has affected every major market in the U.S. But the seasonal decline in wagering will be short-lived as causal bettors return home from summer vacations and turn their attention to football, according to PlayVirginia, which tracks the state’s gaming market.

“July brings a relatively light sports schedule and summer vacations that typically make it the slowest month in sports betting, and Virginia is not immune from a trend that has affected every major market,” said Eric Ramsey, analyst for the PlayUSA.com network, which includes PlayVirginia.com. “The momentum should change quickly as football draws nearer and casual bettors return home. The next five months should bring significant growth to Virginia’s fledgling sports betting industry.”

Bettors placed $161.9 million in wagers at Virginia’s sportsbooks in July, down 31.1% from $234.9 million in June, according to data released Wednesday by The Virginia Lottery. The pace of betting was the slowest ever, too, dropping from $7.8 million in wagers per day over the 30 days of June to $5.2 million over the 31 days of July.

Gross gaming revenue did remain relatively high, dropping 9.3% to $20.0 million in July from $22.0 million in June. The hold percentage was 12.3% in July, which helped partially offset the low volume. Adjusted gross revenue dropped to $12.7 million, yielding $1.9 million in state taxes, including $46,611 for problem gambling support.

The pandemic skewed 2020 data, but July was the lowest volume month across the U.S. in both 2018 and 2019 so a dip in Virginia was hardly a surprise. The NBA Finals and the opening week of the Olympics made this July a bit busier than normal. But the NBA Finals represents just six games, and bettors were not particularly moved by the Olympics.

“The NBA Finals and the Olympics, which featured a stark time difference, didn’t particularly move the needle,” said Dann Stupp, lead analyst for PlayVirginia.com. “The Olympics should do modestly better in August, when high-profile team sports like basketball reached the medal rounds. But in the end, there just isn’t enough to attract widespread betting, which makes a relatively large win key in helping sportsbooks weather the seasonal slowdown.”

Despite a slow July, Virginia continues to perform well as a sports betting market. Since Jan. 21, Virginia sportsbooks have accepted $1.5 billion in wagers, which has resulted in $127.0 million in gross gaming revenue. With the busiest months likely still ahead, the state could bring in more than $3 billion in wagers by year’s end.

To that end, Barstool Sports made its debut on Aug. 10, giving Virginia another high-profile brand. And more are planning to launch either before or during the football season.

“Virginia’s sportsbooks remain in an excellent place, and new operators are a good sign that the market is healthy and attractive,” Stupp said. “Increasing competition should help engage new customers and force the largest operators in the state, including FanDuel and DraftKings, to continue to vie for attention. The most important months of the year are still ahead, and competition will help spur the entire market.”

For more information and analysis on regulated sports betting in Virginia, visit PlayVirginia.com/revenue.

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BETR ADDS $15 MILLION IN STRATEGIC EQUITY FINANCING TO FURTHER ACCELERATE ITS SPORTS GAMING AND MEDIA BUSINESSES

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BETR ADDS $15 MILLION IN STRATEGIC EQUITY FINANCING TO FURTHER ACCELERATE ITS SPORTS GAMING AND MEDIA BUSINESSES

 

Betr Holdings, Inc. (“Betr”) announced it has closed $15 million in strategic equity financing from a premier group of investors at a $375 million valuation, bringing its total funding to date to $100 million. The round was co-led by Harmony Partners and 10x Capital, with participation from the company’s three largest existing investors: Fuel Venture Capital, Aliya Capital Partners, and Roger Ehrenberg/Eberg Capital, alongside others. This round of financing comes off a highly successful 2023 for Betr, where the company reached a significant level of scale – both with respect to paying users and revenue – while doing so efficiently and profitably.

Betr recently announced market access expansion plans for its Online Sportsbook product, having secured market access in PennsylvaniaOhio, Virginia, Indiana, Colorado, and Kentucky, as well as the upcoming launch of its Casino product (pending regulatory approval), with the company also securing iGaming market access in Pennsylvania. Betr has also officially received its temporary Indiana sports wagering license from the Indiana Gaming Commission in recent weeks.

Betr also recently announced that it has fortified its senior leadership team, hiring Dan Maas as Head of Media Revenue, Partnerships, and Strategy and hiring Andrew Winchell as Head of Government Affairs. Dan joins Betr from Wave Sports & Entertainment, where he worked his way up from VP of Partnerships to EVP of Commercial and oversaw the development and monetization of highly successful premium franchises, including New Heights with Travis and Jason Kelce and Podcast P with Paul George, in addition to leading the monetization of their successful original short form video focused social media content strategy, which are both highly synergistic to the core pillars of Betr Media. Dan will lead monetization efforts for Betr Media, positioning Betr’s media arm to become a large bona fide revenue-generating business – in addition to the primary benefit Betr Media serves, which is to create unfair customer acquisition economics for Betr Gaming. Andrew joins Betr from FanDuel, where he served as their Directory of Regulatory Affairs. Andrew brings a breadth of experience working closely with state regulators and political leaders on key issues pertaining to sports gaming and will meaningfully strengthen Betr’s internal government and regulatory affairs capabilities as the company scales in size and launches in new jurisdictions.

“We are thrilled to announce our strategic equity financing, new members of our senior leadership team, and the approval of our temporary Indiana sports wagering license,” said Joey Levy, Founder and CEO of Betr. “Jake (Paul) and I co-founded Betr just over two years ago, so raising capital from leading growth stage investors at a $375 million valuation in the very early days of our business is a testament to the performance of the team and business to date, and the potential we have to build a category defining business with Betr. Finally, I want to thank the Indiana Gaming Commission for the honor and privilege of a sports wagering license in the Hoosier state. We are excited to launch our new V1 Sportsbook product in Indiana over the coming months, while bringing our best-in-class responsible gaming standards to the state.”

Harmony Partners is a leading growth investor funding breakout emerging companies led by Mark Lotke, who led the software group at FTV Capital, led the pre-IPO group at Internet Capital Group, and prior to that was at General Atlantic. 10X Capital is a prolific venture capital firm led by co-founders Hans Thomas and David Weisburd having invested in companies including 23andMe, Palantir, Robinhood, and Udemy. 10X Capital was a significant investor in DraftKings going back to July 2018.

“We believe that Betr has the product, management and market opportunity that we saw in DraftKings in its early days with a significantly larger TAM and room for growth today,” said David Weisburd, Co-Founder and Head of Venture Capital at 10x Capital.

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PlayStar partners with Enteractive for reactivation campaigns

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PlayStar partners with Enteractive for reactivation campaigns

 

Enteractive, the leader in player conversion and reactivation services, has been engaged by PlayStar, the community-focused online casino that’s currently making waves across the U.S, to support their existing CRM services with bespoke reactivation campaigns aimed at winning back players from lapsed accounts for the sports betting brand.

At the core of the partnership, Enteractive will run activation projects for PlayStar’s brand, focusing on both activation of registered non-funded player accounts and reactivation campaigns to bring back lapsed players.

Jon Bowden, PlayStar CMO, commented, “We are thrilled to partner with Enteractive and their innovative approach to player engagement. The team’s expertise in both conversion and  reactivation campaigns will help us maximise our NGR and enhance the player experience for audiences.”

Enteractive is the industry leader in player conversion and reactivation with 15 years experience talking one-on-one with millions of players around the world, having formed in 2008, and is recognised as one of the top revenue generators globally for the iGaming sector.

Enteractive’s proprietary (Re)Activation Cloud technology platform allows a fast and seamless integration of selected player databases, with native-speaking sales agents able to engage with players in each market with real-human one-to-one outreach by phone.

Andrew Foster, Enteractive CBO, added, “Our primary goal is to facilitate direct communication between iGaming companies and their players using genuine one-on-one interactions. With the aid of our highly skilled team of local U.S. call agents, we are certain that PlayStar can increase their results in player conversions and reactivations.”

Enteractive’s native-speaking call agents support iGaming brands across every time zone. In the last year, Enteractive engaged with over 8.1million players, generating over €59 million for global operators, from almost €263million in deposits.

Foster concluded, “Brands that wish to improve their players’ experience and boost financial gains at the same time will find Enteractive’s sustainable, personalized approach the secret sauce they’ve been looking for!”

With native speaking call agents supporting iGaming brands across the globe, Enteractive converts more than 18,000 players per month for a variety of leading operators.

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Tolima Lottery Transferred More Than $6.4B to the Health System in 2023

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In 2023, the Tolima Lottery transferred a total of $6439 million to the health sector. These resources, for the most part, were generated as monopoly income and come from the total sales of the traditional lottery game achieved by the company in the same period.

Marco Emilio Hincapié Ramírez, president of Coljuegos, indicated that, by 2023, the Tolima Lottery recorded sales for a total of $24,762 million, which represented an increase of 23% compared to 2022.

“During the previous period, we were able to see how lottery game operators in the country considerably increased their sales. This is significant if we take into account that the more lottery tickets that are acquired by players, the greater the amount of resources that can be transferred to the health sector,” said the president.

Likewise, the official mentioned that, in 2022, transfers from the Tolima Lottery were $6331 million: “This indicates that, in the last two years, transfers to health from this lottery amounted to $12,770 million,” Hincapié said.

Thus, it is worth noting that, in total, the 15 authorized operating companies transferred $417,131 million during the periods 2022 and 2023 for all concepts (monopoly income, tax on winners, tax on foreign lotteries, and expired prizes), with sales that reached $1.6 billion in the last two years.

“We want to highlight the contribution that the Tolima Lottery has made to the health of the department. Likewise, we invite all players to buy only from authorized distributors and their trusted lotteries,” concluded the president of the entity.

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