Spin Cycle: Good News For FanDuel, Bad News For Bovada Highlight Week In Gambling

Welcome to “Spin Cycle,” Casino Reports’ weekly Friday roundup of all things impactful, intriguing, impressive, or idiotic in the gambling industry. Pull up a chair, grab a stack of chips and a glass of your beverage of choice, and take a spin with us through this week’s news cycle …

The ‘Duel in D.C.

You can’t quite call it “first mover advantage,” because FanDuel was not the first mover in Washington, D.C. sports betting. But with three months’ worth of head start after taking over GambetDC’s monopoly in April, FanDuel clearly has some sort of advantage over the competition in the nation’s capital, as the wagering handle and revenue numbers for August — the first full month with four major mobile sportsbooks all active — indicate.

FanDuel recorded August handle of $21.7 million, more than half the district’s $40.6 million total handle for the month from mobile and retail betting. DraftKings’ first full month in D.C. produced $7.4 million in handle, Caesars had $5.4 million, and BetMGM posted $5.2 million.

The latter two swapped spots in the gross gaming revenue rankings. FanDuel led with $2.8 million, followed by DraftKings with $875,000, BetMGM with $451,000, and Caesars with $322,000.

In August 2023, when GambetDC was the only available mobile app, total handle for the month was $8.1 million — one-fifth of the August ’24 total.

Two more Bovada bye-byes

We’re up to 14. That’s the number of jurisdictions in the U.S. (13 states, plus Washington, D.C.) where Costa Rica-based operator Bovada no longer allows users to access its gambling app, after Pennsylvania and Kansas became the latest states to join the prohibited list.

As SBC Americas reported, Kansas sent Bovada a cease-and-desist letter in early-July and Pennsylvania sent one in late-August.

This has been a running theme since May, with regulators targeting this one particular unlicensed sportsbook/casino operator. With both Kansas and Pennsylvania, Bovada continued its practice of not publicly acknowledging the cease-and-desist letters but suddenly restricting access in those states.

A sizable settlement for shareholders

We now have a number to attach to the settlement of the class-action suit filed by shareholders against Wynn Resorts: $70 million.

Exactly how many shareholders will split that and how it will be divided remains unknown, but the dollar figure came out Thursday thanks to a motion filed in the U.S. District Court in Nevada.

This all stems from allegations the company failed in 2018 to disclose the sexual misconduct of former CEO Steve Wynn — misconduct that wasn’t so hot for the value of the company’s stock. But don’t fear for Steve Wynn, any of the company’s executives, or the company itself: Insurance will cover more than $60 million of the money owed.

The stock, which was trading above $200 per share at the start of 2018, was just under $79 as of press time Friday.

The Shuffle: Other news and views

OF INTEREST: Analyst: Fed rate cut, presidential election expected to impact Las Vegas locals casinos

SHOW ME THE MONEY, PART I: New Jersey online casino sets revenue record in August, just shy of $200M

SHOW ME THE MONEY, PART II: Michigan’s online casinos post third best revenue month since launch

SHOW ME THE MONEY, PART III: Pennsylvania online casino revenue leaps 26.7% year-over-year in August

ABOUT TO BE IN ABU DHABI: ‘We’ve done it’: MGM applies for UAE casino license

PLAYING TIGHT (END) AGGRESSIVE: Want proof online poker is trending up? Look at what Flutter is doing with Gronk

MIXED REACTION: NFL, NBA support federal betting regulations, wary of other restrictions

COUNTER MEASURES: Schuetz: At a sports betting counter, it is hard to ignore a player

HIT THE BRAKES: F1 hotel room rates ‘sluggish’ for November race, analyst says

PASSING THE (RE)BUCK: New Jersey regulator swears he is (mostly) retired

EXPANDING SOCIAL CIRCLE: Virtual Gaming Worlds expands into US lotteries after profit surge

SICK RUNOUT: Sports betting has changed. Could it affect your health?

$4 MILLION IS A LOT OF MONEY … : Caesars Entertainment arms Missouri sports betting opposition group with $4 million contribution

… BUT $5 MILLION IS MORE: DraftKings boosts campaign for Missouri sports betting with $5 million contribution

THE ITALIAN JOB: Flutter to acquire Snaitech from Playtech in €2.3bn deal

PAYOFF PITCH: MLB players sue DraftKings, FanDuel, others over unauthorized use of likenesses

ENOUGH, SNUFF: Pass the casino smoking ban, the gamblers aren’t going anywhere

CHILD’S PLAY: Federal judge allows negligence claims to proceed in Roblox gambling lawsuit

LAST LAP: Venerable Freehold Raceway closing its doors at the end of 2024

DONATION STAGNATION: With Concord Casino shuttered and in limbo, charities left in the lurch

GREENER PASTURES: Bally’s departure from Pennsylvania casino reflects its priorities in Vegas and Chicago

PRODUCT OF YOUR ENVIRONMENT: Does living near a casino impact youth gambling habits?

SEE ME AFTER CLASS: States fail to meet online gambling safety standards, NCPG report reveals

The Bonus Round

Completing the Spin Cycle with some odds and ends and our favorite social media posts of the week:

• As we wrote about Tuesday, there’s been a lot of blood on the Survivor pool streets the first two weeks of this NFL season. Well, Circa Las Vegas is doing its best to apply a Band-Aid. The host of the Circa Survivor contest announced this week an “empathy package” available to anyone eliminated in those brutal first two weeks, offering a free two-night midweek stay at Circa and a daybed at the pool amphitheater. Does it erase the pain of not getting any sweat out of your $1,000 entry? Probably not. Does it provide a good excuse to take a couple of days off from work in the middle of a random autumn week and go to Vegas? Absolutely.

• Ocean Casino Resort hosted the grand opening of its Fanatics Sportsbook last Sunday, with Jay-Z and Michael Rubin joined by the likes of golfer Justin Thomas, former NBA star Jalen Rose, football analyst Ryan Clark, and hip-hop artist Quavo. Thomas placed the official first bet: $100 on Alabama to win the NCAA football national championship at +950.

• Speaking of Ocean Casino Resort, and ending Spin Cycle on a fun note: Last weekend a Dollar Storm slot machine on the property paid out many storms of dollars, when an anonymous player from Morris County, New Jersey, turned a $20 spin into $1,459,533.97. We enjoyed this reply to Ocean’s Instagram post about the big win: “Congrats to the IRS.”