Spin Cycle: ESPN Bet’s Delayed New York Arrival, RG Investment On The Rise 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 …

ESPN, PENN, launches, and layoffs

The headline news in the ESPN Bet universe this week is that the app has launched in New York state, but that’s far from the only news related to the sportsbook and either its parent company or its partner company.

After PENN Entertainment officially gained approval Monday to launch ESPN Bet in New York, the app entered its soft-launch phase Thursday and then went fully live in the state Friday, once again giving the Empire State nine mobile sportsbooks.

The New York launch came about a month later than PENN had previously projected, as regulatory delays caused the operator to miss the first three weeks of the NFL season.

On the same day the app soft-launched in New York, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission gave PENN the all-clear to rebrand what was once a Barstool Sportsbook at Plainridge Park Casino to an ESPN Bet retail book.

In decidedly less positive news, last Friday word came out of another round of layoffs at PENN Interactive, just two months after the previous round, with both impacting some of the team working on ESPN Bet. Meanwhile, ESPN (the network, not the sportsbook) made its own layoff news on Thursday, cutting the reported seven-figure salary of highly respected NBA writer Zach Lowe.

AGA reports big boost in RG investment

The American Gaming Association shared new research Thursday regarding spending by industry companies on responsible gambling initiatives and, to the surprise on nobody, the numbers are significantly up compared to before the fall of PASPA and the spread of sports betting and more online gaming. But one relative data point stands out: The AGA says RG spending has increased at a greater rate than gaming revenue since 2017.

Total investment in RG has reached $471.8 million annually, up 72% over the approximately $275 million spent in 2017 — the year before the Supreme Court’s ruling on sports wagering was delivered. The AGA provided a breakdown by category of some of the spending:

• Customer service interactions: $135.4 million
• Developing and maintaining RG programs: $122.4 million
• Consumer-facing RG education: $107.7 million. 
• RG research and other non-profit RG organizations: $31.8 million
• Problem gambling supportive services: $26.1 million

Based on Casino Reports’ research, total commercial gambling industry revenue in 2017 was a reported $40.3 billion, and in the last full year, 2023, it was $66.7 billion, showing an increase of about 65% — lower than the increase in RG investment. That said, commercial gaming revenue is on track to reach $71.4 billion in 2024, which would be a 77% rise over 2017.

So, depending on how you angle the numbers, the bottom line is that RG investment is growing at a pace similar to revenue.

The AGA’s study, released during 2024’s Responsible Gaming Education Month, was conducted by “a major international accounting firm” over the last three months.

Socially irresponsible?

File this one under “stories to watch”: The U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority cracked down this week on five social casino brands for advertising something social casino players are not supposed to be able to do — win and withdraw real money.

The ads did not explicitly state that players could win real money, but the ASA felt the implication was there. SpinX Games Ltd, Dataverse Co Limited, Huuuge Global Limited, Mobee Co Ltd, and Zeroo Gravity Games LLC all ran paid ads on TikTok, and all five had their ads banned. The ASA felt that use of language like “hitting the jackpot” and incorporating the sights and sounds of slot machines was misleading given that customers can’t win actual money at pure social casinos (those without a “sweepstakes” promotion).

This is worth keeping an eye on, as social casinos with and without sweeps variants continue to grow rapidly in the U.S. and will surely have their marketing materials scrutinized on our side of the pond as well.

The Shuffle: Other news and views

GRID EXPECTATIONS: SportsGrid CEO Jeremy Stein on iGaming aspirations

NATION AGAINST NATION: A bitter fight between two tribes over sacred land where one built a casino

MEET THE BETS: Mets owner Cohen reveals new details about casino and entertainment complex proposal

ATTENTION, IDIOTS: The complete idiot’s guide to ‘sweepstakes casinos’

CLEARING THE AIR: Five Kewadin casinos across Upper Peninsula to become smoke-free

BOYD WILL BE BOYD: Boyd Interactive buys Resorts Digital properties in New Jersey

NOT ON OUR CAMPUS: West Texas blocks online gambling websites

YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU: Appeals Court upholds DraftKings’ noncompete agreement, blocking exec from joining Fanatics

SIGN OF THE TIMES: El Cortez Hotel & Casino donates historic sign to Neon Museum

MASS MISCALCULATION: Schuetz: Why the Massachusetts Gaming Commission matters

CUTTING TIES: Sources: Resorts World parts ways with 2 high-ranking employees

SHUFFLE UP AND SWEEP: World Poker Tour leaning into sweepstakes side of online poker with new ClubWPT Gold

WHEEL POWER: IGT to introduce new versions of Wheel of Fortune games at G2E

HIGH ALERT: Michigan Lottery helps expand Amber Alert system across state

POP THE CAMPAIGN: We are about to enter a new era of political gambling

COURT CASE DRAGON OUT: Court grants Aristocrat injunction in dispute with Light & Wonder

BACK ON TRACK: Brightline’s Vegas-to-LA project advances; heavy construction to begin in 2025

FOUNDER DUEL: Founders face motion to dismiss as defendants allege CEO Eccles mismanaged FanDuel ‘into the ground’ 

DIABOLICAL AND DIGITAL: Tribal casinos deal with an increase in cyberattacks

FAR FROM SAFE: The SAFE Bet Act is a viable threat to the gaming industry

The Bonus Round

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

• Another dreary season for the Washington Nationals got even worse right at the end, when the team sent one its few bright spots, All-Star shortstop CJ Abrams, to the minors last weekend after he’d stayed out all night at Chicago’s downtown Bally’s Casino ahead of a day game at Wrigley Field. Abrams went 0-for-3 on little-to-no-sleep the next day. The amount of money he lost that was alleged on social media is unverified, but if accurate, well, he did even worse at the tables than he did at the plate:

• In other baseball news, ESPN.com’s David Purdum wrote this week that the atrocious Chicago White Sox “will go down as either the worst team to bet on or the best team to bet against over a season in recent memory.” Purdum noted that a bettor taking the ChiSox on the moneyline every game this season would be down 61 units (as of the article’s publication Wednesday). Wouldn’t ya know, though, the team is riding a three-game win streak coming into the final weekend of the regular season.

• With Responsible Gaming Education Month drawing to a close, let’s wrap up this week’s Spin Cycle with an important message from one of the most valued voices on the topic of RG: