DC Sports Betting Market Expansion and Legal Insights
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00:00Welcome back to Newswire, Mike Blewett sitting in for Craig Misch this afternoon on Newswire.
00:09Welcoming in Pat Evans from the Legal Sports Report.
00:11Pat, good to see you as always.
00:13You find him on X.com at Pat Evans.
00:16We'll go over a few stories here that impact the world of sports betting.
00:21And we'll start in D.C.
00:23Obviously we are close to the goal line.
00:26We're probably at the goal line on this, but we still have to wait some official budget
00:32approval for mobile betting expansion within D.C., correct?
00:37Yeah, so it was expected to happen yesterday, but the mayor has yet to sign the budget.
00:42So that deadline's July 25th.
00:44So we might be waiting another week or so, but the industry generally expected it yesterday.
00:49And you know, Washington's a really interesting market when you get right down to it.
00:55It's been kind of the poster child of kind of the failings or the short-sightedness or
01:02however you want to put it, of lottery monopolies on a sports betting market.
01:07For a long time they had an intralot sports betting app that was district-wide, but sports
01:18teams could partner with other sports books.
01:20So you saw like Caesars partner with the Capitals and BetMGM go with the Nationals.
01:26And they're able to operate in-person sports books and then a two-block kind of radius.
01:33And those were outperforming the lottery partner.
01:37And so that was kind of something we looked at across the nation when we saw other markets
01:42doing lottery monopolies of sports betting.
01:47When FanDuel came in and replaced the lottery partner, they've been performing well.
01:52But now we've got this new law that's going to open it up to the team partners.
01:58And so, you know, it's going to be a very competitive market now, I would assume, even
02:02though FanDuel has got a little bit of a head start.
02:05Just a really unique market and it's going to be really fun to watch, even though it
02:09is such a small little pocket of people.
02:13Just a fun kind of experiment to see how it goes from a district-wide monopoly to now
02:19a competitive market.
02:20Man, it's a massive center of commuters, right?
02:24Virginia and Maryland residents commuting into D.C. to work previously would have to
02:28leave in order to make their bet.
02:31So as Pat said, there was a funky situation where we had brick and mortar sports books
02:36that allowed you a two-block radius from Nationals Park and where the Capitals play in order
02:42to be able to bet.
02:43Now, this will expand.
02:45It seems like it's just a matter of days here, maybe even hours, and we'll get there.
02:50And not only will it be FanDuel, BetMGM, and Caesars, but it seems like the market could
02:55get flooded with additional operators in the future months.
03:00Yeah, I mean, the Redskins are, you know, are able to—not the Redskins, wow, that's
03:06a throwback to old times there—the Commanders could partner with somebody.
03:12So there's lots of options kind of in there to gain with.
03:16I don't think it'll be a huge market because I think that you have to partner with the
03:19team.
03:20So I think—though I guess the Mystics and the—what's the other team, Lincoln.
03:28There could be a couple more added for sure in the market.
03:31Great.
03:32So a lot to focus on with D.C.
03:35You mentioned before, off-air, some additional legislation in Missouri potentially breaking
03:41as well.
03:42Is that correct?
03:43Well, so there's a ballot petition that has been turned in in May, and we're in the process
03:49of waiting for those signatures to be validated.
03:53They're at the local election offices being kind of sorted out.
03:56There's 340,000 signatures that were turned in, and it only needs about 170,000 valid
04:04signatures.
04:05So they felt confident enough in those numbers that when they turned it in, they turned it
04:09in early.
04:10So now we're waiting on those.
04:13And before that is approved in July 30th is when it's—the deadline is to go on the November
04:215th ballot.
04:22We got a update from the committee.
04:24They've kind of halted their fundraising, I think probably to wait to see if it's on
04:28the ballot or not.
04:30But up to this point, they've raised $6.5 million from FanDuel and DraftKings.
04:36That was largely used for the signature collection.
04:40I assume once we get to the part where it's confirmed for the November ballot, we're going
04:45to see more funds coming in from DraftKings and FanDuel, maybe some additional operators
04:51to get kind of the word out to vote for it.
04:55Polls are kind of split right now.
04:56It looks like every time we see a new poll from Missouri, it's pretty even, which isn't
05:01totally a surprise.
05:04It's been a long process in Missouri.
05:06We've had multiple legislative efforts fall short because of a roadblock in the Senate.
05:11And that didn't change this year.
05:12The House, which had previously passed it two sessions, said we're not even going to
05:17bother to pass it over to the Senate because it's not going to go anywhere.
05:20But it does set up a very similar framework to the legislation if voters decide to approve
05:27it.
05:28It'd be, you know, online and in-person sportsbooks for 13 casinos and the six sports teams, and
05:34two additional standalone online sportsbook operators that the State Gambling Commission
05:39could award.
05:40So it'd be a nice, robust market.
05:43Certainly something that has been in the works a long time, and we're just waiting to see
05:48official confirmation that it's on the November ballot.
05:51And known as a huge sports state as well, not just professional, but college sports
05:56as well.
05:57So it would be a fascinating market.
05:59Let's talk about Minnesota now, because this is a little bit more complex.
06:04It seemed like there was momentum, and then there were a group of legislators that were
06:09prepared to and successfully spiked it for the 2024 calendar year.
06:16So their congressional session is over for the year, and it looks like we'll have to
06:20come back in 2025 in order to try this again.
06:23Yeah, I'm working up a story right now, talking to different stakeholders and politicians
06:28that have been leading this charge the past couple of years, kind of a similar situation
06:33as Missouri, that there's been a lot of hope, a lot of work toward the end goal of legalization,
06:40but it's just fallen short repeatedly year after year.
06:43And this year, we came into it saying, wow, this is the one state that can probably get
06:49it done at this session.
06:51Well, sure enough, as you know, politics is not simple.
06:55I think we've learned that in the past couple of years, or decades, but yeah, it looked
07:06almost like a shoo-in to get things going and passed, but it just kind of, everything
07:13just kind of fell apart.
07:15One thing happened, the dominoes kept falling.
07:18Last day of the session, a group of supporters said, we've got a deal, but we don't think
07:24we're going to get a vote on it.
07:26And so that's, I think, something a lot of people say, just maybe keep hopes alive that,
07:30you know, maybe they get some extra votes in the election year or whatever.
07:35But as it comes out now, it seems like it was less likely that there was a deal and
07:40it was just posturing from all the stakeholders saying, we did it, but we didn't get the vote.
07:45And now heading into 2025, you're looking at a whole new house.
07:50It could switch parties again.
07:52You're looking at these kind of opponents that kind of stood up and said, no, this isn't
07:57going to get done.
07:59There's a chance that 2025 is less likely than it was this year, despite that comment
08:05on the last day from stakeholders saying, yeah, we got it done.
08:09Maybe this'll be great for next year, but it almost looks like it might be less likely
08:12to pass next year.
08:14It's a good reminder that regardless of whatever your perception, you, myself, anybody watching
08:20or listening, whatever your perception of a particular state's political leanings are,
08:25these bills do need bipartisan support on some level.
08:30And that's not always an easy, it's never an easy thing to arrive on.
08:35In perhaps certain states, it's been far easier than others, but clearly Minnesota, you would
08:40have thought, yeah, a little bit more socially liberal, this should be a slam dunk.
08:45But the sportsbooks need people on their side in order, willing to push the legislation
08:51through, especially considering that there's so many other things on their plate, it just
08:54may not be a high priority.
08:56Is that fair to say, Pat?
08:58That's very high.
09:00That happened two years ago.
09:02The Democratic Party, which has control, said, we've got all these things that are a slam
09:06dunk, we're going to take them ahead.
09:07And they left sports betting behind.
09:10And so that exemplifies what you just said.
09:13Good stuff, as always, from Pat Evans from Legal Sports Report.