It was officially football season when Labor Day marked the official transition from summer to fall. Every football season has a series of launches and announcements. 2022 was no exception. Although the pace of the launches was slower than in previous years, many affiliates and operators treated the launch of Kansas sports betting with great care. With geoComply reporting more than 100 million geolocations in the first NFL Week, there was more interest in NFL betting than ever.
Rumours circulated about ESPN joining the fun. However, the desire to bet on sports was not widespread. Although markets saw huge numbers, California’s sports betting laws could not get any support.
NFL opens Kansas’ new sportsbooks and partners
Kansas started sports betting on September 1st with all the familiar suspects, such as BetMGM. also partnered the Kansas City Chiefs. generated more than $1 million revenue in the first month even with extensive promo credit deductions.
September saw a lot of announcements regarding sportsbooks for the new NFL season. BetMGM partnered NBC Sports in order to provide NFL odds and the content many had expected pointsbet to deliver. Thursday Night Football at Amazon Prime has also signed an important betting agreement with DraftKings. However, not all announcements were good. Fubo TV declared that it would be closing down its sportsbooks operations in October.
With the launch of Sporttrade, a new player emerged that offers a completely different type of sportsbook. It uses to challenge the US geolocation market. The exchange model app seeks to become a contender brand. However, the company faces more than just a market problem. GeoComply brought suit against it in October alleging patent infringement. Without a settlement, the suit is likely to drag on into 2024.
ESPN teases the possibility of a brand-name sportsbook, but then retracts it
He was replaced in November by previous CEO Bob Iger and made some vague comments regarding Disney CEO Bob Chapek referring to the Mouse’s involvement in sports betting more than it was.
According to a survey done by OddsAssist, there was certainly a desire for ESPN to be more involved. More than 73% of those surveyed said that they would bet at an ESPN-branded sportbook.
Chapek spoke at the annual D23expo and it was clear that the comments sounded as if the company was thinking about getting in on the operator market.
Chapek stated that he was working hard to create an ESPN sportsbook. He retracted these comments a few days later.
We’re not going to publish a book. This is not possible for Walt Disney Company.
Chapek may have meant to refer to a deal that DraftKings was in the midst of expanding its partnership. The rumor mill was abuzz in Ocotber about the , but there wasn’t an official announcement.
California’s Prop 27 prospects go from bad-to worse
Despite the fact that the odds of Proposition 26 passing the ballot were decreasing, Proposition 26’s and Proposition 27’s dueling campaigns heated up in the weeks before Election Day. In conversation with SportRadar’s Brandt Iden he compared the record-breaking spending to an arm race. Despite both props heading towards defeat, spending was not stopped just yet.
Two months later, 26 and 27, both were polling with sub-35% approval. Although numbers seemed terrible in their early stages, 27 would be significantly worse by November 8.
The bipartisan support for the repeal of Prop 27 didn’t really help. While many lawmakers weren’t convinced by Prop 26, most people in power, including the Governor, spoke out against it. Gavin Newsom. The criticisms were generally focused on the fact that while the majority of Americans wanted sports betting to continue this fall, Californian lawmakers and residents didn’t want any other form of gambling.
