WNBA: Liberty and Aces

The New York Liberty and the Las Vegas Aces have played twice during the 2024 WNBA Season.The Liberty have won both matchups. The first game was a 90-82 victory at the Barclays Center/The 2nd contest was at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. The Libert's 79-67 win in that contest extended their winning streak. New York has won  7 games in a row.

The Liberty are now leading the Aces in the power ranking in ESPN and are now a slight favorite to win the WNBA Title. The odds I saw are from BETMGM.The Liberty have never won the WNBA Title.They have already clinched a playoffs spot. They have a favorable schedule with most of their games agaisnt teams that are not in contention for the playoffs. That puts them on course to have the best record and playing the 8th seed. That opponent would be the Chicago Sky or the Atlanta Dream.

Here is a clip about the Liberty and Aces.

The Aces are currently in 4th place in the overall standings and a half game ahead of the Seattle Storm. This is important because the top 4 teams get homecourt advantage in the playoffs.The Aces have won seven of their last 10 games. Las Vegas plays a tougher schedule than the Liberty as the season winds down.The Liberty and the Aces will meet again on September 8th in New York City. The Liberty have a 12-1 record at home.

WNBA SPOTLIGHT- A'JA WILSON: Take a peek behind the scences at Wilson during her outstanding 2024 season.

Sports Betting-Inside the Numbers: Operators Mid-Term

 

After seeing the reports that Penn Entertainment had a round of layoff wirh members of their ESPNBet team,I decided to look at the mid year numbers for the top operators. Let's see where everyone is positioned as the NFL returns this fall.  These are the market shares of the top operators.                           DraftKings :38%

  FanDuel 36.5%

   BetMGM:7%

   Caesars:5.9%

   ESPNBet 3.2%

   Rush Street Interactive 3%

Comparing these numbers to the 1st quarter of 2024,DraftKings increased by 2.7%.FanDuel decreased by 1.3%.FanDuel'sDraft market share shifted slightly toward DraftKings and Rush Interactive.BetMGM decreased by.3%despite some impressive partnerships. Caesars decreased .6% and ESPNBet dropped 1.5%.

Let's look at the stock prices to see if investors are still confident over the last month of activity. DraftKings fell -6.07% but close today up 0,26%. FanDuel is down -0.6% over the last 30 days but closed today up 0.6%. Public confidence is unchanged.BetMGM was up 8.80% in the last month and closed yesterday up ,15%. The public opinion of the stock is unwavered. Caesars Entertainment was down 5% 30 days ago but closed yesterday up .82%/.Caesars was down $9 6 months ago and $2 a month ago. While the market share declined, the price is going up.Rush Interactive's stock price was in the low teens 6 months ago but has dropped to just under $10 yesterday. The shift in market share did not translate to increasing the stock value. Penn Entertainment and ESPNBet are not trending in the anticipated direction. A stock price that was high as $25 a year ago is now at $18.52 and down .27% yesterday. 

The Outlook: Expect the two market leaders to jockey for the top position as the NFL and NCAA Football returns in September. BetMGM's partnership with Twitter and the expansion of their sports betting service in Washington, D.C.,will  help recoup the .3% loss of the 2nd quarter, I see Rush as a possible acquisition based on a fvorable price. ESPNBet has the advantage of starting this football season off at the inception. By not launching until after week 7 in 2023,they acqiured multiple downloads but were not able to grow the market.A correction is imperative or this media and gaming merger will be short lived.

I encourage you to practice smart responsible gaming and do your homework as you look to invest in the stock market.

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Sports Betting: The Business of Risk

 

The business of Sports Betting is at an all-time high. Just 5 years ago, you could only make wagers on single games in Nevada. Now you can bet on a single game in over 30 states. Last year over 57 billion was bet legally by Americans on sports. I am not counting the illegal market that is still available to a segment of the gaming patrons.

So why is the stock market not reflecting this renaissance period? A review of the leading sports betting companies and gaming operators stock prices show dismal results over the past 6 months. While the amount of money wagered is staggering, the investors in the companies are seeing red digits on their portfolios.

While the slide could be due to global inflation, there are long term profitability concerns for the industry. Look for a merger or acquisition as a way for one or two operators to turn things around. CNBC Jim Cramer stated “But as we see what the reality looks like, there’s tons of competition for market share and little in the way of profits. Too bad because profits are what this market wants right now. That is why every single one of these stocks has been obliterated,”

According to Yahoo Finance, MGM Resorts International announced an offer to acquire the global gaming company Leovegas. MGM is attempting to build on the success of BetMGM in the United States with this acquisition allowing them to expand globally with an omnichannel strategy. I also found that MGM, as part of the Maryland Education Summit for Sports Betting, will offer a mentorship program to a qualified applicant that is pursuing a Class C sport betting license. This week, MGM was approved for a takeover of the Cosmopolitan amid questions about a monopoly on the Las Vegas Strip. MGM International is making progressive moves and has a stock price of 36.56.A year ago it was $51.17.

Any organization that has an established following on social media, does a high volume of sales and is known internationally may want to purchase a gaming company as a caveat to provide entertainment value to their customers. Imagine if Google or Facebook decided to offer sports betting to their followers. They would have to gain the trust of the public in a manner comparable to Uber and Disney. The patrons would have to be comfortable sharing their banking information and be guaranteed an enjoyable experience that is not based solely on winning.

Since gaining market share is the driver for the more renown operators, the winner of the Sports Betting race will be the operator with a brick-and-mortar venue in cities with a large population along with online gaming presence. The operator that provides visual content of the event to coincide with in game wagering will corner the market.

Check out my articles about sports betting in IGaming Player & Bettors Insider. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram.

 

 

 

The Key Takeaways from the Bet on Sports America Conference

I was so impressed with the Bet on Sports America Conference that I wanted to follow up with 5 key takeaways for anyone that is working or interested in gaming, media and sports betting.

The advent of sports betting is in it's infancy. Sports betting has been legal in states outside of Nevada for just under 3 years. So many states have yet to legalize it. More over so many people are not aware that you can do it legally. Most sports books are populated by men. Hmm!!  Educate and Advertise. 

The pandemic has prompted an increase in online gaming and mobile sports betting. In October, Nevada books set a monthly record for betting handle at 659.6 million. 376.9 million was wager via mobile. Since we can't gather due to COVID the way to stay engaged with your players is remotely. Use all mediums available to you. Be consistent with your content and attempt to respond as close to real time as possible.

The partnerships between the media outlets and professional sports teams now have sports betting operators as a common denominator. Imagine if Google or Facebook enter the equation. They have the followers and could generate liquidity. Yahoo is involved and has it's own Sports division. Yahoo's sports betting platform is powered by BetMGM. 

Some of the professional teams that participated in the conference were the Sixers, Eagles, Flyers and New Jersey Devils.

The time is perfect for entrepreneurs and developers. If you can come up with an app or program that is easy to navigate and appeals to a gaming centric audience,  major corporations will find you. If someone comes up with a way to monetize Esports on a betting platform that makes gaming legislators and operators comfortable, they will be rich!  Nearly half a billion people play Esports or watch others play by streaming.

Don't be afraid to fail. If you're not taking risk on new technology and concepts now, when will you? I'll give you one concept. Meet with other industries that you can partner with. Make sure the partner aligns with your mission statement and core values. Don't sleep on small local businesses as a way of helping generate interest in what you are doing.  

This is the 4th conference that I have attended this year. 3 of them were after the pandemic shutdown in March. Add that to my expertise about casino operations along with my education regarding sports betting and you get a composite view of gaming  If you want more information or insight, we need to talk. In closing I want to quote Ben Franklin. "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest."

If you want a recap of the entire conference click here.

My website is  smartresponsiblegaming.com.  Follow me on Twitter and Facebook for conversations & Instagram for photos/videos.