Bet On It: Online sports betting bill okayed by Senate in North Carolina

Bragg Gaming launches new content with WynnBET in New Jersey, Wynn Resorts highlighted by Barron’s and other notable stories in sports betting and iGaming space

Welcome to the latest edition of "Bet On It," where The Fly looks at news and activity in the sports betting and iGaming space.

SECTOR NEWS:  Macau’s gaming bureau reported May gross revenue from games of fortune in the region was up 365.9% year-over-year to 15.565B patacas.

Domestically, Nevada reported April statewide gaming win was up 2.77% to $1.16B. Nevada reported April Las Vegas Strip gaming win up 5.27% versus last year to $624.72M. The state collected $67,455,873 in percentage fees during the month of May 2023*, based upon the taxable revenues generated in April 2023. This represents a 3.44% decrease compared to the prior year’s May, when percentage fee collections were $69,859,394.

New York online sports betting skins posted $307.3M in total handle during week 20, a 3% decrease sequentially but up 18% from week 20 2022, according to Benchmark analyst Mike Hickey. Week 20 gross gaming revenue, or GGR, fell 49% sequentially and 19% year-over-year to $18.9M. Through 20 weeks of, New York skins are pacing to break last year’s gaudy online sports betting numbers, currently up 4% year-over-year. DraftKings (DKNG), FanDuel (PDYPY), Caesars (CZR), and BetMGM (MGM) continue to control the market, combining for 95% of handle and 94% of handle this week.

Bragg Gaming (BRAG) announced that it has launched its new content and Remote Game Server, or RGS, technology with WynnBET (WYNN) Casino and Sportsbook in New Jersey. The launch expands the reach of the company’s new Bragg Studios proprietary content in the U.S. and further demonstrates the continued progress of the company’s North American expansion initiative.

Casino stocks can seem like a gamble, especially when they have been on a roll. Shares of Wynn Resorts look like a good bet, Callum Keown wrote in this week’s edition of Barron’s. Wynn, which runs casinos in Las Vegas and Macau, has climbed 24% this year, buoyed by the lifting of all Chinese Covid-19 travel restrictions in February. That easily outpaced both the S&P 500 index and the iShares MSCI China exchange-traded fund. The stock fell 6% this past Tuesday amid concerns over a new wave of Covid emerging in China-after a health official predicted that infections would peak at 65M a week toward the end of June. While a Covid resurgence is a risk to the recovery, the dip makes the shares a more attractive proposition, especially with the stock trading at 22.5 times 2024 earnings estimates, its lowest level since March 2020, the author noted.

NEARING THE FINISH LINE:  The North Carolina Senate gave its final approval, in a 37-to-11 vote, to House Bill 347 for legal online sports betting on Thursday, Brian Murphy of WRAL reported. House Speaker Tim Moore, told reporters that the House will agree to the changes made by the Senate. The bill must also be signed by Gov. Roy Cooper. "There had been a great deal of energy put into crafting the bill," said Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, a supporter of the bill. "The members here that had been working on those changes had been working with sponsors in the House and had received some assurances that if you do that, we’re going to ask that concurrence take place. So I think they were a little bit taken aback by what seemed to be the initial word that they were not going to concur." The bill allows betting on professional, college and other sports, including horse racing, beginning January 8. at the earliest The state will award 12 operator licenses and tax operators’ gross gaming revenue at 18%. Projections estimate more than $6.6B to be bet in the state within three years and tax revenue could eclipse $100M by the fifth year.

ANALYST COMMENTARY: Barclays raised the firm’s price target on Flutter Entertainment to 15,500 GBp from 14,000 GBp and reiterated an Equal Weight rating on the shares.

PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANIES IN THE SPACE INCLUDE: Accel Entertainment (ACEL), Bally’s (BALY), Boyd Gaming (BYD), Caesars (CZR), Churchill Downs (CHDN), DraftKings (DKNG), Flutter Entertainment (PDYPY), Gan Limited (GAN), Genius Sports (GENI), Las Vegas Sands (LVS), MGM Resorts (MGM), Penn Entertainment (PENN), Rush Street Interactive (RSI), Super Group (SGHC) and Wynn Resorts (WYNN).

Keywords: Macau, gaming win, Nevada, New York, sportsbook, New Jersey, casino, iGaming, North Carolina, online sports betting