Share
Welcome to the first edition of PlayUSA Relay, a weekly collection of updates on the latest US online gambling news in a smaller size.
Each week, the staff at PlayUSA will gather several stories from around the gambling industry and condense them into tiny nuggets of information — all thriller, no filler.
For extended coverage follow @VisitPlayUSA | @reporternickg | @vojvodic_ka for all the latest developments, insights, and analysis on the US online gambling industry.
This week’s relay:
Philadelphia Eagles extend Kindred US online gambling partnership through 2025
Kindred Group, the company behind the sports betting platform Unibet, announced it had extended its partnership with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Terms of the agreement will expand Unibet’s sponsorship designations to include online casino games while also having a dedicated “Unibet Landing” location at Lincoln Financial Field.
Manuel Stan, SVP North America, Kindred Group, said, “Our partnership with the Eagles has been a key pillar in Unibet’s strategy in Pennsylvania since the entry in the market and will continue to be an essential piece going forward. We are very pleased to continue the collaboration and continue to develop innovative and engaging projects both at the stadium as well as digitally.”
Unibet also said it would continue to offer branded online casino games, including Eagles slot games, Eagles blackjack games and much more.
Oneida Indian Nation announces Turning Stone Resort expansion
The Oneida Indian Nation announced plans for the largest expansion to its Turning Stone Resort Casino in upstate New York. The multi-year project will double the existing convention and meeting space while increasing the overall footprint of the casino resort.
Ray Halbritter, Oneida Indian Nation Representative and Oneida Nation Enterprises CEO, said, “As we begin our largest reinvestment in two decades, we embark upon a new chapter for our enterprises, ensuring that we remain one of the top event and tourism destinations in New York.”
The multi-year expansion is already underway, with groundbreaking scheduled in 2023.
Ryan Leaf to host PointsBet’s “The Straight Line” broadcast
PointsBet announced former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf would be hosting The Straight Line with Ryan Leaf, a weekly broadcast featuring NFL and College Football storylines, wagering analysis and more.
In addition to signing Leaf, the company is launching a state-of-the-art multimedia studio, the PointBet Studio, which will serve as a central hub for premium content production.
PointsBet USA CEO Johnny Aitken said, “PointsBet views content as an essential component of the overall sports betting experience. Bettors are increasingly looking to sportsbooks to provide them with high-quality entertaining and informative content, and with the unveiling of the PointsBet Studio, we’re able to produce and curate content in house that is tailored to the PointsBet user.”
Tony Hawk boards DraftKings’ responsible gambling campaign
DraftKings announced on Sept. 7 that Tony Hawk would headline its new “Practice Safe Bets” campaign as part of Responsible Gambling Education Month. VaynerMedia will produce a pair of commercials, one featuring the legendary skateboarder and the second featuring professional wrestler The Miz.
This Responsible Gaming Education Month #RGEM2022, @DraftKings announces its newest #responsiblegaming initiative – the Practice Safe Bets advertising campaign feat. @tonyhawk and @mikethemiz. Learn more here: https://t.co/sPlZl62XkR @AmericanGaming pic.twitter.com/HuxkWqtm7y
— DraftKings News (@DraftKingsNews) September 7, 2022
Stephanie Sherman, DraftKings Chief Marketing Officer, said, “We chose The Miz and Tony Hawk for the Practice Safe Bets campaign because of their extensive fan bases and because their personalities will break through the noise to reinforce why using responsible gaming tools is so important.”
Although this will be DraftKings’ first PSA campaign, the company has already incorporated responsible gambling messaging into its products, particularly the ‘It’s More Fun When It’s For Fun’ tagline.
BetMGM Casino New Jersey adds new games
A Sept. 7 press release delivers information about the newest additions to BetMGM Casino’s platform in New Jersey. Building on the partnership between BetMGM and Light & Wonder, the app will now offer games from Design Works Gaming.
Although currently only available on BetMGM Casino in New Jersey, the release states it will add the games in BetMGM’s other markets “in the future.” The new Design Works Gaming titles include several slot games that are new to players in the Garden State.
16K Missourians blocked from Kansas sports betting
GeoComply, the company monitoring security for all mobile sportsbooks in Kansas, said it blocked roughly 104,000 attempts from people in Missouri trying to place bets in Kansas.
Kansas sports betting launched on Sept. 1. Across the border in Missouri, sports betting remains illegal.
Danny DiRienzio, GeoComply senior director of government relations, said around 10% of all usernames placing bets in Kansas belong to people from Missouri.
Check out that border line 🤯
Thrilled to be supporting mobile sportsbooks across Kansas! https://t.co/1i8BW60UG5— GeoComply (@GeoComply) September 6, 2022
“Kansas is clearly benefitting from Missourians being avid sports fans and their interest in being able to wager,” DiRienzio said.
Jackpocket opens new sweepstakes
You might not be able to use Jackpocket to buy lottery tickets online in North Carolina yet, but for residents of 11 other states and Washington, DC, there’s a chance you won’t have to use the app to make any purchases anytime soon as well. That’s not because the app is going anywhere, though.
On Aug. 31, Jackpocket announced a new sweepstakes that promises free lottery tickets for a year to five winners. Those prizes will be paid in the form of a $2 daily credit on the app for 365 consecutive days. There will also be 15 second-prize and 25 third-prize winners who will get the same daily credits for a 31-day and seven-day period, respectively.
Players who wish to participate can earn entries by playing select lottery games. The app has all the details.
Four more years for IGT, New York Lottery
On Aug. 30, the New York Lottery decided to keep dancing with the partner that brought it this far. IGT has been one of the New York Lottery’s most crucial vendors for over three decades, and now the partnership will approach its fourth decade.
According to a press release, IGT will continue providing services like retailer support and ticket distribution to the New York Lottery through August 2026. New York’s state lottery is one of many across the country that get such services from IGT, and now, it will stay that way for the immediate future.
Iowa Regulators Fine Caesars Sportsbook over illegal credit card payments
On Aug. 29, The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission issued a $60,000 fine to Caesars Sportsbook for allowing the illegal use of credit cards on its platform.
According to the gaming commission, a combined 485 illegal transactions were made, totaling $212,000. Iowa betting laws prohibit the use of credit cards as a payment method.
Brian Ohorilko, the commission administrator, said, “There was a specific incident in July of 2021, where it was discovered that there were a number of transactions that took place using a credit card. And so it was discovered at that time, a full audit was completed.”
Ohorilko said prepaid debit cards were purchased using credit cards which is considered a violation.
Remember to follow @VisitPlayUSA | @reporternickg | @vojvodic_ka for additional coverage.
