Casino Player September 2022

PLAYING THE BOOKS

BETTING THE FAVORITE

Worldwide Leader in Sports… Betting? ➤ by Sean Chaffin P lenty of news continues in the world of sports betting,especially as the NFL season approaches.

ESPN has partnerships with DraftKings and Caesars, but appears to be looking for an even bigger piece of the pie. The company has a deep stable of sports content via television, radio, online, streaming service and more.That offers a large footprint to reach potential bettors and to ramp up even more sports wagering content. Despite that, there may be some

This month’s“Betting the Favorite” takes a look at ESPN’s possible expansion of its own sports betting prospects, Maryland’s stalled mobile sports betting efforts, legalization in Massachusetts and more. Disney leaders recently noted their need to add a larger sports betting element

headwinds coming ESPN’s way as well. Hedge fund manager Dan Loeb purchased a major stake in Disney in August and urged the company to spin off ESPN into its own company.The prospect of a sports wagering effort seems to be a big part of that thinking. “ESPN would have greater flexibility to pursue business initiatives that may be more difficult as part of Disney, such as sports betting,” Loeb said in a letter to Chapek. “We believe that most arrangements between the two companies can be replicated contractually, in the way eBay spun PayPal while continuing to utilize the product to process payments.”

at ESPN.The company looks to be getting into the wagering business to some degree.As others in the industry have partnered or even own a percentage of sports betting operations, such as FOX Sports, ESPN has lagged a bit behind in making a major leap into the industry.That appears to be changing soon. “We have found that basically our sports fans that are under 30 absolutely require this type of utility in the overall portfolio of what ESPN offers,” Disney CEO Bob Chapek said recently in a corporate earnings call.“So we think it’s important.We’re working hard on it,and we hope to have something to announce in the future in terms of a partnership there that will allow us to access that revenue stream and also make sure that our guests are … having their needs met.”

CASINO DEL SOL ANNOUNCES NEW NFL CROSS GAME MATCHUP R ecently approved by theArizona Division of Gaming, Casino Del Sol inTucson,AZ, is the first and only sportsbook in the country to offer a new NFL Cross Game Matchup, allowing

“With football prop bets being the most popular amongst sportsbook players, I knew a wager like this would appeal to our visitors,”said Collins.“While analytical players will dissect probabilities within each event, fantasy football players will use skills to try and handicap cross-game matchups.After testing the method within our trading team,we are excited to roll this out to the public.” For more information, visit casinodelsol.com/promo/ cross-game-matchups or call 1-855-SOL-STAY.

players to place weekly bets on any team playing that week against any other team in the NFL, regardless of who they are matched up with for the week. The NFL Cross Game Matchup was the brainchild of Director of Sportsbook, John Collins. Instead of only having 12-15 NFL games to bet on weekly, players will now have over 450 games to choose from. Final scores within a player’s primary game matchup will be used to determine winners.

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