The quarantine continues. Day… something. We’ve lost count.
Though sports are sidelined and casinos are trying to assess reopening plans, the NFL Draft remains on as scheduled (though continuing on as a virtual draft).
We have persevered through trying times, and rest assured, the light at the end of the tunnel is out there. The following stories reflect just that.
On to the Rewind:
Cybersecurity threat forces SBTech-related shutdowns
Online gambling sites powered by SBTech received quite the scare recently.
A cybersecurity threat forced the tech provider to inform clients it had been targeted as part of an attempted ransomware attack, which involves hackers seeking company data and code. SBTech, though, assured that no customer data was compromised.
Partner of brands such as Oregon Lottery, BetAmerica, Golden Nugget and Resorts Atlantic City, SBTech contacted a third-party group of cybersecurity experts as well as law enforcement agencies to investigate the incident. SBTech-related products operate in six states:
- Arkansas
- Indiana
- Mississippi
- New Jersey
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
Before its partners can relaunch their sites and sportsbooks, SBTech will need to receive clearance from respective state regulators. Any other year, the timing would be brutal as the likes of March Madness and the Masters tournaments would be well underway. Not to mention playoff pushes in the NBA and the onset of MLB.
However, the coronavirus pandemic has forced the suspensions and cancellations of schedules and events.
No online sports betting in New York… again
Stop us if you’ve heard this before: New York sports betting will move forward without online sportsbooks.
State lawmakers finalized the New York state budget. The glaring omission: Gov. Andrew Cuomo elected not to expand the state’s sports betting industry.
The timeline for lawmakers proposing mobile wagering was expedited due to the coronavirus pandemic. Rather than having an opportunity to include betting expansion in Senate and Assembly budget proposals, the legislature aborted one-house budgets and went straight to negotiations with Cuomo.
The governor did not include online betting in his executive budget, essentially sealing the fate for expansion in the final budget.
Cuomo has expressed constitutional concerns regarding online sports betting. He has noted that gambling via mobile devices should not be allowed, while also pointing out such expansion would result in limited state revenue.
While lawmakers will certainly continue advocating for online expansion, Cuomo did, in a way, expand New York sports betting. The state will no longer require casinos to limit sports betting to designated lounges.
DC sports betting launch delayed
The targeted launch date for sports betting in Washington, D.C., has come and gone. And the country’s capital is still without legalized wagering.
The Office of Lottery and Gaming announced that DC sports betting is officially delayed until sports in the US return to action.
Powered by Intralot, the lottery’s sports betting product aimed to debut by March 31. Of course, professional leagues, the NCAA and other major leagues and organizers have since suspended schedules and even canceled events due to coronavirus. As uncertainty abounds regarding the return of sports, decision-makers in the nation’s capital made an audible.
Nicole Jordan, director of marketing and communications for the lottery, said her team is “revising our sports wagering launch strategy based on the current state of world events” and added that the lottery is “prepared to launch the platform when it is safe for the sports world to return.”
Per Jordan, and as reported by Legal Sports Report, the sports betting app and website have been tested and approved. Without the pandemic, GambetDC, as the product is named, would have launch April 1.
