iBET ETF Insights: During a conference call to report 4th quarter results, Churchill Downs officials said the company will discontinue its online sports betting and internet gaming operations. However, Churchill Downs will still offer retail, and brick-and-mortar sportsbooks. Churchill Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen said, “continued efforts in online sports betting and iGaming by the company didn’t make economic sense as he sees little chance of growth or return for shareholders in the highly competitive market.”
Churchill Downs (CHDN) reported Q4 adjusted net income of $1.27 per share, compared with $0.19 per share in the year-ago quarter. The stock rallied up more than 10% on earnings.
iBET ETF Insights: Caesars executives have stated that they will pull back from advertising and look more toward profitability. CEO Tom Reeg said, “You’re going to see our commercials largely disappear from your screens.” they still have some March Madness slots they could not get out of. Reeg also stated, “We have accomplished what we set out to do. We set out to become a significant player and it’s happened significantly quicker than we thought. And I think most of you know me as someone who’s not one to spend any money needlessly.” Caesars will start to develop their phone app to meet the standards held by other operators, like FanDuel or BetMGM. Additionally, we are in a bit of a vacum in sports right now. The NCAA Tournament will be the last big push for sports betting, thereafter the baseball season is now a question mark. Customer acquistion costs have also been the big story here and Caesars is looking to improve it’s current bottom line.
iBET ETF Insights: Bill makers in Kentucky are taking another shot at passing a proposal for legal sports betting, adding a package of gambling-related measures that will hopefully finally allow for legalization. Supporters of the previous bill estimated that legalization would bring in about $22 million in yearly revenue. The bill brought forward Monday looks to legalize most forms of sports betting and regulate the taxation of all online gambling/wagering. Adam Koenig a republican rep for the state said, “he hopes to combine the multiple proposals in one sweeping measure. But if that strategy doesn’t work, he said he’ll try to pass as many of the individual proposals as possible.”
iBET ETF Insights: A recent poll showed that 45% of voters would support legalization, with 33% who are opposed, and 22% of people who are undecided on the matter. The effort to legalize sports betting in California has been in the works since 2018, when the Supreme Court amended the federal law that banned all states but Nevada from sports betting. Four years later and the industry has evolved with more than 30 states legalizing sports betting, including all of those who border California. Californians should be able to vote in November to make the change to legalize sports betting. New York State legalized recently and did over 2 Billion in handles in the first month, California should do a much larger number.