Joe Streeter<\/p>\n
With the opening of new markets and the opportunity of the World Cup, this year marked a significant chance for sportsbooks to elevate engagement and embark on expansion.<\/p>\n
The World Cup, as shown by\u00a0Google\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>most searched terms,\u00a0was arguably the buzzword for 2018. England surpassed everyone\u2019s expectations by reaching the semi-finals, front-runners such as Portugal and Brazil were knocked out early and France savoured a historic victory.<\/p>\n A total of 166 goals were scored over the 64 games in the tournament, including 29 penalties in normal time, and 12 own goals. It was the first year that\u00a0FIFA\u00a0<\/strong>had decided to roll out the use of the video assistant referee (VAR), which subjected spectators to heartbreak and ecstasy in equal measures.<\/p>\n Online odds comparison site,\u00a0Oddschecker<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>benefited from a record high in monthly traffic, topping the previous record set in June 2016. The site saw just shy of four million unique users visiting the page over the tournament, with the most popular game page being the semi-final between Croatia and England.<\/p>\n During the tournament,\u00a0b<\/strong>et365\u00a0<\/strong>held 23.9 per cent of the total world cup clickshare, followed by\u00a0SkyBet\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Betfair SBK\u00a0<\/strong>at 10 and 9.8 per cent respectively. Viewing figures broke records throughout the tournament this year, as England\u2019s semi-final against Croatia took over 80 per cent of the viewing share during the game.<\/p>\n Sportsbooks offered much tighter overrounds during the tournament compared to the 2017\/18 Premier League season as a bid to dominate the market share, \u201cwith a tournament 1\u00d72 OR of 103.7% (22 bps tighter than PL 17\/18 avg).\u201d It was also highlighted that the knockout stages \u201cwas priced marginally more keenly, 4bps, than the group stages.\u201d<\/p>\n But despite the France v Denmark game being the only goalless draw in the World Cup, Oddschecker detailed that bookmakers still enjoyed a \u201crelatively favourable tournament\u201d. However, the firm suggested that the increase in the number of penalties throughout the tournament, up to 29 from 13 in 2014, \u201ccost bookies dearly\u201d.<\/p>\n The opening up of the markets in the United States was also a momentous occasion in 2018, as individual states were permitted to take steps to legalise sports betting if desired.<\/p>\n It followed the\u00a0US Supreme Court\u00a0<\/strong>ruling in May 2018 which ruled that the\u00a0Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA)\u00a0<\/strong>was unconstitutional. The act was passed in 1992, and acted as a blanket ban on state-sponsored sports betting.<\/p>\n The act was found unconstitutional on the basis of states\u2019 rights to implement its own legislation.\u00a0Judge Alito<\/strong>, a native of New Jersey, wrote: \u201cCongress can regulate sports gambling directly, but if it elects not to do so, each state is free to act on its own.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur job is to interpret the law Congress has enacted and decide whether it is consistent with the Constitution. PASPA is not.\u201d<\/p>\n Following the judgement, states were given autonomy in deciding whether or not to legalise sports betting. Delaware and\u00a0New Jersey\u00a0were among the first states to ratify the decision to legalise betting on sports, and several others have followed suit since.<\/p>\n In November alone, New Jersey sports betting industry generated upwards of $330 million in total wagers, and more than $21 million in revenues.<\/p>\n The Supreme Court decision saw shares in UK-based bookmakers subsequently jump.\u00a0William Hill\u2019<\/strong>s stock gained 9.4 per cent,\u00a0GVC Holdings<\/strong>\u00a06%, while\u00a0Paddy Power Betfair\u2019<\/strong>s share prices rose 10.5 per cent and888 Holdings<\/strong>\u00a0jumped 14 per cent.<\/p>\n US-Based\u00a0Churchill Downs<\/strong>, which owns both casinos and horse racing tracks, \u00a0also reaped the benefits with a 5.73 per cent rise in its shares. However, not everyone profited from the ruling, as increased competition to the Nevada-based sportsbooks saw shares in Wynn Resorts fall by two per cent.<\/p>\n William Hill<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>capitalised on the opportunity of rolling out mobile betting\u00a0to its punters in New Jersey swiftly after the state ruled in favour of legalising sports betting. Along with\u00a0Paddy Power\u2019s FanDuel<\/strong>, the duo brought the state\u2019s number of companies offering mobile betting to five. The move came just in time for the NFL season.<\/p>\n Many states have used casinos as a means of operating sportsbooks, but in December,\u00a0Washington D.C. voted overwhelmingly in favour of legalising sports betting\u00a0in the District of Columbia. It makes D.C. the first to give the green light to sports betting with no casino.<\/p>\n Greece-based\u00a0Intralot,\u00a0<\/strong>the city\u2019s lottery operator, is set to have oversight for sports betting and was given permission by lawmakers to sell licences to sportsbooks across the district.<\/p>\n The full impact of the US ruling is still to be seen, and it is predicted that a number of operators will seek to obtain licences in the coming months. The change of the House to Democrats will likely facilitate more states voting in favour of legalising sports betting.<\/p>\n Other events in the year have included Brazil and Slovakia announcing reforms to sports betting policies, with both countries legalising sports betting.\u00a0MGM Resorts\u00a0<\/strong>also announced a betting partnership withMajor League Baseball,\u00a0<\/strong>making MGM the first-ever \u2018Official Gaming Partner of MLB\u2019 as well as \u2018Official Entertainment Partner of MLB\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n