Confirmation Pointsbet Coming to Pennsylvania and Mississippi!

‘Confirmation Pointsbet Coming to Pennsylvania and Mississippi!’ (Image Source: images.unsplash.com)

It looks like Pointsbet coming to Pennsylvania and Mississippi. In 2019 Pointsbet and Penn National Gaming kicked off a multi-year agreement that gave both parties market access! Penn gave access to its already existing land-based casinos that were being allowed gaming licenses in States that were legalizing online sports betting and casinos.

Pointsbet and other sportsbook operators got these skin agreements from Penn National in return for cash upfront access fees, equity stakes in the sportsbook operators themselves, or a revenue-sharing model.

Penn National, never being the type to put all its eggs in one basket, partnered with many operators around the country, including up to now, three separate ones in Pennsylvania. They use Draftkings for their Meadows Racetrack and Casino, Hollywood Grantville uses Barstool and Hollywood at Morgantown uses bet MGM. So it’s likely that Pointsbet will be used at the still under construction York mini-casino.

Though no definitive plans have been announced. It’s a bit harder to guess when their plans might bear fruit in Mississippi. Penn has 5 properties there, and they likely will partner with several other sportsbook operators to allow more skins and a chance to participate in more revenue-share. But the Mississippi’s State Legislature has not yet advanced a bill that would allow online sports betting or online casinos, and it’s not clear how much longer that may take.

Pointsbet Will Be Available In Multiple States

Pointsbet will add Mississippi and Pennsylvania operations to their portfolio in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and New Jersey. The agreement is good for 20 years AFTER Pointsbet begins operation in each state. They will pay for licensing and other ancillary fees, and Penn will get a share of net revenue. Oddly, Penn was given a few months head start on when they could sell some equity stakes they had gotten in return for the earlier 2019 deal.

Pennsylvania is a hot online sports book market, with over half a billion dollars wagered in February alone, and that number is likely to continue to grow.  Pointbet US CEO Johnny Aitken is known to be a big believer in the future of in-play betting. Betting on individual outcomes within a game, and not just on the game itself. This gives perhaps hundreds of opportunities within a match to bet on just about anything you can dream up, and some estimate the amount of in-play bets at perhaps 70% to 90% of all sportsbook wagers in the near future.

Purchase Decision Not a Surprise

So it was hardly surprising when Aitken and Pointsbet worldwide CEO Sam Swannell made the decision to buy up a quant trading fund called Banach technology earlier this month. Their dream is to bring the kind of in-play action that casinos like Bet365 are known for in European sports and translate that for an American audience, and they believe that Banach is the key to get them there.

Banach had been involved in the early success of some in-play soccer technology and computer models that worked well overseas, and so Pointsbet has bet big that they can help them corner the market here with similar computer modelling wizardry. And for that to work, Pointsbet will need to keep adding states and skins to its already impressive list of places where they can take your bet in-play or otherwise.