• WynnBet ceases operations in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, New Jersey, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia
• Downsizing follows deliberate rollout of ESPN Bet this autumn

WynnBet has ceased operations in eight US states, citing excessive advertising and marketing spend and promotions in on-line sports activities betting, in addition to a “dearth of iGaming legislation”.

Wynn Resorts’ on-line sports activities betting and on line casino platform had operated in 12 states however has now exited Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, New Jersey, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. WynnBet will proceed to function in Massachusetts and Nevada, the place it has land-based properties.

WynnBet can be reviewing whether or not to stay in Michigan and New York. For now, the latter’s sportsbook will stay operational. WynnBet’s sports activities betting providing in Michigan can be shutting down however its on line casino product will stay on-line.

“In light of the continued requirement for outsized marketing spend through user acquisition and promotions in online sports betting, we believe there are higher and better uses of capital deployment for Wynn Resorts shareholders,” mentioned Wynn Resorts’ chief monetary officer Julie Cameron-Doe.

“While we believe in the long-term prospects of iGaming, the dearth of iGaming legislation and the presence of numerous other investment opportunities available to us around the globe have led us to the decision to curtail our capital investment in WynnBet to focus primarily on those states where we maintain a physical presence.”

SportsPro says…

WynnBet’s departure from eight states is the most recent instance of the consolidating US sports activities market.

In February, the American Gaming Association (AGA) revealed that sportsbook income within the US racked in a report US$7.5 billion in 2022, up 75 per cent on 2021. However, amid all of the curiosity from punters, FanDuel and DraftKings dominate the market, outstripping the likes of BetMGM and Caesars Sportsbook.

WynnBet, which has partnered with the National Football League (NFL) and several other of its groups, together with the Indianapolis Colts, would have needed to keep on spending massive to face any probability of securing a good chunk of the market – one thing it determined wasn’t viable. In January 2022, the New York Post reported Wynn Resorts was trying to offload its sports activities betting enterprise for round US$500 million after floating a US$3 billion valuation lower than a yr prior.

FanDuel and DraftKings have incurred heavy losses on their approach to turning into the go-to locations for sports activities bettors within the states. The former expects 2023 to be the primary time it achieves full-year profitability, with its mother or father firm Flutter forecasting the entire addressable US betting market to be price greater than US$40 billion by 2030.

Other firms nonetheless consider they’ll problem the market leaders, which had solely made WynnBet’s job tougher. Fanatics is predicted to accumulate FactorsBet’s US operations and final week noticed ESPN accomplice with Penn Entertainment to launch ESPN Bet. The latter is taking up from Penn’s Barstool Sportsbook which had a market share of 1.9 per cent in May, highlighting the work forward because the Disney-owned community bids to make a splash within the sportsbook area.