Analyst: Sports Betting and iGaming to Grow 30% Next Quarter

Previous Growth Estimates Were 21%

July 26, 20240 152 2 minutes readGambling News

Sports betting and iGaming growth in North America could eclipse 30% over the coming months, according to the forecasts of one analyst.

Chad Beynon, an analyst with Macquarie, a global investment financial group, predicts online revenue growth of 34% in the second quarter.

Per Legal Sports Report, that’s up from his previous expectation of 21% before earnings season.

FanDuel, and Rush Street Interactive are among those expected to outperform earnings. That can vary based on hold rates and lower promotional spending, though Beynon paints a rosy outlook for those entities.

The third quarter is off to a “nice start,” Beynon said via LSR, with operators ing an 11% hold rate in New York and the Euro Cup, Copa America, and Wimbledon attracting new audiences and additional online gambling opportunities.

Beynon noted that Spain’s victory over England in the Euro Cup was a loss for some sportsbooks.

Olympics Arrive with Great Anticipation for Many Bettors

For those same reasons, operators will anticipate the Summer Olympics with great enthusiasm More than one-fifth of Olympic fans plan to bet on the Paris Games, according to a poll conducted by Seton Hall University and the Sharkey Institute. Pollsters surveyed approximately 1,611 people last month, with 22% of Olympic fans saying they hope to wager.

Be sure to keep that in mind when analyzing the latest sports betting and iGaming growth updates.

The Summer Games began Friday and will run through Aug. 11, with Paris serving as the main host. Sixteen other French cities — plus a subsite in Tahiti — will also hold events.

The United States is a -550 favorite to win the most gold medals, with China a distant second at +350.

Great Britain (+4200), Japan (+5500), and (+8000) round out the top five countries on the odds board.

Approximately 29% of people surveyed approved betting on the Summer Olympics, while another 38% said it should be prohibited. The other 33% didn’t care either way.

Also on the odds board, the U.S. is a heavy -5000 favorite to claim the most medals. China (+1300) is the only other country with better than 60/1 odds.

It has been an unforgettable experience to arrive at the Athlete’s Village with the Olympic torch 🙌♥️ #Paris2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/9pPMUIYEm8

— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) July 26, 2024

CrowdStrike Outage Hits BetMGM

BetMGM was not immune to the CrowdStrike meltdown, which some experts have called the greatest IT outage in history.

Sports betting and iGaming both experienced outages on Friday before technicians manually rebooted servers. That undoubtedly caused some headaches, as BetMGM was forced to go state-by-state to fix their issues.

However, by midday Saturday, services were back up and running. Online casino play was the first to reboot, followed by online sportsbooks.

That was surely a relief to BetMGM as it keeps pace among the industry leaders in the online gambling and eSports betting markets.

Beynon expects the handle to grow 20% next month but said September may be more unpredictable because of the NFL boon. That month alone s for half of the quarter’s volume.

College football also traditionally has a strong foothold in the betting market, even though several U.S. states prohibit bettors from wagering on in-state schools. As betting becomes more prominent around the country, there’s no reason to think this year will be any different.

Stay tuned for more sports betting and iGaming growth updates.

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