Arkansas still haggling over mobile sports betting rules
Revenue split remains an unresolved issue as Super Bowl draws near.
We don’t yet know which teams will be playing in Super Bowl LVI, but we do know the casinos in Arkansas only will be able to take wagers on the game in their retail sportsbooks after yet another delay to getting mobile sports betting regulations finalized.
In the November 2018 election, the state’s residents passed Amendment 100 authorizing casinos and casino gaming. The Arkansas Racing Commission was empowered to issue licenses to up to four casinos.
In 2019, three casinos were licensed to open terrestrial sportsbooks: Saracen Casino Resort, Southland Casino Racing, Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort. A fourth licensed property, Legends Resort and Casino, is under construction in Russellville.
According to state officials, the three sportsbooks saw $33m in handle in 2020, then $67m in 2021. Mobile sports betting is expected to at least double the amount of wagering – but there remain significant issues.
One of the biggest hurdles is a framework that establishes a 51%/49% revenue share for mobile wagering, with Arkansas casinos getting the 51% and their partner sportsbook operators getting the 49%. This has raised hackles among operators, who typically keep 85% to 95% of revenue in contracts with land-based casinos.
The Arkansas Legislative Council’s Administrative Rules Subcommittee was supposed to meet Thursday to consider rules that had been approved by the state’s Racing Commission – with the possibility of getting the system up and running in time to accept wagers on the Super Bowl.
That timetable was scuttled, however, when on Tuesday the Racing Commission made a one-word change to a proposed rule covering the operation of an online sports pool. The reference to “net gaming revenue” was modified to “net gaming receipts.”
Although state officials acknowledged there is only a minor difference between “revenue” and “receipts,” given the controversy over the revenue split, they felt it best to postpone the Subcommittee’s review until February or March to allow stakeholders to weigh in.
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