Good morning. Basketball, soccer, tennis, and volleyball accounted for 76 percent of all bets placed during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, according to Entaain, though basketball appears to be the shining star, particularly due to the introduction of 3×3 basketball. Our Deep Dive today examines how betting behaves during the Olympics, looking also into some of the more niche sports, such as table tennis.Â
What you need to know
- New Zealand has eased its nationwide lockdown, moving from level 4 to level 2 restrictions in all cities except for Auckland.
- PAGCOR Chair Andrea Domingo defended plans to allow casinos on Boracay, saying the Newcoast project alone will generate as many as 10,000 jobs.
- Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam has said Macau and Mainland residents can visit the city without needing to quarantine from Sept. 15.
- Tsukasa Akimoto has been handed a four-year jail sentence for accepting bribes from a Chinese company seeking a casino license in Japan.
- Vietnam Ministry of Finance is pushing for more global football tournaments to be added to the list of allowed tournaments for betting.
- Fitch Ratings on Tuesday affirmed its negative ratings outlook for Las Vegas Corp, Sands China and Marina Bay Sands, as a result of slower than expected market recovery.
On the radar
- Suntrust Home Developers has changed its name to Suntrust Resort Holdings.
- Ainsworth CEO Lawrence Levy is set to resign effective Sep 10, 2021.
What the papers say
- Goa accused of failing to enforce rules banning locals from entering casinos
- Caesars Entertainment signs multi-year strategic accord with Genius Sports
- Jeju Dream Tower to hire 80 new employees to join its ranks
AGB Intelligence
DEEP DIVE
Basketball scores in Olympic betting preferences
Basketball surged in popularity in terms of Olympics sports betting preferences at Tokyo 2020, though sports book operators said the games were not a major driver of volumes. According to a pre-event survey from the American Gaming Association more than 20 million people said they planned to bet on the Olympics. This was the first such survey from the AGA and the first Olympics since sports betting was legalized outside of Nevada in 2018. Despite the hugely expanded audience potential in the U.S., sports books say they have not seen a major boost from the Olympics, which have always failed to generate the same level of volume as some other sporting tournaments, such as major football leagues.
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