Dustin Gouker and the team at Legal Sports Report highlight some of the key US sports betting issues to look out for in the week ahead. 

The latest sports betting revenue numbers: New Jersey’s latest numbers for sports betting handle and revenue will come out this week for August. While the month is typically a slow one for Americans betting on sports, NJ bettors had their first widespread chance to bet on NFL preseason games. We’ll get a sense of whether July — when New Jersey outpaced Nevada for handle — will persist another month, and if that trend is sustainable into football season. On the latter, we’re not 100% sold that Nevada has ceded the lead in total amount bet when we’re into football season in earnest, but we’ll find out soon if that narrative holds up.

What’s the next state or sportsbook to go live, or online? After a busy few weeks of states and operators trying to get live for NFL season, we might hit a bit of a lull. No new states are expected to join the fold this week. Next up in the queue is Oregon’s sports betting app — sometime later this month or October — and Indiana online sports betting — the timing there is uncertain. Meanwhile, we’re waiting for more operators to go live in several places:
  • More Iowa sports betting apps should open up in the coming weeks and months.
  • William Hill will eventually have a sports betting app in West Virginia.
  • There are several more operators coming in Pennsylvania for online betting.
We’re not sure if we’ll see any of those happen this week, but they are in the queue.
The path ahead for FoxBet: The sportsbook offering from the Stars Group with Fox Sports — Fox Bet — went live in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in recent days. It’s clear that the platform is really trying to leverage Fox personalities to drive engagement, including Colin Cowherd and the folks from FS!’s Lock It In. The method has worked to success in the UK with Sky Bet, but in the US we’re yet to see how it goes. Cowherd and Lock It In personality Clay Travis are both polarizing figures for Fox, although both have a history with betting content. Fox Bet is offering these personalities’ picks on the betting app; we’re waiting to see how this plays with sports fans if they are wrong a lot. Perhaps it’s much ado about nothing, but bettors getting fed losing picks from the likes of Travis could eventually go south.