As one of the few states with professional teams across all of America’s top sports leagues, residents of Michigan will be the next State of operations for sports betting company PointsBet (ASX: PBH) which continues its rapid rollout across the world’s most lucrative sports market.
The launch, scheduled for tomorrow, has been finalised with approval from the Michigan Gaming Control Board and will become the sixth State of operation for the Aussie bookmaker, joining New Jersey, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, and Colorado.
“PointsBet is pleased to have been approved to launch in Michigan in the first wave of operators. We look forward to providing this sports-loving state with a fast, premium sports betting product,” said PointsBet CEO, Sam Swanell.
The imminent launch has been set in motion for several months and should see accelerated uptake from customers with PointsBet having already secured a sponsorship deal with the Detroit Pistons and signing Pistons legend Rip Hamiton as a brand ambassador.
While the Pistons are the State’s flagship team having been the NBA’s dominant team in the late 80s when Isiah Thomas and Dennis Rodman were the faces of the franchise, PointsBet is also the sports betting partner of the Detroit Tigers of the MLB and Detroit Red Wings of the NHL.
Amid the devastating impact of COVID-19 across the United States, its major sports leagues have continued to play with limited or no crowds in attendance.
These restrictions of crowds have seen heightened broadcast audiences across all key media metrics through the pandemic, as the lifestyle shift has resulted in significantly more time spent at home by Americans, many of which can now legally bet on sports from the comfort of their homes.
This is reflected in PointsBet’s quarterly results for the three months ending 30 September 2020 where active US clients increased 159% on the prior corresponding period from 15,400 to 39,800.
Since that period, the NBA season commenced in December while the NFL and College Football seasons were in full swing through the December quarter.
PointsBet is expected to announce their Q2 results in the coming week which will include client acquisition and turnover figures from clients in Colorado where PointsBet launched in November 2020.
Alfred Chan is an Analyst at Emerald Financial, specialising in ASX-listed small cap companies.
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