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Sports-Betting Boost Expected With Texas, Oklahoma In SEC

Published

9 months ago

July 12, 2024

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With the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners now in the Southeastern Conference, legal sports betting soon could jump by double digits in the region, says one bookmaker.

Starting this season, Texas and Oklahoma are in position to challenge for the SEC football championship — and championships across all SEC sports — in a collegiate conference loaded with rich traditions and annual national title contenders.

The Longhorns and Sooners joined the SEC in July. Both moved over from the Big 12.

“This new conference (alignment) leads to better games for the book and better opportunities for the player,” Casey Lewless, manager of two Louisiana sportsbooks, told Gambling.com.

Legal sportsbooks in Louisiana are popular with bettors from neighboring Texas and nearby Oklahoma. Sports wagering is illegal in Texas and Oklahoma.

Because of this, the Margaritaville Resort Casino in Bossier City, Louisiana, expects to see a bump of about 30% in college wagering, Lewless said. That sportsbook already was anticipating more action because of its recent expansion.

The Margaritaville sportsbook is one of two in Northwest Louisiana that Lewless manages for Penn Entertainment. The other is at the nearby Boomtown Casino Hotel.

Lewless pointed to Texas’ rivalry years ago with the Arkansas Razorbacks in the former Southwest Conference as a matchup that will stir interest now that both are in the SEC. Sports betting is legal in Arkansas.

Also, every clash between the two Texas SEC schools — the Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies — will stir emotions and boost sports betting in close-by states like Louisiana where wagering is legal, Lewless said.

Sports Betting Illegal In Half Of SEC States

The addition of Oklahoma into the SEC means six of the 12 states with schools in the conference do not have legal sports betting. Texas already had a school in the SEC — Texas A&M.

Those six SEC states make up the largest geographic region in the U.S. without legal sports betting. Combined, the six states have a population of more than 62 million, representing about 19% of the U.S. population.

Nationwide, sports betting is legal in 38 states and Washington, D.C.

The SEC states without legal sports betting are:

Texas (Texas Longhorns, Texas A&M Aggies)
Oklahoma (Oklahoma Sooners)
Missouri (Missouri Tigers)
Alabama (Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers)
Georgia (Georgia Bulldogs)
South Carolina (South Carolina Gamecocks)
The other six SEC states have either in-person or mobile sports betting — or both. Tennessee is a mobile-only state, while Mississippi has in-person sports betting at casinos but not off-site mobile wagering.

The SEC states with legal sports betting are:

Arkansas (Arkansas Razorbacks)
Louisiana (LSU Tigers)
Kentucky (Kentucky Wildcats)
Tennessee (Tennessee Volunteers, Vanderbilt Commodores)
Mississippi (Ole Miss Rebels, Mississippi State Bulldogs)
Florida (Florida Gators)

College Football Kicks Off In August

The overall college football schedule kicks off Aug. 24, including a matchup overseas between Florida State and Georgia Tech in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland.

In the SEC, the Oklahoma Sooners, led by head coach Brent Venables, begin their season on Aug. 30 against Temple at OU’s Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium.

The SEC schedule gets fully underway over the Labor Day weekend, highlighted by an Aug. 31 contest between Clemson and Georgia in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

On that same day, the Steve Sarkisian-coached Texas Longhorns host Colorado State in Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin.

The next day’s schedule, on Sept. 1, features another SEC school, LSU, in a matchup against Southern California in the Vegas Kickoff Classic at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

SEC Divisions Abandoned

The addition of Texas and Oklahoma brings the number of teams in the SEC to 16. This season, the conference football championship will be decided between the top two teams. The 2024 SEC title game is set for Dec. 7 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

In previous years, the conference was split into two divisions, with the East and West winners battling it out for for the SEC title.

The 2024 arrangement with no divisions is a departure in the conference structure dating back more than three decades.

Source

Related Topics:latest-news norss Oklahoma SEC sports betting Texas

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Latest News

Swintt unleashes the power of the Parthenon in Olympus Wilds

Published

29 minutes ago

April 3, 2025

George Miller

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

Sought-after software provider’s new Greek mythology-inspired slot sees players summon Floating Wilds that can send their winnings soaring on any given spin

Get ready to step into the Athenian Acropolis and take your place alongside the mighty gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece in Olympus Wilds – the brand-new SwinttSelect slot where unique Floating Wilds can set players payouts soaring for sky-high wins.

Set to a backdrop of the majestic Parthenon, Olympus Wilds is a five-reel, 20-payline title that features the likenesses of Zeus, Ares, Artemis, Athena and Poseidon as its higher-value symbols. Packed with exhilarating bonuses, the game boasts a maximum jackpot of 8,000x the selected bet and includes a Buy Feature button that gives players easy access to its main Free Spins round.

European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

In both the Free Spins and the base game, the key to unlocking Olympus Wilds’ most divine payouts comes courtesy of a unique Floating Wilds mechanic.

Triggered whenever two or more wild symbols appear during a single spin, these icons will ascend from the reels before coming down again in random positions to create additional paylines as a free re spin is triggered.

Should any additional wilds appear during this re spin, this powerful feature will be repeated for even greater potential prizes – and if this happens to occur during the Free Spins, all winnings will also benefit from a progressive multiplier that can boost players’ payouts by a maximum of 10x!

As an added gift from the gods, this progressive multiplier is also present during the game’s second feature, which is a Hold & Win bonus similar to those found in other Swintt titles. Activated whenever five or more coin symbols stop in view, players will initially be granted three re spins to collect further prizes, with the counter resetting whenever a new coin symbol appears.

Not only that, but for each subsequent coin collected, the progressive multiplier will increase by one, with this being applied to the value of all prizes once the reels have been completely filled or no new coins appear and the player is returned to the base game with their collected winnings.

David Mann, Chief Executive Officer at Swintt, said: “This month, Swintt is inviting players to explore the intriguing world of Greek mythology and claim divine riches worthy of the gods themselves in Olympus Wilds. A medium-high volatility slot with a maximum jackpot of 8,000x, Olympus Wilds introduces a new Floating Wilds mechanic that can turn any spin into a big winner – particularly during Free Spins, where potentially monumental multipliers are also up for grabs!”

The post Swintt unleashes the power of the Parthenon in Olympus Wilds appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Bruce Cassidy

VIP Play Obtains Interim West Virginia iGaming and Sports Wagering Management Service Provider Licenses

Published

30 minutes ago

April 3, 2025

GamingAmericas.com

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VIP Play Inc. announced the approval of its interim License in West Virginia for both Sports Wagering and iGaming managed services. This follows the recently announced market access partnership between VIP Play and Delaware North’s Wheeling Island Casino.

This milestone marks the company’s initial expansion beyond Tennessee, where it currently operates as a mobile Sports Wagering Operator. The interim License in West Virginia also adds iGaming to the company’s book of business, and allows VIP Play to participate in the rapidly expanding i-Gaming industry. VIP Play expects to begin serving West Virginia customers in the coming months.

Bruce Cassidy, VIP Play CEO & Chairman of the Board, said: “The acquisition of our interim Sports Wagering and i-Gaming License in West Virginia marks a significant milestone in our journey to expand, underscoring our commitment to provide innovative experiences to a wider audience. As we grow our presence, our dedication to excellence stands firm, and we’re excited to play a role in enriching West Virginia’s dynamic gaming community.”

The post VIP Play Obtains Interim West Virginia iGaming and Sports Wagering Management Service Provider Licenses appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.

Compliance Updates

QTech Games sharpens its LatAm focus with MINCETUR licence in Peru

Published

30 minutes ago

April 3, 2025

GamingAmericas.com

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New certification for emerging-markets leader arrives ahead of key industry summit in Sao Paulo and awards recognition

QTech Games, the leading game aggregator for emerging markets, has had its platform and games successfully approved for the Peruvian market, demonstrating that its premier B2B platform and all-encompassing content conforms to the latest legislative updates to enhance and regulate Peru’s local gaming environment.

Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Commerce and Tourism (MINCETUR) has now issued an online gaming licence to QTech Games, whereby all its platform products and games are now deemed legally permitted. This includes its new software service for retail, QTech Hybrid, which allows land-based partners to scale their operations online. QTech Hybrid simplifies transactions by enabling deposits, withdrawals and gameplay while allowing access to players both in-shop and on personal devices.

This breakthrough hybrid solution has quickly won clients and awards in the comparably fragmented African market (most recently in March for Best Innovation at AGE Lagos), and now promises to do likewise across LatAm, where QTech Games has already signed several major clients for both its aggregation platform and its QTech Hybrid solution. This activity has seen it again nominated for Best Aggregator at the SiGMA Americas Awards, which kickstart the SiGMA Americas summit (7-10 April) next week, as the igaming world converges on Sao Paulo for a must-attend conference in another of QTech Games’ “focus markets” for 2025.

Philip Doftvik, QTech Games’ CEO, said: “It’s fantastic to have certified our aggregation platform in Peru via MINCETUR – and I’m pleased to say we have more such approvals pending across the continent. We attended fantastic events in Rio and, more recently, SAGSE 2025 in Buenos Aires – and anticipate more of the same at SiGMA Americas in Sao Paulo next week, where we’re also thrilled to have been shortlisted for Best Aggregator at their LatAm Awards. Given the venue, Brazil will be dominating the discussion for many at SiGMA Sao Paulo. However, we’ll also be looking beyond Brazilian borders this year, and are already active in Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Paraguay. We know our QTech Hybrid solution will work very well wherever we put a pin on the LatAm map.”

QTech Games delegates will be present at five more LatAm summits in 2025, with SiGMA Americas (7 April) the next port of call – followed by GAT Expo Cartagena (28 April), SBC Americas (13 May), Peru Gaming Show (18 June) and GAT Expo Mexico (28 Aug).

The post QTech Games sharpens its LatAm focus with MINCETUR licence in Peru appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.