A Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick sends Juventus through to the quarter-finals, and Manchester City joins them after annihilating FC Schalke 04.
When Cristiano Ronaldo enters the gift shop next to the entrances to “Heaven’ or ‘Hell’ he will pass from this world safe in the knowledge that he created a Champions League legacy.
The five-time Champions League winner has spread across the brand like ivy, molesting the competition during his time at Manchester United, Real Madrid and now, Juventus.
With Juventus winning Serie A while sucking its thumb in recent years, the Old Lady brought Ronaldo into the fold for €100m to win the Champions League. But after only scoring a single goal, and falling to a 2-0 away defeat in the first leg against Atlético Madrid, the return on investment seemed highly unlikely.
With the racing at Santa Anita Park suspended and the influential San Felipe Stakes (G2) canceled, Oaklawn Park’s Rebel Stakes (G2) March 16 emerged as California’s backup plan on the road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).
Atlantic City casinos enjoyed an overall double-digit gaming revenue gain in February, although there were more individual casino losers than winners.
On Wednesday, New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement revealed that Atlantic City’s nine casinos reported total brick-and-mortar slots and table game revenue of $196.7m in February, up 15.7% year-on-year and nearly $20m better than January’s result.
February’s slots revenue was up 12.4% to $139.5 while table games jumped by nearly one-quarter to a little over $57.1m.
February’s numbers look even gaudier when you include the nearly $3.9m the casinos earned from their sports betting operations and the $31.75m earned by their online casino and poker operations. All told, the casinos’ overall gaming revenue was up 21% to $232.3m.
A wagering expert believes the fixed-odds model could work for United States racing and, with a number of states welcoming sports wagering, the timing has never been better to pursue such a model.
Bereft a seven-figure horse like the two sold during the opener, the Ocala Breeders’ Sales March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale closed March 13 with solid trade.
New Jersey’s sportsbooks took in more than $320 million in February bets, generating strong monthly revenue despite a short month and a predictable post-Super Bowl lull. In all, New Jersey’s online and retail sportsbooks netted $12.7 million in revenue on $320.4 million in sports bets, down 16.8 percent from a record $385.3 million wagered in January.
The February handle works out to $46 per adult resident of New Jersey, significantly larger than any other legal sports jurisdiction, other than Nevada.
“Because of the strength of New Jersey’s online product, in-play betting during the Super Bowl was significantly stronger in New Jersey than in other legal markets,” said Dustin Gouker, lead sports betting analyst for PlayNJ.com. “In addition, New Jersey’s sportsbooks saw significant action on other sports, particularly on college basketball and the NBA. It adds up to another very good month for New Jersey even after a somewhat disappointing Super Bowl handle.”
New Jersey’s online sportsbook brands accounted for $258.9 million, or 80.8 percent, of total bets in January, according to official reporting. The state’s retail sportsbooks made up the remaining 20.2 percent. That compares to 79.2 percent of total bets flowing through online sportsbooks in January.
“New Jersey’s sports betting market is less driven by major events than in Nevada, and February’s numbers bear that out,” Gouker said. “The market’s consistency will eventually help New Jerseyovertake Nevada as the largest legal sports betting market in the U.S., which is now more a question of when rather than if.”
PlayNJ.com
FanDuel Sportsbook/Pointsbet overtook DraftKings Sportsbook as the state’s dominant online sportsbook with $6.6 million in February gross revenue, up from $5.9 million in January. DraftKings Sportsbook fueled Resorts’ $3.7 million in February online gross revenue, down 46 percent from $6.9 million in January.
FanDuel Sportsbook at The Meadowlands continues to dominate the retail market, posting $1.5 million in February gross revenue, up from $1.2 million in January. FanDuel was followed by Resorts AC’s $142,846.
“DraftKings and FanDuel show few signs of relinquishing their top spots,” Gouker said. “But with football now over, it will be interesting to see if a change in focus to college basketball and Major League Baseball alters the dynamic in the coming months.”
LEGAL ONLINE CASINOS
A month after crossing the $30 million threshold for monthly revenue for the first time, legal online gambling generated $31.8 million in February, up 44 percent from $21.99 million in February 2018. Though monthly revenue was down from a record $33.6 million in January, the industry generated $1.1 million per day in the 28 days of February, even with the 31 days in January.
“New Jersey’s online casinos are among the biggest beneficiaries of legalized sports betting,” said Steve Ruddock, lead online gambling analyst for PlayNJ.com. “Online casino revenue has grown by at least 25 percent in seven of the eight months since online sportsbooks made their first appearance in the Garden State. It would not be surprising if the industry hits $40 million in monthly revenue at some point before 2019 has ended.”
A bay colt from the first crop of classic winner Palace Malice was bought by Mike Ryan, agent, for $850,000 to become the second to sell at that price during the March 13 session of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.
A veritable “Who’s Who” of racing’s top older fillies and mares has converged upon Oaklawn Park, each vying for their next big score in the $350,000 Azeri Stakes (G2) March 16.
Eikleberry reached his milestone with his 6-year-old gelding Nevadan, who he co-owns with Robert Budoff, winning the second race March 12 at Turf Paradise.
A North Carolina man has won a second $1 million lottery prize at the same store in less than two years, lottery officials said Friday.Winner Stories, Scratch Games, North Carolina, Won multiple times
It was a season of records at Delta Downs in 2018-19 as new heights were reached in each of three horsemen’s categories during the 84-day meeting that wrapped up March 12.
Lancaster Bomber, the group 1-winning son of War Front, is to take up stud duty at Gaynor Rupert’s Drakenstein Stud in South Africa for the Southern Hemisphere breeding season.
New Jersey’s sports betting market took a dip in February, despite excitement over the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards.
Figures released Wednesday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) show the state’s licensed sports betting operators generated wagering handle of $320.4m in February, a significant decline from January’s record $385m, while betting revenue fell to $12.7m from January’s $18.8m.
It should be noted that February had three less days than January in which to wager, and the NBA was out of action for a week for its annual all-star break. But February got a boost from the Super Bowl, which generated $35m in handle, although the books lost a combined $4.6m on the event. February also saw nearly $748k wagered on the Academy Awards, from which betting operators claimed over $182k in revenue, a healthy 24.4% hold.
Online and mobile betting continued their dominance over retail wagering in February. Online handle came in at nearly $258.9m, just under 81% of the month’s overall betting, roughly the same percentage as January’s result.
It didn’t take long for fireworks to kick off the second session of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales’ March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, with a daughter from the first crop of The Big Beast selling for $850,000 March 13.
A bay colt from the first crop of classic winner Palace Malice was bought by Mike Ryan, agent, for $850,000 to become the second to sell at that price during the March 13 session of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.
On the day Oaklawn Park made racing history by splitting the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) into two divisions, the track also announced an additional $1 million will be available to the overnight purses for the third increase of the 2019 live season.
Thoroughbred owner-breeder Craig Bernick has served on many of horse racing’s boards but one thing he sees as lacking in the industry is a vision on how to improve the economics of horse racing.
Geldings imported into the United Kingdom within the first 12 months of the country leaving the European Union in a no-deal scenario would not be subject to tariffs, government advice published March 13 stated.
