Fox Corporation’s Fox Sports wrote a new chapter into US betting history at the weekend. It became America’s first bets media company by taking bets through FOX Bet, its first sportsbook, went live in New Jersey.
Canada’s theScore was the first North American media company to soft launch a sportsbook in the US. It did so in New Jersey last week, but it’s not yet fully
operational whereas FOX Bet already is.
You can go to it on foxbet.com, download a mobile app and begin betting on your smartphone right now. That is, of course, if you are 21 and older and situated within the state lines of New Jersey.
And what’s more, first-timers can do it with free money bonuses on offer on FOX Bet’s attractive home page.
Look out too for a second sports gaming product launch from Fox Bet. This will be a free-to-play game that awards cash prizes.
No need for FOX Bet to run beta tests
Unlike theScore and Bet365 who have been busy beta testing to get state approval to launch, FOX Bet have not needed to. That’s because it is not opening a totally new sportsbook requiring a test run.
It is already up and running because of a partnership between Fox Sports and The Stars Group (TSG). The deal was signed in May this year.
Fox paid $236 million for a 5% stake in TSG with an option. This was to gain up to 50% prior to the 10th anniversary of the deal.
Since it opened in mid-2018, BetStars has struggled to compete with sports fantasy giants FanDuel and DraftKings.
A key outcome of the new partnership was that BetStars would be rebranded as FOX Bet. They would run it in conjunction with a high profile Fox Sports, already a US giant of sports news and TV broadcasting.
FOX Bet is powered by TSG’s tried, tested and approved technology and is already operational in New Jersey.
In the longer term, FOX Bet will also operate in other states where TSG gains access – and they could be plentiful. A recent 20-year deal TSG signed with Penn National Gaming could see to that.
Penn deal will give FOX Bet eight more states
In terms of the deal, Penn National casinos will provide legal sportsbook skins to TSG in eight US states. They are Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio and Texas – and that’s just for starters.
In the meantime, FOX Bet has been readying itself to open a second sportsbook in Pennsylvania. The date of its launch rests on licensing and state approval, but it is expected to be in the near future.
Here it will not offer poker and the state’s sky-high sports betting tax of 36% will have an impact on its pricing and promotions.
Otherwise, it’s betting platform should be very similar to New Jersey’s
There, meanwhile, all existing BetStars account holders’ logins and passwords will give them immediate access these accounts on FOXBet.
If you are a PokerStars gamer, the same thing will apply in New Jersey. However, on FOX Bet, poker will get far less prominence than sports betting.
This is clearly for two reasons. One is that FOX Bet would rather be associated with sports betting than other forms of online gambling. Secondly, PokerStars is so well established as a major US poker brand it doesn’t need or want re-branding.