Playing it safe

BetMGM won’t be a first-mover in prediction markets, says CEO

The edit

Discretion is the better part of valor: Adam Greenblatt, CEO at BetMGM, said the company would not endanger its relationships with regulators and tribal entities by rushing into the prediction market space.

• “We have the ability, we do not have the desire, to be a first mover,” he told analysts listening in to the company’s Q2 earnings call.

• “Our state regulators have been very clear and our tribal partners have been very clear,” he added.

• “They do not believe prediction markets should offer sports contracts and that would argue that it is sports betting.”

• He was speaking after the company reaffirmed the good news from its recent Q2 update and upped its guidance for the year once more, saying it was making more money from fewer players.

• “Philosophically, we are focused primarily on demonstrable and certain ROI,” Greenblatt said “We are finding people better and better. Frankly, we’re being helped by the sophistication of our marketing system.”

• CFO Gary Deutsch added that BetMGM has “higher-staking players that like what they like.”

• In response to the rising tax in Illinois, Greenblatt promised that unlike rivals DraftKings and FanDuel, BetMGM was a “surcharge-free zone… for now.”

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