It’s information overload everywhere, and there’s not time enough to sleep and eat and stay fully apprised of what’s happening on this crazy blue dot of ours (two out of three ain’t bad). Here’s the weekend Sports Handle item, “Get a Grip,” recapping the week’s top U.S. sports betting headlines, highlighting some fresh news, and rounding up key stories.

Move over, TwinSpires, Fubo Sportsbook, Maxim Bet, and FOX Bet. Make room in the U.S. betting site graveyard for a new tombstone carrying the name of Unibet.

The European-based Kindred Group, which owns Unibet, essentially threw up its hands in surrender this week at the cost of competing in a North American sportsbook marketplace dominated by DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and a few others. It announced plans to shut down the Unibet platform in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Arizona, Indiana, and Virginia by mid-2024. Its resources are better devoted elsewhere around the globe, officials said.

That’s the kind of decision executives make when your brand can’t reach even a 1% share of the markets in which it operates, falling below the expectations of Kindred executives who quickly pushed Unibet into entry in major states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania once they became legal. Of course, there are more than a few other operators with similarly minuscule handle/revenue numbers in multiple states, and it will be interesting to see if any follow in Unibet’s wake … and have their own wake.

At the same time, having one fewer competitor can work to the benefit of other sportsbooks, and those with big financial backing and name recognition like Fanatics Sportsbook are seeing this as a time for expansion rather than closure. It made a splash Friday with the announcement it will be the new online and retail sports betting partner of the Connecticut Lottery. In that state, it will need to compete only with the betting apps of FanDuel and DraftKings, and Fanatics hopes to improve upon the 15% market share that Rush Street Interactive was able to attain there before pulling out.

Sports Handle’s veteran staff and affiliated sites excel in lending context to all of these ups and downs in the industry, as well as covering the breaking news itself, as the stories linked below from the past week show. And for additional gaming industry news, be sure to check out US Bets, including its weekly Double Down recap column and Gamble On podcast.

For better (and worse), some sportsbooks turn to dynamic pricing for teasers

Coalition of California tribes sounds off against commercial betting proposal

Massachusetts allows DraftKings to void wagers, but at a cost

North Carolina mobile wagering launch to come after Super Bowl

No rush for Maryland mobile betting licensees to launch

LVS interest in purchasing Mavs stake may boost chances for Texas gambling expansion

Alabama gambling expansion efforts expected to include House in 2024

From hell to help: A retired military man’s battle to overcome gambling addiction

U.S. internet casino gaming revenue tops $5 billion for 2023

LeBron James’ business manager admits to betting with illegal bookie

“Bookie,” a new series on Max, is a losing bet

Nevada sportsbook surpass $2 billion in post-PASPA revenue

New York mobile sports betting handle tops $500 million again

DraftKings, FanDuel a hair apart in Ohio sports betting activity

Most Michigan mobile sportsbooks ramp up promotional spend in fall

Virginia sportsbooks claim $64 million in record-setting October

The new ESPN BET has become part of a major sports partnership deal weeks after launching, with PENN Entertainment announcing this week it reached a marketing deal with the NHL benefiting both that sportsbook and its theScore Bet brand in Ontario. The sportsbooks will be “official betting partners” of the league.

PENN and the NHL said ESPN BET and theScore Bet will have access to IP rights, media and marketing integrations across league programming, and premium NHL experiences. Those benefits will cover both the regular season and Stanley Cup playoffs.

“Becoming an official partner allows to more broadly engage hockey fans, develop compelling integrations, and uniquely leverage NHL programming,” said PENN Interactive Senior Vice President Aubrey Levy.

The California attorney general is joining a long line of officials in multiple states weighing in on the legality of fantasy sports platforms across the nation. Fantasy is currently not regulated in California, but the attorney general’s office is entertaining this question:

Does California law prohibit the offering and operation of daily fantasy sports betting platforms with players physically located within the State of California, regardless of whether the operators and associated technology are located within or outside of the State?

The inquiry does not appear to differentiate between traditional fantasy sports and pick’em-style contests, which have been banned in Michigan and New York and are under fire in several other states. California Sen. Scott Wilk submitted the question, which is being considered by assistant AG Karim Kentfield. The opinion won’t change the current status of DFS in California, but it could set the stage for future changes. There is no deadline posted for when the opinion must be complete.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt in early November proposed a sports betting framework that would allow for in-person betting at the state’s tribal casinos as well as digital wagering provided by “sportsbooks approved by the state.” The proposal met immediate resistance from tribes, and Matt Morgan, chairman of the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association, said Wednesday that while his state still has a chance to be a first mover in comparison to neighboring Texas, tribes will fight to maintain their monopoly.

“We’re not going to do anything that blows up the compact and we’re not going to do anything against our economic interest,” Morgan said during Victor Rocha’s “The New Normal” webinar. “We’re the ones that take on all the risk and make all the money here. It has to work in our benefit as well and we need to be at the table.”

Stitt has a fractured relationship with the state’s tribes, and Morgan thinks it is time to mend that and join neighboring states Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, and New Mexico in offering legal sports betting. Morgan said that since the tribes compacted with the state in 2004 for casino gambling, they have paid it $2.2 billion in exclusivity fees.

“Our membership would like to focus on what makes economic sense on both sides of the table and can we move forward,” Morgan said.

— Sebastian Maniscalco (@SebastianComedy) November 30, 2023

OUT OF THE GATE FAST: Analyst: ESPN BET launch “exceptional” [CDC Gaming Reports]

TOP OF THE WORLD TO YA: America may be closing in on “peak sports” [JohnWallStreet]

THINGS CAN BE DEPRESSING IN IOWA: Iowa’s casino and sports betting drops [Quad-City Times]

THAT WAS QUITE AN EVENT: Las Vegas Grand Prix shatters betting records at sportsbooks [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

— MYVEGAS Magazine (@MYVEGASMagazine) November 20, 2023

FORGET THE FOOD, LET’S BET: Sportsbook is coming to the former buffet space at Golden Nugget Casino Biloxi [Sun Herald]

GOOD TIMES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE: New Hampshire sports betting handle hits seven-month high in October [iGaming Business]

AND DEADWOOD’S ALIVE WITH SPORTS BETTORS: Deadwood sports betting has its first million-dollar month [South Dakota Searchlight]

HE HOPES TO UNDO WHAT THEY JUST DID: State legislator wants to slash Ohio’s tax rate on sports betting operators [Cleveland.com]