The legal sports betting market posted record numbers in the U.S. following the start of the 2021 NFL season. 

Beginning with Thursday’s game between the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers through Sunday’s action, 58.2 million online sports betting transactions took place in the U.S., a 126% increase year-over-year, according to GeoComply.

“It’s probably going to be one of our biggest weekends ever,” DraftKings sportsbook director Johnny Avello told ESPN. 

Sportsbooks in 18 states and the District of Columbia benefited from the record-setting stretch. 

• New Jersey reported the highest volume of transactions (12.5 million) of the 18 states.
• Arizona saw more than 271,000 new accounts combine for more than 6.1 million transactions. 
• Nevada’s sports betting handle experienced a 20% increase year-over-year for the four days. 

The NFL has deals with seven sportsbook operators. 

The league’s agreements with Caesars, DraftKings, and FanDuel are worth close to $1 billion combined, and each spans five years. Last month, the NFL also secured deals with FOX Bet, BetMGM, PointsBet, and WynnBet. 

Pro football isn’t the only lucrative market for sportsbooks. 

Nevada saw its sportsbooks take in 50% more college football action on the Saturday before Labor Day compared to the same period in 2019, according to Jeff Stoneback, director of BetMGM sportsbooks in the state.

Private equity firm KKR & Co. announced on Monday it is selling off its entire stake in Academy Sports — 18.65 million shares.

Its stake in the Texas-based sporting goods retailer is valued at $852.85 million as of market close on Friday. 

KKR acquired its 20% of Academy Sports in 2011 for an undisclosed amount and has since been the retailer’s largest shareholder.

Despite the news, Academy Sports shows no signs of slowing down.

• The company secured a multiyear partnership with the Big 12 Conference in 2020.
• It raised $203 million during its IPO last October, valuing the retailer at $1.1 billion.
• The company agreed to sponsorship deals in July with Texas athletics and Austin FC.
• It operates 259 stores across the U.S. and plans to open more than 800 total.

Academy Sports generated record revenue of $1.79 billion in Q2 2021, an 11% increase year-over-year. The retailer benefited from increased demand for outdoor and at-home fitness products during the global pandemic. 

As a result of the record-setting quarter, Academy Sports raised its full-year revenue guidance to between $6.46 billion and $6.62 billion. It intends to purchase up to $200 million of the shares KKR will be offering.

The Epic Games v. Apple saga might get a sequel: Epic has filed an appeal in the Ninth Circuit to Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers’ ruling on Friday.

While the judge ruled that Apple engaged in anticompetitive behavior and must allow app developers to direct users to external stores and payment systems, the decision left much to be desired for Epic.

• Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Epic must pay damages to Apple equaling $3.65 million for 30% of revenue from Epic’s Direct Payment system on “Fortnite” for August to October 2020 — plus that same rate for Nov. 1 to Sept. 10.
• Apple was not required to restore “Fortnite” to the App Store. Apple removed the hit game after Epic created the alternate in-app payment method.
• Apple was not required to allow third-party app stores or lower its developer fees of 15% for companies with annual revenue under $1 million and 30% for everyone else.

Valued at $28.7 billion after a $1 billion funding round in April, Epic earned around $2.8 billion from “Fortnite” in 2020, and $828 million from all other sources.

While Gonzalez Rogers ruled that she could not make a determination whether or not Apple holds a monopoly in the $100 billion mobile gaming marketplace, she noted that Epic did not focus on that question.

An appeal could hone in on the mobile gaming market specifically, as opposed to the entire mobile app marketplace.