Kalshi is offering sports betting to anyone in the US that is 18 years old on a quasi-regulated basis. Will anyone in the media or elsewhere start getting mad about it or am I just shouting to myself? Media outlets love to get mad about regulated sports betting but treat prediction markets with kid gloves.
A few things I mentioned in the podcast:
President Donald Trump picked someone from Kalshi’s board to run the agency that oversees Kalshi and other prediction markets:
Steve Ruddock’s post related to this topic today:
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Gambling news roundup
The dark side of sports betting and its impact on NBA players: Death threats, racism and Venmo requests (New York Times): “After every game, when the duties of that night are complete and Jalen Brunson has a chance to unwind, he opens his phone to dozens and dozens of messages on social media.
It doesn’t matter if he scores 40 points or 20 points. It doesn’t matter if the New York Knicks win by 30 points, two points or lose. The bulk of the messages tend to be the same: They threaten him and his family, including his months-old daughter. They call him racial slurs. They demand money.”
I am not sure why athletes are leaving their social media open to these kind of messages and comments, let alone reading them. While betting has exacerbated the problem, social media platforms, leagues and athletes should be working together to mitigate this kind of communication rather than continuing to give it more oxygen.
Michigan Gaming Control Board issues cease-and-desist letters to nine unlicensed online casinos (MGCB release): The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) has taken swift action against nine online casinos, issuing cease-and-desist letters for violations of state gaming laws. The affected websites offer a range of casino-style games, such as slots, poker, blackjack, roulette, and craps, as well as betting services for sporting events and horse races.
The following operators have been issued cease-and-desist orders:
BetAnySports (BAS)
CoolCat Casino
Diamond Sportsbook International, d/b/a BetDSI.eu (BetDSI)
Solar Game LTD and Busan Trade Office (Go Go Gold)
My Dreams Casino
NonStop casino
Palace of Chance
Xbet Casino
WagerWeb
Michigan continues to lead the way in pushing back against offshore and otherwise unregulated gaming at the state level.
Mississippi Senate Votes To Ban Online Sweepstakes Casinos (Sports Betting Dime): “Online sweepstakes casinos may not have much time left in Mississippi. The Mississippi Senate became the first legislative body in the country to approve a bill to ban online sweepstakes casinos, forwarding SB 2510 by a 44-1 vote.”
It goes without saying that a bill banning sweepstakes passing in any state — especially with little pushback — would be a very poor outcome for the sweeps industry. Government affairs folks employed by the 100+ sweeps operators will try to earn their paychecks here.
Stake to cease UK operations amid Gambling Commission investigation (iGB): “The Gambling Commission made the announcement today (12 February) with TGP Europe Limited (TGP), which operates Stake in the UK on a white-label basis, stating they will shut the site down. The Gambling Commission has launched an investigation into a video distributed widely on social media that displayed Stake’s logo. The video featured an adult entertainment actress outside Nottingham Trent University.”
Stake is in the US with a sweepstakes site.
The Sweepstakes UA landscape is evolving (Substack): “We have analyzed over 23,000 ad impressions across 52 Sweepstakes advertisers on Meta and have documented every ad creative, tracking parameters, ad copies and destination urls over a 6 months period. The results in the last 30 days are indicating a major shift in the market:”
From a purely anecdotal standpoint, if I am scrolling on Facebook, every other post is an ad for a sweepstakes casino right now.
New York committee approves expanded props and other wagers (SBC Americas): “A New York Senate committee has approved a bill that expands legal prop betting in the state. Sen. Joseph Addabbo’s Senate Bill 2616 would amend state laws to legalize both in-game and season-long prop bets, coin toss wagers and bets on future team and individual winners such as MVP awards or the Heisman Trophy for best college football player.”
Texas Sports Betting Legislation Introduced In House (Legal Sports Report): “With the Texas sports betting conversations continuing to get louder, a new House bill was introduced this week. On Wednesday, Rep. Sam Harless introduced House Joint Resolution 134, which would amend the state constitution to legalize Texas sports betting. It would need to pass the House and Senate before going to a public vote in November.”
GRIT Act Reintroduced Using US Sports Betting Excise Tax Funds (Legal Sports Report): “A bill taking aim at gambling addiction tied to US sports betting has been reintroduced in Congress. Last week, Rep. Andrea Salinas and Sen. Richard Blumenthal introduced the Gambling Addiction Recovery, Investment and Treatment Act, or GRIT Act. The legislation would dedicate federal funds from US sports betting taxes to study, prevent and treat gambling addiction in the US.”
It would be great if we could get something like this to the finish line, at least from an optics standpoint. I understand the gaming industry wants the federal excise tax to go away, but a happy medium would be having that money go to something useful.
Getting federal legislation passed on gaming continues to be a longshot.
Gambling newsletter roundup
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