The Early Line: Kalshi Adds Trump Jr. As Advisor
TCL offers a roundup of recent US gambling news called The Early Line every Monday.
Kalshi appoints Trump Jr. as advisor | The prediction market platform is bringing on Donald Trump’s son as a “strategic advisor.” Here’s more from the Wall Street Journal (paywall), which had it first; more at CNBC here. Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour wrote about it on LinkedIn: “Don's bold approach to business and his deep understanding of market dynamics perfectly align with Kalshi's mission to redefine how America engages with information. His guidance will help accelerate our aggressive expansion and push prediction markets into the mainstream.”
Reading the line: If you needed a sign about how the incoming administration might handle prediction markets, here’s one in flashing neon lights. The nascent industry cropped up (anew) as a legal offering in the US after an ongoing court case allowed Kalshi to go live again before the election. The future of prediction markets as a legal offering depends largely on the friendliness of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. I am not sure you can get a better signal that the CFTC under Trump will not try to hinder Kalshi moving forward.
It will be interesting to see if this leads to taking the lid off of sports prediction markets at Kalshi et al as well. The following was published by Regulus Partners right before the Trump/Kalshi news, which has likely changed the calculus. We already have sports prediction markets at Crypto.com, of course. “We struggle with the idea that a Trump White House and a Republican Congress will let investing to become sports betting by another name just because the first operator has ‘crypto’ in the title – and Trump likes crypto. If CFDs can offer sports, then the states have just lost their right to regulate and tax sports betting. This outcome does not suit any major vested stakeholder; nor does it provide a working legal-regulatory environment, in our view. We believe the Federal government will have to step in to define betting more precisely potentially by amending the Wire Act (which leaves wagering undefined).”
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Another person charged in Jontay Porter scandal | More from the New York Times here. “Sunday, police arrested Shane Hennen at the Las Vegas airport, according to the spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. Federal prosecutors say that Hennen was part of a conspiracy to defraud an unnamed sports betting company, and Hennen will be charged in the Eastern District with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.”
Reading the line: The biggest scandal of the expanded US sports betting era doesn’t seem to want to go away. Porter was supposed to be sentenced in December, but that was delayed until May. It’s not great for the industry (or the NBA) that the story continues to hang around, but it is worth continuing to remind folks that we found out about Porter’s shenanigans because of the safeguards in the legal sports betting industry.
Gambling news today
December is not looking good for most US sportsbooks from the early numbers (from me, paywall): “You can see this trend clearly showing up in New York. December hold clocked in at about 6.6% ($150 million revenue from just short of $2.3 billion in handle). That’s extremely low for the US sports betting industry in general. Hold was 10.2% in November in New York, and 9.2% last December.”
ESPN Bet gets Washington DC access (Monumental Sports PR): “Under the multi-channel agreement, and subject to regulatory approvals, PENN secures online market access for ESPN BET in Washington, D.C., and ESPN BET also becomes a sports betting partner of Monumental and its teams, including the Washington Capitals (NHL), Washington Wizards (NBA), and Washington Mystics (WNBA). ‘We are thrilled to join forces with PENN Entertainment and align with ESPN BET, a leading brand across the sports and entertainment landscape,’ said Jim Van Stone, President of Business Operations and Chief Commercial Officer at MSE. ‘This partnership furthers our collective commitment to offering fans unique, cutting-edge experiences that reflect the future of sports entertainment, with ESPN BET’s innovative platform adding a new layer of engagement for our fans, both inside and outside the arena.’“
FanDuel is donating $250,000 to help people impacted by the California fires (Flutter PR): “FanDuel and Flutter have been proud members of the Los Angeles business community for over two decades. We are heartbroken by the devastating loss these wildfires have created in a community we call home,” said Amy Howe, CEO of FanDuel. “We are committed to ensuring our employees are safe and making sure the community has the resources it needs to support the heroic efforts of our first responders.”
And here’s an effort from Fanatics, selling “LA Strong” merchandise (Twitter/X): “Fanatics, Leagues, and the participating sports organizations will not profit from the sale of the LA Strong merchandise and will make a donation directly to the American Red Cross and the LA Fire Department Foundation.”
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A New Jersey state senator criticizes the DraftKings-Delta partnership, which seems kind of silly since we don’t even know what it really will be (Insider NJ): “This new partnership between Delta Air Lines and DraftKings is deeply concerning and furthers the proliferation of gambling in everyday life,” said Senator McKeon (D-Essex/Passaic). “Online gambling and sports betting have become so normalized and pervasive that anyone can now drain their pockets anytime, anywhere, with just a click of a button. As a result, gambling addiction is surging at an alarming rate. Partnerships like these should worry us all.”
Some opposition of expanded Alabama gambling and sports betting (Sports Betting Dime). Sen. David Sessions: “It’s not a good way to fund government, and the economy turns bad again, and it will because those things cycle — it’s not a necessity, and if people are smart, they won’t be spending their power bill money on lottery tickets and gambling.”
PENN Entertainment launches its new Hollywood Casino app in Michigan (Penn PR): “This launch strengthens the Hollywood Casino brand in Michigan, where PENN operates Hollywood Casino at Greektown in downtown Detroit. The online Hollywood Casino offers omnichannel integrations with Greektown, including Hollywood Casino at Greektown branded live dealer blackjack tables and digital versions of slot titles available at the property.” The app first went live in Pennsylvania last month.
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