Weekly News Desk
Here are some stories you may have missed from another whirlwind week
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Happy July 4th, and Now on to the News Desk!
Garden State Story. Working against a July 1 budget deadline, the New Jersey State Legislature passed a sweeping law (pun intended) that bans sweepstakes gaming in the state. The measure now awaits a signature from the Governor.
Why does it matter. This story matters for a few reasons. First, because gaming is mostly regulated at the state level, when one state adopts a new policy, other often follow. Second, sweepstakes are often used as work-arounds to avoid some of the measures that govern more traditional sportsbooks. These platforms are often operated from abroad, occupying a legal and regulatory gray area. Practically speaking though, people can still lose real money on these sites. It will be interesting to see if other states follow suit and how the sweepstakes operators respond.
More Legal News. California’s Attorney General is reportedly considering a ban on Daily Fantasy Sports sites in the Golden State. In response to that news fantasy sports site Underdog sued the State of California asking a judge to prevent the AG from releasing the opinion. They are asking for a temporary restraining order of sorts saying the AG lacks the authority to issue the ban (a ban that has yet to be issued, mind you).
Why does it matter. More traditional state-regulated sports gambling is not legal in California so for state residents who want to wager on sports in some fashion, Daily Fantasy Sports is one of their options. While it seems unlikely that regulated sports gambling will be approved or even seriously debated in California this year, it is a tremendously large market for sites like Draft Kings and Fan Duel, along with Tribal interests. On top of all of that similar legal battles are unfolding in other states, so this may show a path for other court cases being argued. This will be an interesting story to watch.
Kalshi Korner. I feel like it’s been a week or two since I’ve written about Kalshi here. So lest you feel like you are missing some news on this beat, Kalshi added college football markets this week.
Why does it matter. College students are being paid now by their universities. They are also making NIL money. The NCAA is about to change its rules to allow athletes to bet on sports. Oh, and there is a new enforcement organization in charge and no one really knows yet how they interpret or enforce the rules or what any punishments might look like. It’s obviously a cliche, but college sports are the Wild West right now and everyone is going to be pushing the envelope to see what they can get away with. So even if the new relaxed rules around athletes gambling prohibits gambling on your own sport, does Kalshi count? Depending on the time of day you ask Kalshi they may or may not consider themselves gambling. So could a college football player “trade” college football markets on Kalshi? I guess we’ll find out.
Integrity Monitor. Several outlets including ESPN and the Detroit News broke news this week about an FBI investigation into Pistons guard Malik Beasley (and perhaps others). The Feds are reportedly investigating potential wire fraud related to gambling and prop bets.
Why does it matter. Typically people don’t think professional athletes will get caught up in gambling rings. The logic goes pro jocks make so much money from their contracts they won’t get entangled in a betting scandal. Well that logic holds until you realize that sometimes even highly paid athlete still make poor financial decisions and lose it all some way or another. And so now the NBA has another integrity scandal on its hands. Even if Beasley never gets charged with a crime, or is exonerated, there is certainly damage from each story that comes out about this. It makes it more likely for fans to believe that threats to integrity are a possibility, which in turn creates an opportunity for foreign adversaries, if they chose to, to exploit and undermine public confidence in fair play—just as they have in the political arena.