Twice weekly, we’ll comb through as many articles, tweets and podcasts as we can find related to the world of sports betting and daily fantasy sports, and publish the good stuff here.
Stumble upon something you think we should include? Email info@bettingtalk.com.
* * *
MGM is making a push to bring an NBA team to Las Vegas.
Talking to KNPR’s State of Nevada Wednesday, Murren said he is working on getting that done; he said it would not be an expansion team but an existing team. He would not say who the team or teams are that he is trying to lure to Las Vegas.
ESPN Chalk has started a three-part series on the future of sports betting. The first two parts have been published and Part 3 will be published today.
Legal Sports Report asked if the NFL would flip flop on its anti-sports betting stance if the ratings slump continues.
Fewer people are watching the games on television this season, as evidenced by noticeably lower ratings. Despite the fact that the NFL has said publicly it isn’t worried, rest assured its a source of considerable hand-wringing for the league, team owners and their television partners.
The question for those who would like to see legal sports betting in the US: Could the ratings dip lead to a change in how the league approaches wagering on its games?
An article published by TheStreet said the NFL ratings decline is just a blip in the radar, but the article also pointed out sports betting could improve ratings.
“The federal government ban on sports betting is failing miserably,” AGA President Geoff Freeman said in a statement. “Broadcasters and advertisers who desire highly engaged viewers would reap the benefits of shifting tens of millions of sports bettors from the $150 billion underground betting market to a legal, transparent environment.”
DraftKings and FanDuel settled for $6 million each in a New York false advertising lawsuit.
According to Schneiderman, FanDuel’s and DrafKings’ ads implied that all fantasy sports players, regardless of resources and experience, had the same chance of winning—and winning big. But in reality, just a small percentage of professional players with research, software, and large bankrolls won the majority of the jackpot.
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives approved gambling expansion legislation 108-71.
Legislation heading to the Pennsylvania Senate would allow casino-style gambling on the internet and in the state’s six international airports, and reinstate a mandate that casinos pay tens of millions of dollars to host communities.
The House passed the bill, 108-71, before it adjourned until Nov. 14. It also would regulate daily fantasy sports betting. The future of the bill is unclear in the Senate, which is adjourned until Nov. 16.
Panelists at a Las Vegas conference discussed whether or not gaming operators could prevent e-sports match fixing.
“With the regulated space we’re in, we’re quite confident with the games we offer … and that the integrity issues aren’t that really big,” said Moritz Maurer, whose company Genius Sports provides e-sports betting information products to European sports books, sports media and leagues.
“We also have visibility of the liquidity of the markets. Integrity in e-sports is a combined effort between the bookmakers, publishers and the players. I think a big part is education. I feel that many of players sometimes don’t understand the implications of their actions on a betting market.”