Online sports betting – Page 3

October 31, 2024

Bettor who stood to win $1 million in Jontay Porter betting scam pleads guilty

On Wednesday (30 October) Mahmud Mollah became the third person in the Jontay Porter sports betting scandal to plead guilty to wire fraud conspiracy.

Mollah is the gambler who placed bets that would have won $1 million (£776,609/€920,850) on the performance of then two-way NBA player Jontay Porter. Porter, who was playing for the Toronto Raptors on a 10-day contract, removed himself early from games on 26 January and 20 March so he and the gamblers could win “under” bets.

Earlier this month, NBA betting partners, including BetMGM, DraftKings and FanDuel, announced they would stop taking bets on the league’s lowest-paid players, according to The Athletic. No “under” bets will be available on two-way players or players on 10-day contracts. Porter was set to earn $56,000 from his short-term contract with the Raptors and the NBA believes these players are most at risk for being corrupted by bettors.

Mollah pleaded in the the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Port..

October 31, 2024

US September round-up: Sports betting in Colorado, New Hampshire and Rhode Island

Analysing some of the latest monthly sports betting reports in the US, iGB takes a look at how Colorado, New Hampshire and Rhode Island performed in September.

Colorado scores year-on-year growth in September

Starting in Colorado, the Colorado Department of Revenue this week reported total handle across online and retail in September hit $562.9 million (£433.0 million/€518.5 million). This beats last year by 9.8% and also surpasses August’s total by 51.2%, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue.

Of all wagers placed during September, $558.1 million was online and $4.8 million at retail sportsbooks.

Betting volume was helped by the start of the NFL season. Some $173.1 million was bet on American professional football in September, far more than any other sport. Baseball betting topped $69.0 million and college football $42.3 million.

Gross gaming revenue for September was $55.1 million, up 21.6% from last year and 66.0% more than August. Online contributed $54.6 million to..

October 30, 2024

Sweepstakes aren’t “clear cut” and that’s a problem, AGA executive says

Chris Cylke just wants clarity. As the American Gaming Association (AGA) joined Indian Country in a discussion of how to handle an unregulated, untaxed form of gambling, the key is understanding where it sits in a legal sense, he said.

Cylke, the AGA’s SVP for government relations, joined Indian Gaming Association (IGA) conference chair Victor Rocha and IGA executive director Jason Giles on Wednesday (30 October) in another unique moment in the short history of legal sports betting in the US. Rocha is hosting a five-part educational series on what sweepstakes are and how the regulated industry can fight their proliferation.

“If sweepstakes gaming were as clear cut as those involved with it are saying, we probably would be doing it,” Cylke said AGA members have told him. “But it’s not worth putting (their) gaming licences at risk.”

Yes, sweepstakes have a politics problem

Cylke called the status of sweepstakes “murky.” And Giles said it falls into the category of other currently o..

October 30, 2024

Arizona: Sports betting revenue and handle rise in August

Sports betting revenue and handle in Arizona increased year-on-year during August, while the state also saw player spending reach its highest monthly total since May.

Total handle for August hit $496.6 million (£382.8 million/€458.4 million). This is 38.4% ahead of last year and also 21.1% above the amount bet in Arizona in July this year.

Some $473.8 million was spent betting on online, while a further $22.8 million was bet at retail sportsbooks across the state.

Data from the Arizona Department of Gaming (ADoG) also shows adjusted gross revenue for August topped $37.3 million. This beats last year by 17.7% but falls 12.2% short of July.

After deducting $14.9m worth of free bets and promotional credits, adjusted gross revenue (AGR) hit $22.4 million. This surpasses last year’s total by 4.7% but is 22.8% behind July this year.

Online betting accounted for $22.2 million of all AGR after deducting free bets. The remaining $210,108 came from wagering at retail sportsbooks in Arizona…

October 29, 2024

Jontay Porter effect could be just the beginning of banning bets

Major sportsbooks have done away with certain NBA player props and the potential ramifications go far beyond that.

Jontay Porter is unlikely to ever take the court for an NBA team again.

Still, this player with a career average of 11.2 minutes per game is a central figure in one of the league’s biggest storylines of the new season.

A number of national sportsbooks such as BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, ESPN Bet and FanDuel won’t be posting NBA player prop unders for those on 10-day or two-way contracts. The rationale? These players have less financial security than those under contract for the season. Because of that they could be enticed to purposely tank their performances.

Call this the Jontay Porter effect.

Porter did exactly this – exiting games early due to supposed injury or illness, ensuring under bets on his props would win – a season ago as a member of the Toronto Raptors. This scheme led him to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was also banned for life f..

October 29, 2024

Plenty of support for Missouri legal wagering initiative, but fate unclear

While Caesars has backed down on its “no” on Amendment 2 contributions in Missouri, on 24 October FanDuel added another $4.6 million in support of the legal sports betting initiative.

FanDuel’s latest deposit brings the total contributions to the “Winning for Missouri Education” campaign to $40.7 million (£31.2 million/€37.6 million), according to Missouri Ethics Commission records. That total alone would make the campaign the priciest in Missouri history. Before deciding to “focus our efforts on grassroots outreach and community conversations” and pulling $1 million worth of scheduled television advertising earlier this month, Caesars had funded the “no” campaign with more than $14 million.

The two biggest newspapers in Missouri have endorsed Amendment 2. But the Kansas City Star editorial board did so “with some hesitation” on 10 October. In an editorial, the newspaper outlined concerns about addiction.

Whether or not the initiative will pass is unclear. The most recent polling..

October 29, 2024

Summer of sport fails to halt betting activity decline in Belgium

Fewer consumers in Belgium were active online and betting on this summer’s UEFA Euro 2024 national football team tournament than during the 2022 Fifa World Cup, according to new data from the country’s gambling regulator Kansspelcommissie.

Published this week, the ‘Summer of Sports 2024’ report details players’ betting activity throughout this summer. This period includes major events such as Euro 2024 and the Olympic Games in Paris, France.

Kansspelcommissie released figure for new players, with the average number of new online users during Euro 2024 at 1,031. This is lower than both the 2022 World Cup (1,487) and Euro 2020 (1,175). New online accounts fell from the 3,961 daily average at the 2022 World Cup to 3,298 this year. However, this did surpass the 3,022 daily average during Euro 2020.

Euro 2024 fails to match betting heights of World Cup 2022

Stand-out findings include a decline in the average number of online players active per day during Euro 2024. This stood at 196,95..

October 28, 2024

West Flagler stands down in Florida and announces partnership with Seminoles

After multiple years of legal challenges, Florida's Seminole tribe announced a new partnership with West Flagler and Associates on Monday (28 October) to promote jai alai on the tribe's Hard Rock Bet app.

The announcement came four months after the US Supreme Court declined to hear the West Flagler case against the US Department of Justice (DoJ). That decision allowed an appellate court decision to stand. At its heart, the ruling made it legal for the Seminoles to offer digital sports betting anywhere within Florida.

West Flagler and the Seminoles agreed to “refrain from engaging in any future litigation with respect to the Seminole tribe’s gaming operations”, according to a release. The announcement is a stunning reversal for the two sides. West Flagler, owners of two Florida pari-mutuels, spent three years and untold dollars in federal and state court battles in an attempt to declare the 2021 Seminole-Florida compact invalid.

“As I said when this litigation first star..

October 28, 2024

EasyJet founder launches EasyBet online betting brand

EasyGroup, the conglomerate that counts budget airline EasyJet among its businesses, has announced the launch of new online sports betting brand EasyBet.

Developed in partnership with betting exchange Matchbook, the EasyBet.net website is now live and taking bets on a range of sports. Customers have access to various markets and bet types across a betting exchange model.

EasyBet.net is accessible in the UK but it is not clear where exactly the brand will be active. It is licenced by both the Great Britain Gambling Commission and Alderney Gambling Control Commission.

The launch comes after EasyGroup historically pursued several brand infringement cases around the ‘Easy’ brand. This includes taking action over websites EasyBet.com and South Africa-facing EasyBet.co.za.

By launching its official brand, EasyGroup said this will assure customers it is a legitimate member of the ‘Easy’ family.

This venture marks the first time an ‘Easy’ brand has entered the sports betting industry. Ho..

October 25, 2024

State of the Union: VA Tech player dismissed, Holt out at IC360, more

Welcome to iGB's State of the Union, a look at the biggest North American sports betting stories we've covered over the week and briefs on others we found interesting.

VA Tech drops player over Temple betting probe

Temple transfer Hysier Miller has been dismissed from the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team amid a sports betting investigation of Temple, Sports Illustrated reported on 23 October. Last spring, Temple’s game against UAB was flagged for “suspicious activity” by US Integrity. The line for the game opened with UAB as a 1.5-point favourite, but moved to as high as eight. Miller scored eight points and committed three turnovers. His season average was 16 points per game.

That game was the second in which Temple did not cover a point spread – UAB won, 100-72. Despite having a losing regular season, Temple advanced to the ACC championship game and Miller averaged 27.8 points per game during the conference tournament. He announced he was entering the transfer portal ..

October 24, 2024

Sporttrade goes live in Virginia

Wagering platform Sporttrade, one of a handful of independently owned small digital sports betting sites, launched in its second state in two months on Thursday (24 October).

Sporttrade went live in Virginia this morning, marking the fifth state in which it is available. The platform launched in Arizona in September and is also live in Colorado, Iowa and New Jersey. Its first launch was in New Jersey in 2022.

The platform is the 16th available to bettors in Virginia where digital sports betting went live in January 2021.

Headquartered in Philadelphia, Sporttrade refers to itself as a “differentiated experience”. The platform offers traditional sports betting and, in some states, exchange wagering. Where that model is available, bettors can buy and sell bets throughout a game, as a trader would when buying and selling stocks.

Founder Alex Kane has shepherded his company through myriad changes since the first launch in New Jersey. He ultimately opted to offer a more traditional e..

October 23, 2024

Latest bill calls for online betting ban in Brazil

A bill to ban online sports betting in Brazil has been proposed by senator Sérgio Petecão on concerns that betting impacts mental health and drives financial debt.

Bill 4.031/2024 was put to the senate on 21 October. It is the latest in a series of initiatives by politicians to restrict online betting in Brazil, months before the licensed market is scheduled to open on 1 January 2025.

Preparations to award licences are in motion but various senators and public figures have expressed concern. Key issues are the impact that online betting can have on vulnerable groups including the elderly and those receiving social benefits.

Concern stems from a controversial study that claimed regular bettors have sacrificed money meant for food and medicine to wager. Despite its small sample size (1,337 consumers polled) and controversial findings, the study received significant media coverage.

Industry awaiting President Lula betting update

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is expected to..

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Tag: Online sports betting