Sports betting regulation Archives

March 25, 2024

More changes proposed to Georgia wagering bills; vote planned Wednesday

Georgia's House Higher Education Committee further kicked a package of sports betting bills down the road today (25 March) and still does not have consensus on how tax revenue would be spent.

On Wednesday (27 March) the committee will likely vote on whether or not to increase the tax rate in the package of bills from 20% to 25%, eliminate promotional deductions for operators and change where funding is directed as Georgia sports betting legislation continues to be a hot topic.

But multiple sources on the ground in Georgia aren’t hopeful that the online wagering package will pass through the general assembly with just three legislative days remaining.

House sponsor Marcus Wiedower said he would provide committee members with updated language that includes the tax increase, promotional deduction change and a new breakdown of how the funds would be spent, before that meeting.

Earlier versions of the proposals have been approved by the senate, and senate sponsor Bill Cowsert sa..

March 20, 2024

US Representative Tonko to file bill requiring federal approval for states to offer wagering

Yesterday (19 March), US Representative Paul Tonko announced that he plans to file a bill that will limit sports betting advertising, ban funding wagering accounts with credit cards and prohibit the use of the phrases “no sweat” or “bonus” in promotional advertising.

What he didn’t highlight is that the bill would also “establish a general prohibition on sports betting” and require states to get permission from the federal government in order to offer legal sports betting.

Since the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in May 2018, more than 35 US jurisdictions now offer some form of legal sports betting.

Tonko’s proposal would ultimately require US jurisdictions to get approval from the Department of Justice in order to offer sports betting, according to an outline of the proposed bill. Those wishing to offer sports betting would have to file an application with the US attorney general and prove that they meet a list of r..

March 14, 2024

Bally’s planning late Q2 sports betting launch in Massachusetts

Bruce Band, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC)'s director of sports betting, told the MGC on Thursday that Bally’s has plans to launch its Bally Bet platform by the end of Q2.

While Massachusetts consumers have lost two digital sports betting options in the last month, thanks to Bally’s entrance, customers could gain one more choice by the end of June 2024.

Bally’s was initially licensed in Massachusetts in 2023. However it did not launch last year, leading to the company renewing its $1m licence in January 2024. BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, ESPN Bet, Fanatics Sportsbook and FanDuel are currently live in Massachusetts, while Betr and WynnBet recently shut down their platforms.

On 5 March, Bally’s launched its igaming platform in Rhode Island, where it already has a monopoly on digital sports betting. That launch is significant as the company told the MGC last year that it would prioritise Rhode Island before turning its attention to the Bay State.

Bally’s ..

March 12, 2024

Georgia Senate sports betting bill gets first look in house

A statewide mobile sports betting bill got its first hearing in the Georgia house on Tuesday (12 March).

With just over two weeks remaining in the legislative session, and more than five weeks since the senate passed SB386, a statewide mobile sports betting bill got its first hearing in the Georgia house Tuesday.

There was no vote in the house’s Higher Education Committee, and there could be more discussion later this week, although the committee chairman said a vote is not imminent.

Several representatives from daily fantasy companies testified that they’d like their contests added to the bill while multiple representatives from faith-based and anti-gambling groups testified in opposition.

The bill would allow for 16 online sports betting licences, including eight that would be tethered to professional sports franchises or organisations in the state.

A further seven free-standing licences would be up for grabs with one licence earmarked for the Georgia Lottery, which would als..

March 7, 2024

IBIA report highlights role restrictions play in supporting unregulated market

A new report from the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has highlighted the effect overly-restrictive regulation has on driving players offshore.

The IBIA study, The Availability of Sports Betting Products: An Economic and Integrity Analysis, was prepared by H2 Gambling Capital and developed in partnership with betting assoications in Brazil, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands. It used data from 12 markets where sports betting is regulated.

The research analysed the effects that restrictive and liberal regulated regimes have on player habits. These centred around consumer protection, regulatory oversight, sports integrity and taxation.

The report found a strong correlation between the availability of sports betting products and the proportion of consumers wagering with onshore regulated operators. In markets where players faced few restrictions, the channelisation towards the legal market stood at 90% or more.

Rather than preventing consumers from betting, Kh..

March 5, 2024

LaLiga clamps down on “nefarious” betting behaviour with US Integrity link

LaLiga has announced a new partnership with sports wagering monitor US Integrity as it looks to cement its “preservation of integrity in sport”.

The deal will provide LaLiga with the services of ProhiBet, the prohibited betting solution launched in February 2023. ProhiBet is a joint venture between US Integrity and Odds On Compliance.

US Integrity offers wagering monitoring services to sporting stakeholders, analysing datasets to identify suspicious betting behaviour. Odds On Compliance, meanwhile, is a compliance technology and consultation firm in sports betting and gaming.

LaLiga will benefit from analytical insights that will aim to ensure Spain’s top two football leagues are played in a fair manner. Suspicious betting activity will be detected with “nefarious” behaviour acted upon thanks to monitoring alerts.

Javier Tebas, LaLiga’s president, said: “This partnership with US Integrity represents a significant milestone in our efforts to safeguard integrity and transparency in p..

March 5, 2024

AI roots out 73% of suspicious matches in Sportradar’s 2023 Integrity Report

Sportradar’s annual Integrity Report revealed it had detected 1,329 suspicious matches during 2023, with AI helping to uncover nearly three quarters of all questionable activity.

Sportradar monitored close to 850,000 events during 2023 – spanning 70 sports, with a total of 1,329 suspicious events occurring across 11 of those sports.

Despite the rise in the number of detections, the actual rate of suspected manipulation remained stable at 0.21% when taking Sportradar’s enhanced artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities into account. The 1-in-467 manipulation rate was almost level with the 1-in-473 events total from 2022.

Overall, 99.5% of events had no suspicious betting take place, while no sport had a suspicious match ratio higher than 1%. Both of those statistics were the same as last year.

As per Sportradar’s expectations, football and basketball led the way for detections with 880 and 205 suspicious matches respectively. Table tennis was third with 70.

Sportradar’s integrity w..

March 1, 2024

North Carolina issues eight online sports betting licences ahead of launch

With less than two weeks to go until online sports betting goes live in the state, the North Carolina State Lottery Commission has awarded eight interactive sports wagering licences to operators.

Sports betting will launch in North Carolina on 11 March. This is after the state’s governor, Roy Cooper, signed House Bill 347 into law last year.

Among the approved licensees are heavy-hitters such as FanDuel and DraftKings. Fanatics, Bet365, BetMGM, ESPN Bet and Underdog are also set to launch in the state.

Operators who sought approval to offer sports betting in the state had to partner with a sports team, league or venue within North Carolina. That led to a flurry of deals as operators looked to secure entry into the state.

For instance, DraftKings partnered with stock-car racing series Nascar, while BetMGM teamed up with the Charlotte Motor Speedway in the state. ESPN Bet gained entry to North Carolina by signing a major PGA Tour deal to become the official betting operators of the W..

February 28, 2024

Georgia moves closer to sports betting after bill passes senate

Georgia looks set to have a referendum on whether to legalise sports betting after a bill successfully passed through the state’s senate.

Senate Resolution 579, which seeks to approve sports betting in Georgia, passed by 41 to 12. This was easily enough to meet the two-thirds majority needed to amend the state’s constitution through a referendum.

SR579 is led by Senator Bill Cowsert, who submitted the ultimately unsuccessful Senate Bill 172 in 2023. In a largely unchanged form, though, SR579 looks more likely to end up passing.

Earlier in February, Senator Clint Dixon’s Senate Bill 386 was adopted after passing with a vote of 35-15. Enabling legislation SB386 looked to establish a framework of regulation in the state and was amended so that the support of 38 senators was needed to pass.

Cowsert’s proposals would see 80% of tax revenue attributed to the lottery’s education fund. Some 15% would go to public education on problem gambling, while 5% would be given to the Sports Promotio..

February 27, 2024

Netherlands regulator KSA presents 2024 supervisory agenda

The Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the gambling regulator in the Netherlands, has presented its supervisory agenda for 2024, citing four areas of focus.

Looking to achieve its mission of “safe gaming”, the KSA says it will increase its protection of vulnerable players in the Netherlands by looking to prevent addiction. The country took measures to do this in 2023, including the introduction of a ban on most forms of advertising.

The KSA is also looking to combat illegal online offerings, aiming for at least 90% of players to gamble with legal providers in the Netherlands. In a December article for iGB, Yield Sec chief executive Ismail Vali noted how the KSA’s current approach appeared to lack clear success in actual enforcement terms.

The KSA is vowing to further support partners, including the police and tax authorities, on investigations in the physical domain. The regulator hopes this will lead to less “undermining” between different organisations.

The KSA’s final area of emphasis is..

February 26, 2024

Affordability checks: Everything you need to know

With parliament to debate the introduction of affordability checks today (26 February), here’s everything you need to know about the proposals so far.

The long-awaited release of the Gambling Act white paper in April was the most transformative review of UK gambling in 18 years. It marked a key landmark in how the market will be regulated in the future – with affordability checks a key part of that discussion.

The government has already introduced some measures, such as the establishment of stake limits for online slots. However, other resolutions are also being worked upon as the UK government and the Gambling Commission (GC) looks to ease concerns over gambling harms in the country.

The strongest industry response to these proposals has been towards the potential implementation of affordability checks. They have met fierce opposition from operators and trade bodies.

With parliament set to debate financial checks this week, let’s take a look at how we got here.

White paper’s rele..

February 26, 2024

Ohio bans player prop bets on NCAA games

The Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) has banned player prop bets on college sports after granting a request from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

The OCCC’s decision came after NCAA president Charlie Baker sent a letter to the commission’s executive director Matt Schuler, requesting a ban to be implemented on player-specific prop wagers for its games. The letter was also endorsed by Ohio’s governor, Mike DeWine.

Bettors will no longer be able to wager on markets such as a quarterback’s passing yards or a basketball player’s points for NCAA games. Operators have until 1 March to introduce the restrictions.

In the OCCC’s announcement, the commission stated it would become the 25th state to either prohibit or limit player-specific prop bets on NCAA contests. The ban’s aim is to protect NCAA athletes against potential harassment from bettors, as well as curb match fixing.

Ohio only launched legal sports betting in January 2023. In July, the state passed a law t..

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Tag: Sports betting regulation