You Go Back, Jack, Do It Again
You Go Back, Jack, Do It Again
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is convening another meeting on sportsbooks practice of limiting players. But will any operators attend this time around?
The Bulletin Board
NEWS: The Massachusetts Gaming Commission will revisit the topic of limiting players during a June 20 meeting.
LOOSE ENDS: Alberta eyes Ontario Model; New York Senate passes gambling advertisement bill.
NEWS: Will Alabama call a special session to take another crack at legalizing casinos and a lottery?
VIEWS: Will FanDuel fare better than Bally’s with the naming rights to Diamond Sport’s Regional Sports Networks?
AROUND the WATERCOOLER: Online gambling markets: black, white, and 50 shades of gray.
STRAY THOUGHTS: US attorneys love their cute phrases.
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MGC to Sportsbooks: It’s Over When We Say It Is Over
Last month, the six operational sportsbooks in Massachusetts snubbed the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, sending written statements instead of representatives to a roundtable discussion on limiting customer accounts.
The no-show angered several commissioners, and if the sportsbooks thought the MGC would let bygones be bygones or discuss it privately, that doesn’t appear to be the case. The MGC isn’t dropping the matter — you can read my deep dive on the topic here.
“I want to note, and this is in the interest of full transparency, that FanDuel did reach out to me last Friday to set up a time to follow up on the roundtable that we conducted on limiting wagers last month,” MGC interim chair Jordan Maynard said on Monday. Maynard said the MGC plans to revisit the topic of limiting players on June 20.
Ahead of the meeting, and likely hoping to avoid repeating the May 21 roundtable discussion, Maynard called for operators to understand Massachusetts’ open meeting laws and the need to be “transparent and fully compliant.”
Prime Sports Joe Brennan Jr. and I discussed the tension building between operators and regulators in Massachusetts in a podcast episode that will be available to all on Saturday — Paid subscribers can access the episode now.
Loose Ends: Alberta Eyes Ontario Model; New York Senate Passes Gambling Advertisement Bill
Will Alberta copy the Ontario model?: Earlier this week, I covered news from Alberta that suggests the Canadian province may become the next regulated online gambling market. If Alberta joins Ontario, it will likely copy much of what its predecessor has done since legalizing it in 2022. “We are taking a look at the Ontario model and seeing how that would work in Alberta,” said Dale Nally, minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction. “We will make a decision after we have consulted with First Nations partners and once we’ve heard what Albertans have to say on this matter.”
New York legislature passes sports betting advertisement bill: The New York Senate has passed AB 1118, which “requires all advertisements for gambling and sports betting to include warnings about [the] potential harmful and addictive effects of gambling.” The Senate passed the bill in a 57-0 vote. The bill passed the Assembly in February 2023 (142-0) and now returns to the lower chamber for concurrence.
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A Special Session to Discuss Gambling in Alabama?
David Bronner, the chief executive of the Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA), is asking Gov. Kay Ivey to call a special session to give casino and lottery authorization a second chance.
The Alabama House and Senate significantly disagreed on how to legalize gambling and how far to go, leading to a conference committee. The resulting compromise would have authorized traditional lottery games, slot machines at select racetracks, and locations and allowed the governor to negotiate a compact with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.
The measure narrowly failed.
In the RSA’s monthly newsletter, Bronner wrote, “After the one-vote loss in the Senate, the most popular Alabama governor in my lifetime was asked about a Special Session, to which she replied, “Why would I do that?” Simply put, because you can accomplish it.”
Bronner then made his call to action:
“First, I am asking each member of the RSA to encourage Governor Ivey to continue to make Alabama a little better and get the essential funds to continue improving the state with a special session on gaming. Second, to thank each House and Senate member who voted for this new revenue. Third, to ask everyone who voted against new revenue how they plan to address the state’s problems without any new revenue in light of the recent tax cuts and loss of federal monies.”
FanDuel Taking Over Diamond Sports RSN from Bally’s?
The era of Bally Sports is coming to an end. The deal between Bally’s and Diamond Sports ends after the current MLB season. However, according to Bloomberg News, FanDuel is closing in on a deal with Diamond Sports to take over the naming rights to the group’s 18 regional sports networks.
According to Bloomberg News’s Christopher Palmeri:
“FanDuel, a division of Flutter Entertainment Plc, would resell Diamond’s streaming service to fans and take an equity stake in the company, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the deal hasn’t been announced publicly.”
Bally’s inked a deal with Sinclair Broadcast Group (Diamond Sports is a subsidiary of Sinclair) in 2020 as part of its first foray into the US sports betting space.
As I previously wrote about Bally’s:
Bally’s (nee Twin River) was late to the online gambling party, but when it jumped, it jumped in headfirst, acquiring assets like it was a contestant on Guy’s Grocery Games.
Its spree began in late 2020, and by mid-2021, Bally’s had acquired a sports betting platform (Bet.Works), an online gambling platform (Gamesys), a DFS site (Monkey Knife Fight), inked a deal with Sinclair to rebrand 21 RSNs as Bally’s Sports, and bought itself a new name (Bally’s).
Bally’s problem was it dove into the shallow end and nearly broke its proverbial neck.
In early 2023, Bally’s hit the digital reset button. It threw Monkey Knife Fight and Bet.Works in the rubbish bin, and at the same time, its deal with Sinclair began to fall apart, with the latter going through a bankruptcy restructuring.
Now, the company has relaunched with a new Kambi-powered sports betting app and a new strategy. “Sports for us is an acquisition tool,” CEO Robeson Reeves said early on in his tenure. “It can drive further engagements for the Bally’s brand.”
FanDuel hopes for more success, and Diamond Sports will get a big push as it exits bankruptcy.
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Around the Watercooler
Social media conversations, rumors, and gossip.
“They are not illegal, they just aren’t legal,” Canadian Gaming Association president and CEO Paul Burns said of Alberta’s gray market mobile betting apps.
This is a distinction without a difference for most, but it’s legally significant.
It’s been over five years since I wrote The Differences Between Black And Gray Gambling Markets over at Play USA, following Barstool Sportsbook founder Dave Portnoy’s tirade against the offshore sportsbook MyBookie.
In the article, I asked the question:
Are offshore sportsbooks illegal?
The short answer to that question is yes, but the answer isn’t always black and white. There’s a lot of subtlety when it comes to why and determining which laws they are actually breaking.
Black and white markets are just that, black and white. Most of the column (which is still relevant and worth reading) is reserved for gray markets, which are difficult to define, even with the help of Chris Grove, former head of the Nevada Gaming Control Board AG Burnett, and former New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement officer George Rover.
Stray Thoughts
Why do all US attorneys talk like this?
“Whether on the court or in the casino, every point matters,” United States Attorney Breon Peace said following the charges in the Jontay Porter betting case.
Every time there is a case that involves gambling, we get statements that include every cliche: Wasn’t in the cards, dealt a bad hand, the house always wins, and other drivel.