On A Silver Platter
On A Silver Platter
A New York survey that was supposed to support online casino legalization efforts may fall into Happy Gilmore's all-time backfires category.
The Bulletin Board
NEWS: A survey conducted by New York’s most prominent online casino cheerleader has good but far from great results.
BEYOND the HEADLINE: NY Assemblyman wants stricter sports betting advertising rules.
QUICK HITTER: DraftKings is the fourth mobile sportsbook to go live in DC.
NEWS: A new online gambling talking point just dropped from an unlikely source: Las Vegas Sands executive Andy Abboud.
NEWS: A special session in Nebraska could bring about mobile sports betting.
AROUND the WATERCOOLER: First look at the Bet Rivers online poker site.
STRAY THOUGHTS: Time-travelling athletes.
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NY Online Gambling Survey Results: Two Sides of the Same Coin
A poll conducted by New York State Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr. showed lukewarm support for legalizing online casino gambling, but when compared to other results from the same survey, online gambling legalization doesn’t look very promising.
As Steve Bittenbender tweeted on Friday, 523 respondents to the survey “shows 50% across the district support iGaming. 56% back legalizing prostitution.”
But it gets worse. The initial numbers were overstated:
It should be noted that the number opposed to online gambling was just 33%, with 23% unsure.
So yes, the results can be framed as a plurality favor online gambling legalization. But, as Jessica Welman and others tweeted in response, the anti-online gambling crowd now has the perfect way to frame legalization efforts: Voters would rather legalize prostitution (by a significant margin) than online gambling.
Oh, and it gets even worse. The question, relayed on X by Bittenbender (and first reported by Bonus.com in June), was framed to tilt results in favor of legalization:
Online gambling supporters get so wrapped up in being right that we often forget that many people don’t agree with our assessment (33% in NY) or simply don’t care (the 22% who are unsure).
As I’ve been reporting since the newsletter launched a year ago, there is very little appetite to legalize online casino gambling. As others have pointed out, legalization will be a slow, tough slog for the foreseeable future.
Beyond the Headline: NY Assemblyman Wants Tighter Sports Betting Ad Restrictions
New York Assemblyman Clyde Vanel has introduced a new bill, A 10658, which would further restrict sports betting advertisements by prohibiting the use of minors in ads and requiring the inclusion of responsible gambling messaging in very minor ways.
Per Bonus.com, the bill would align mobile betting rules with land-based casino advertising rules and require:
Advertisements cannot depict anyone under 21 gambling or engaged in any gambling-related activity. Vanel’s bill would extend this to prohibit the depiction of minors at all, except “incidentally” (e.g., in the background).
Every advertisement must prominently display a message with the number for the state’s problem gambling helpline. Vanel’s bill would amend this to specify that video ads must display the message for their entire duration.
Overall, these are minor changes, but the effort (whether it goes anywhere or not) speaks to a growing trend to restrict advertising.
Quick Hitter: DraftKings Launches in DC
There weren’t enough stories for my typical Weekend Catchup entry, but DraftKings going live in Washington, D.C., is certainly worth mentioning.
DraftKings enters the DC market via its partnership with DC United-Audi Field. It is the fourth mobile sports betting site to launch since DC opened the market beyond its lottery-run monopoly.
Fanduel was the lottery’s supplier through a deal with Intralot. The company temporarily shuttered its DC offerings and relaunched through the new arrangement with DC United.
The current list of DC mobile operators and their partners are:
FanDuel - DC United
BetMGM - Washington Nationals
Caesars - Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards
DraftKings - DC United at Audi Field
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A Talking Point for Online Gambling from an Unlikely Source
During the mid-2010s, Sheldon Adelson waged a one-man war against online gambling. Adelson rarely appeared or personally spoke about his opposition. Instead, he would send Andy Abboud, who disseminated many of the talking points still in use today, like “a casino in every pocket.”
In 2024, with Las Vegas Sands now fighting for resort casinos in Texas, Abboud unintentionally offered online gambling supporters one of his perfect talking points on a silver platter.
Per the Dallas Business Journal [bold mine]:
“Responding to other criticisms, Abboud said addiction rates for gambling are low at about 1-2%, and that by legalizing gambling Texas would gain the resources to help its citizens who already cross the border to go gamble in Oklahoma.”
The comment itself isn’t new, but as he did when he was the face of the anti-online gambling movement a decade ago, Abboud frames it in a clearer, more concise way.
Simply change a few words, and you have a succinct argument in favor of legalized online gambling [once again, bold mine]:
“Responding to other criticisms, Abboud said addiction rates for gambling are low at about 1-2%, and that by legalizing online gambling, Texas would gain the resources to help its citizens who already gamble online with offshore operators.”
Online Sports Betting and DFS on the Agenda During Nebraska’s Special Session
As reported last week, Nebraska lawmakers are using a special session to rekindle efforts to legalize online sports betting and, perhaps, daily fantasy sports.
However, a separate bill, LB 21, would need to pass for that to happen. Currently, constitutional amendments need to be approved four months before the election. LB 21 would reduce that period to 60 days.
The session’s impetus is property tax relief, but as Joe Brennan Jr. put it on X, “On my most optimistic day, I wouldn’t propose revenue from sports betting taxes could meaningfully offset property taxes for Nebraska’s 1.9 million residents. It would be good incremental revenue for education and first responders, though.”
Once the session was called, Nebraska State Sen. Eliot Bostar introduced a constitutional amendment “that would give Nebraska voters the opportunity to legalize the practice at the ballot box this November,” according to Nebraska Public Media. “If passed, sports betting could be legalized and taxed two years earlier than if senators waited until next spring to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot.”
A separate bill in Nebraska would legalize daily fantasy sports in a unique way.
First, the bill allows licensees to offer peer-to-peer and vs.-the-house contests.
Second, “the act would make Nebraska the first state to base its licensing fee structure on operators’ revenue, as opposed to the common approach of charging a license fee plus a percentage of revenue as tax,” SBC Americas Tom Nightingale reports. License renewal fees would be based on success, with each operator charged 6% of their GGR over the previous 12 months.
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Around the Watercooler
Social media conversations, rumors, and gossip.
An episode of Galfond gave viewers a sneak peek at the still-to-be-launched Bet Rivers online poker room.
As Pokerfuse reports, the image was only on screen for a couple of seconds, but it did provide a solid look at what online poker players can expect when the site launches in what looks to be Pennsylvania.
As Pokerfuse noted [bold mine]:
“The interface looked exactly like the Run It Once software retaining some of its unique features such as Cub3d (its jackpot style sit and go product), Dynamic Avatars, and anonymous names, but with BetRivers branding in the middle of the table.
“There were also signs of integration with BetRivers’ other verticals, as icons for Casino and Sports Betting were visible on the table itself, along with some new features. But most notably, the appearance of the Pennsylvania Responsible Gambling (RG) logo at the table suggests that testing is underway in preparation for a launch in Pennsylvania.”
Stray Thoughts
And so do I. If Lebron was born in 1945 and played ball in 1975, he is as dominant as he is/was during his career. Not more dominant. Drop a 28-year-old Larry Bird into 2024 (born in 1996), and he is as good as Larry Bird was in the 1980s. Time travel these players, and there will be a massive difference because training, knowledge, and “supplementation” are way different.
It’s very interesting to see how little progress has been made athletically over the last few decades. Yes, people have gotten bigger, stronger, and faster, but in most established sports, it’s not by leaps and bounds, and I would chalk advancements up to training and nutrition more than everyone becoming more athletic over time.