It's Getting Hot In Here
It's Getting Hot In Here
The NCAA is cranking up the heat on sports betting, as its calls for a prohibition on prop bets on college players is catching on.
The Bulletin Board
NEWS: The NCAA is winning its war against college player prop bets.
LOOSE ENDS: A scandal-plagued MMA coach is in debt; Bally’s is in turmoil; Nevada is finally ready for a state lottery; NJ DGE improves revenue reports.
VIEWS: Some thoughts on Hard Rock’s acquisition of 888’s US B2C assets.
VIEWS: From slots to night spots, how Las Vegas casinos diversified their portfolio.
AROUND the WATERCOOLER: The world was not created on May 14, 2018.
STRAY THOUGHTS: Know why you are training.
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Stick a Fork in College Player Props
College prop bets are becoming an endangered species in the legal US market.
The NCAA put player props in its sight back in November 2023 but really ramped up pressure in January when he brought it up during the NCAA Convention and, at the same time, sent letters to several states requesting they prohibit the wagers. The NCAA has since called for a nationwide ban and had a hand in creating the Youth Sports Betting Safety Coalition in Massachusetts.
Even before the recent crackdown, player prop bets on college athletes were already prohibited in many sports betting states:
Arizona
Colorado
Massachusetts
Oregon
New York
Pennsylvania
Tennessee
Virginia
West Virginia
Here is a look at the states that have taken action since the NCAA’s call to prohibit prop bets on college athletes:
Wyoming is also looking into these bets. As first reported by Robert Linnehan, Wyoming Gaming Commission Executive Director Charles E. Moore said the regulatory body will discuss the NCAA’s request to prohibit collegiate player prop bets during a May 9 meeting.
Michigan is another state Linnehan reached out to, with a spokesperson saying the MGCB “will be taking a look at the issue.”
And per Linnehan’s extensive reporting, we know many other states have yet to hear from the NCAA but are willing to consider banning the bets.
Spokespeople for gaming regulators in New Jersey, Kansas, Illinois, and Indiana all told Linnehan that the NCAA has not approached them, but they are willing to consider the policy change.
Over in Iowa, a Racing and Gaming Commission spokesperson said any change to its catalog would need to go through the legislature. The commission spokesperson said, “Whether or not the prohibitions that already exist under Iowa law might be expanded is a question for the Iowa legislature.”
The lingering question is, does the NCAA stop with a ban on prop bets, or does it continue to chip away at college betting markets?
The stated goal is to prevent player harassment and maintain game integrity. However, these bets are easily placed offshore, a far greater threat to integrity. And, as I’ve noted regarding player harassment, “If you bet on a team and a specific player makes a mistake or misses a key shot, isn’t a deranged bettor still going to blame the player?”
Loose Ends: Disgraced MMA Coach in Debt; Bally’s in Turmoil; Lottery in NV?; NJ Revenue Report Changes
I owe: Former MMA coach James Krause claims he is $5 million in debt. You may remember Krause was banned from the UFC in 2022 after allegations of insider information (failing to disclose an injury) following his fighter’s first-round loss and unusual betting activity leading up to the fight.
Opinions vary: A key Bally’s shareholder has called Standard General’s offer to purchase the company at $15 per share woefully undervalued. K&F Growth Capital has instead suggested selling off its online division and scrapping its Chicago and New York casino plans, saying Bally’s has lost its way after becoming a regional casino powerhouse in the 2010s.
Nevada is ready for a lottery: Nevada is one of five states that doesn’t offer a lottery, as the entrenched casino industry has long feared cannibalization. However, a new poll of 829 registered voters shows strong support for a lottery, with 75% in support and 13% opposing. Another 12% answered “not sure/no opinion.”
New and improved: The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement will begin breaking down revenue reports by operator rather than license holder beginning with its March report, expected to be released on April 16. “By providing more detailed, skin-level revenue information, stakeholders and the public will have a clearer understanding of the performance of individual iGaming and sports wagering operators,” The DGE said in a statement.
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What Is Hard Rock Getting from 888?
Hard Rock Digital has taken a slow and steady approach to the US market, quietly toiling away in the background as it built an in-house sports betting and online casino tech stack with the help of Playtech.
That changed when it got the go-ahead to launch in Florida, where it holds a monopoly on roughly 5% of the national US market.
However, Hard Rock must overcome a disadvantage beyond its late arrival: market access. It began to solve that with its recent acquisition of 888’s US B2C assets.
888 is far from a world-beater in the US, evidenced by its desire to cut its losses and exit the market. Most would place it at the bottom of the second or squarely in the third tier.
The deal’s details have not been disclosed, but it doesn’t feel like any significant assets are changing hands. Instead, Hard Rock is helping 888 exit the US market and giving them a small going-away present (perhaps in the $10-15 million range) to cover some of the $50 million it will pay SI for terminating its agreement early.
So, what is Hard Rock’s interest in 888? The answer is market access.
Hard Rock is currently active in Arizona, Florida, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia, with its online casino platform available in New Jersey.
888 provides Hard Rock access to Iowa and, more importantly, the online casino state of Michigan. 888’s market access overlaps Hard Rock in Indiana and New Jersey.
The Reinvention of Las Vegas
Jon Bruford (half of The Gambling Files Podcast and Substack) wrote a fascinating piece for iGaming Business on the changing business model of Las Vegas casinos. Bruford leaned heavily on Virginia Valentine, the President and CEO of the Nevada Resort Association.
If you ask someone to play a word association game with Las Vegas, the answers will vary, usually based on the person’s age. That’s because the city is constantly reinventing itself and is no longer a gambling city; it’s a city with gambling.
Valentine traces the move from gambling first, second, and third to integrated resorts with celebrity chef restaurants and high-end retail shopping to Steve Wynn and the Mirage.
“In 1989, Steve Wynn started a trend on the Strip when he built the first truly integrated resort model with convention space, theatre, hotel, dining, retail experience,” Valentine said.
Wynn’s vision was met with skepticism, but he was right, and the Las Vegas Strip has continually moved in that direction. And now, in a post-PASPA world, the city is changing again, as it’s no longer a no-go zone for professional sports teams.
Vegas the sports town, long considered a pipedream, is building momentum:
The Las Vegas Golden Knights (NHL), the Las Vegas Raiders (NFL), and the Las Vegas Aces (WNBA) all call the city home.
The Oakland A’s are considering a move to Las Vegas.
F1 hosted a race in Vegas in November 2023.
The Super Bowl was played in Las Vegas for the first time in February.
The city hosted the NCAAB West Regional last year and has been named a Final Four site in 2028.
“Sports has taken off here in a way that nobody could have imagined,” Valentine said.
Las Vegas’s ability to reinvent itself is something Atlantic City has tried and failed to accomplish. I’ve been sounding the klaxon for a decade about Atlantic City’s need to reinvent itself, and I discussed it with Play NJ columnist David Danzis in Episode 3 of the Talking Shop Podcast.
Around the Watercooler
Social media conversations, rumors, and gossip.
The following tweet is aimed at sports betting, but if you change the bright line event, it applies to many conversations in the gambling space.
Stray Thoughts
There are many reasons people take martial arts or combat sports classes.
And while it’s important to have a goal or goals, far too often, people’s training only slightly aligns with their stated goals.
If your goal is to protect yourself from an untrained attacker (and don’t confuse untrained with not dangerous), bowing to a partner who then throws a punch and freezes in time while you dance around them isn’t going to be much of a help. It’s better than nothing, but it’s unlikely to change the outcome of an encounter.
At the same time, touching gloves and fighting from a distance isn’t going to simulate someone trying to overwhelm you with a surprise attack. It will help a lot more than the previous example, as there are many overlapping skills, but it’s still not ideal. It is ideal for squaring off against someone in a mutually agreed-upon fight.
And vice versa, working on soft skills and de-escalating or preemptively hitting a would-be attacker isn’t the best way to train for your first MMA fight.
In a conversation with my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructor about the basics being the best for self-defense situations, he jokingly said, you won’t see too much Berimbolo in the street. The high-level stuff is for beating another martial artist.
What I’m saying is that you have to know precisely what you’re training for and what that training does and doesn’t prepare you for.
I bring this up because I see many companies in the gambling space making this type of strategic mistake; their strategies only slightly align with their goals. Trying to usurp DraftKings or FanDuel requires a very different approach than trying to carve out a small but profitable piece of the market. And far too many are hung up on following the leader, regardless of their goals, which simply turns you into a follower.