January 2025 – FairOdds Network

January 31, 2025

Minnesota sports betting bill comprehensive, but could raise questions in Indian Country

Filed on Thursday (30 January), a comprehensive Minnesota sports betting bill could raise eyebrows within tribes. But here's a look at what else is inside.

Senator Matt Klein, a longtime legal sports betting proponent, filed SB 757, which would allow for statewide mobile sports betting with platforms tied to tribal casinos. The bill also outlines regulations for daily fantasy and would allow for betting on esports.

Minnesota lawmakers have been trying for at least four years to legalise sports betting. But finding the sweet spot with the state’s 11 tribes – who have exclusivity for gaming – and local horse tracks has proved elusive.

Klein’s bill lays out a detailed framework that would allow for 11 wagering operator licences for the state’s tribes. The tribes, in turn, could contract with management service providers for digital wagering platforms. According to the text of the bill, any bets placed outside of Indian Country would be taxed at 22%. That rate is higher than the..

January 31, 2025

State of the Union: Feds don’t believe Mizuhara; Wyoming online gambling on hold until next week; 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.

Feds recommend 57 months for Mizuhara

In court documents released on Thursday (30 January), US attorneys are recommending a “significant period of incarceration” for former Shohei Ohtani interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. The documents were filed a week ahead of Mizuhara’s 6 February sentencing hearing. Mizuhara bet with an illegal bookmaker and stole $17 million (£13.7 million/€16.3 million) from baseball star Ohtani.

In the documents, Jeff Mitchell, the US attorney leading the government’s case, clearly states that he does not believe that Mizuhara had a long-standing gambling addiction.

Exhibits filed with the case show that Mizuhara started gambling on a legal site, DraftKings, in 2023 after he had “already stolen millions of dollars from Mr Ohtani”. The statements paint Mizuhara as a dishonest thief rather ..

January 31, 2025

Canada decline leaves revenue flat at PointsBet in Q2

Revenue remained flat at PointsBet during its Q2 after a decline in Canada cancelled out growth within the gambling operator’s core Australia market.

For the three months to 31 December 2024, total net win at PointsBet hit AU$69.9 million (£35.1 million/€42.0 million/US$43.5 million). This is on par with Q2 of the previous year.

Data published yesterday (30 January) by PointsBet reveals sports betting net win was marginally higher (0.2%) at $63.6 million, while igaming net win declined 1.6% to $6.3 million. However, it was the operator’s geographical performance that most impacted the results.

In Canada, customer-friendly results across both sports betting and igaming had a negative effect. CEO Samuel Swanell noted online slots and betting on the NFL as two areas where customers won more.

“Q2 group net win was negatively impacted by circa $3.9 million, due to customer-friendly results in Canada across NFL and slots,” Swanell said. “This NFL season has been the most customer-friendl..

January 30, 2025

Study finds 10% of Dutch adults gambled online in 2024

New data has shown just 10% of those aged 16 and over in the Netherlands have gambled online in the last 12 months.

On Wednesday (29 January), the Scientific Research and Data Centre (WODC) in the Netherlands released a factsheet unveiling the findings of three recent studies on Dutch online gambling, which launched in the country in October 2021.

The studies, which cover various periods during 2024, revealed that while 64% of those aged 16 and over in the Netherlands have gambled offline throughout 2024, just one in 10 had placed a bet online.

Lotteries were the predominant form of offline gambling, with 55% of the gambling population using that vertical in 2024, while scratchcards (21%) and bingo (7%) were also prevalent.

Notably, sports betting was the only vertical in which online outpaced land-based, with 4% betting online compared to 3% for offline.

Dutch online gambling rising in popularity

The WODC said 70% of those who had bet online in 2024, had started doing so once th..

January 29, 2025

iGB@ICE: Werner Becher on the first six months of his Kambi tenure

Werner Becher had a tough act to follow, taking charge of Kambi from Kristian Nylen, but he says it’s been a case of refining an ongoing transformation process to build out a modular product range from a turnkey business.

Speaking in the iGB@ICE studio, he reflects on the first six months of his tenure, including launching for clients in Brazil on 1 January, when the market opened.

Going forward he aims to change the perception of Kambi from a turnkey specialist to a premium sportsbook solutions provider. This increases the supplier’s addressable market, Becher explains

Flexibility is key to the renewed and refreshed Kambi, Becher says. And he admits that Kambi was perhaps too reliant on a small number of partners previously. By offering solutions that allow the sportsbook technology provider to tap into a wider range of clients, there is scope to add far more customers.

Kambi remains a premium proposition

However it remains a premium sports betting product, meaning it’s not l..

January 29, 2025

Will US pro leagues become sports betting exchange operators?

Rise of prediction markets on sports events creates entry point for league-run exchanges.

For the quarter century-plus from 1992 until May 2018, the four prominent US-based pro sports leagues plus the NCAA acted as the legal bulwark against the expansion of legal sports betting outside Nevada.

Things changed when the Supreme Court announced its decision in Murphy v NCAA in 2018. That decision opened the floodgates for the legalisation of sports wagering nationwide. Senators and congressmen across the country heeded the call and the leagues, well, they played ball. This began with Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association announcing a first wave of authorised gaming operators, which are effectively licensing and sponsorship agreements with certain sportsbooks.

Things may soon go much further.

In the wake of the latest mutation within the DNA of US sports betting – the apparent legality of Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-regulated sports events contr..

January 28, 2025

iGB@ICE: Rei do Pitaco CEO Kiko Augusto on the pivot from fantasy to sports betting

Kiko Augusto, CEO of Rei do Pitaco, shares insights with iGB@ICE on the company’s journey from a daily fantasy sports (DFS) platform to becoming one of the 14 fully-licensed sports betting operators in Brazil.

Drawing inspiration from the examples of DFS-turned-sports betting giants DraftKings and FanDuel in the US, Rei do Pitaco has built a tech-driven product tailored to Brazilian users.

With a strong user base migrated from fantasy sports, Rei do Pitaco is aiming to utilise its DFS origins to deliver an entertaining Brazilian sports betting experience.

“Back when we started the company in 2019, there was no daily fantasy for cash prizes as there were in the US,” Augusto explains to host Katie Goldfinch.

“We followed the playbook of DraftKings and FanDuel. “We’re going to acquire a lot of customers that play fantasy sports for cash prizes and now we’re in the regulated market with a big user base of customers that like sports.”

January 28, 2025

iGB@ICE: The intersection of sports and gaming with Brendan Bussmann and Adam Sachs

We’re talking sports in the iGB@ICE studio, with Adam Sachs, counsel and senior policy advisor at Dentons. Sachs previously acted as chief counsel for MLB’s Kansas City Royals for three years and has been instrumental in helping the team forge relationships with the gaming sector.

In conversation with Brendan Bussmann, managing partner of B Global advisors, Sachs said the team was looking to implement an “esports component” to any deal the team pursues in the future.

“We have a visionary owner in John Sherman with the Royals who saw that a sports stadium can unlock value for the ownership group but can also engage fans and bring them down to an engaging and exciting venue more often than they typically do in a place like Kansas City,” Sachs said of the innovation under way within the team.

Sachs also digs into the challenges faced by sports entities in partnering with the gaming sector, due to the built-in moral-based opposition against gambling.

January 27, 2025

NH lawmakers won’t raise legal sports betting age

New Hampshire is one of four US jurisdictions that set the legal wagering age at 18. For now, that's where it will stay.

The New Hampshire house ways and means committee on Monday (27 January) declined to move forward HB 83, which would have raised the legal betting age to 21. The committee voted, 11-7, that the bill was “inexpedient to legislate”, which means that it is dead.

Kentucky, Wyoming and Washington DC are the other three jurisdictions that allow 18-year-olds to place bets.

During the ways and means executive session, there was some conversation about whether or not to change the legal betting age.

Representative Thomas Schamberg favoured the bill, saying, “I think it is important that we make a statement about the age limit like we have about alcohol, tobacco products and vapes. Basically, I am supporting the age of 21 in New Hampshire.”

Aures: “I see it as a liberty issue”

But Representative Cyril Aures spoke for what turned out to be the majority.

“I’d ju..

January 24, 2025

State of the Union: Mizuhara sentencing postponed, Kalshi taking sports bets

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.

Mizuhara sentencing pushed to 6 February

Sentencing for former Shohei Ohtani interpreter Ippei Mizuhara was moved from today (24 January) to 6 February, a California US Attorney’s Office announced yesterday (23 January). Mizuhara in June pleaded guilty to stealing $17 million (£13.6 million/€16.1 million) from Ohtani for illegal sports betting. He faces up to 33 years in prison on counts of bank fraud and subscribing to a fraudulent tax return. Mizuhara will be sentenced by Judge John Holcomb in the US District Court for the Central District of California.

In a 29-pg memo, attorney Michael Freedman wrote that courts routinely “vary downward,” for gambling, adding that Ippei's addiction warrants a variance. He asked the Court to impose an 18-month sentence. A forensic psychologist also supports a downwa..

January 24, 2025

Vietnam police uncover billion-dollar money laundering ring, illegal wagering op

Vietnam police have announced arrests in a vast money laundering case and an illegal sports betting operation.

Vietnam law enforcement have announced the shutdown of a billion-dollar money laundering operation linked to online gambling. It followed the bust of an illegal sports-betting ring that reaped millions.

On 23 January, AFP reports, officers in Danang arrested five people in the money laundering case, which brought VND30 billion (£960.9 million/€1.14 billion/$1.2 billion) in tainted funds into Vietnam.

Between 2022 and 2024, the sophisticated gang, which included bank employees, used fake IDs, business registration certificates and bank seals to establish 187 phony businesses holding 600 corporate bank accounts.

Through the accounts, they washed money that originated in offshore gambling and fraud. Police called it the biggest money laundering case in the city’s history.

Black market sports betting takedown

The news comes on the heels of another gambling-related raid. On 2..

January 24, 2025

Esportes da Sorte granted full authorisation to operate in Brazil

Esportes da Sorte has been granted authorisation to operate fixed-odds betting in Brazil after a Federal Court injunction.

On Thursday (22 January), the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) published SPA/MF Ordinance No 136 in the Official Gazette of the Union, allowing Esportes Gaming Brazil and its Esportes da Sorte and Onabet brands to operate throughout Brazil.

Esportes da Sorte’s inclusion in the federal regulator’s list of authorised companies follows the Federal Court of the Federal District granting an injunction in January to allow it to operate nationally, despite only holding a state lottery licence with Loterj.

In response, Esportes da Sorte said the ruling confirmed the company’s compliance with Brazil’s gambling regulations including paying its licence fee to operate in the regulated market.

“The decision confirms that the company, from the beginning, complied with all legal and regulatory procedures established by the legislation and its respective ordinances,” Espor..

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Monthly Archives: January 2025