Betting News – Page 19 – FairOdds Network

February 7, 2025

Mizuhara gets 57-month prison term; judge says he “undermined” himself

Former Shohei Ohtani Japanese-language interpreter Ippei Mizuhara was sentenced on Thursday (6 February) to 57 months in federal prison and three years of parole. He was also ordered to pay more than $18 million (£14.5 million/€17.3 million) in restitution after stealing from Ohtani to fund an illegal gambling habit.

US district judge John Holcomb said Mizuhara “undermined” himself with a letter he wrote to the court asking for an 18-month sentence. Holcomb said he gave the letter no weight because Mizuhara “misrepresented truths” and it “suffered from (missing) important facts”.

Mizuhara, who pleaded guilty to two federal counts in June, stole nearly $17 million from Ohtani for gambling debts. On Thursday he was sentenced in US District Court for the Central District of California. The maximum sentence for one count of bank fraud and one count of signing a fraudulent tax return was 33 years.

He asked for and was granted 45 days to report to begin his sentence in a Southern Califo..

February 6, 2025

Episode 42: Bills bills bills as US legislative season gets under way

You want sports betting bills? You want some icasino bills? We’ve got them and more and there’s even an opportunity to stop over in New York for a look at the (down)state of the casino process and touch on tax hikes in Ohio (again) in the latest episode of the World Series of Politics.

Which states have sports betting bills in play?

It was an early mover in sports betting, but since 2018 Mississippi sports betting is only allowed in the state’s casinos. With a mobile betting bill sailing through the Magnolia State’s house, could 2025 finally be the year betting comes to citizens’ smartphones?

Meanwhile in Minnesota a legislative standoff seems to have resolved. Does this mean lawmakers can turn their attention to getting Minnesota sports betting out of the starting gates?

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Oh no Ohio

Ohio was an early mover, but not the good kind, doubling its sports betting tax rate. Now for the second budget cycle in a row there’s a tax increase in the offing, as part ..

February 6, 2025

H2 Gambling Capital projecting $1.6 billion regulated betting handle for Super Bowl LIX

The Kansas City Chiefs will take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX this weekend. H2 Gambling Capital joins the buildup with its breakdown of betting handle by state, and the teams and the spread.

We’re just days away from Super Bowl LIX with the Philadelphia Eagles taking on the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans.

Sunday 9 February’s kickoff marks the eleventh time New Orleans has hosted the Super Bowl, becoming the most popular host city along with Miami. H2 expects a record amount of wagers will be riding on the game, the highest wagering on a single match in the US.

Jump to:

Projected handle and gross yield

Betting handle by state

Hold rates

How the teams match up

What to expect from the game

Benchmarking against Nevada

17% increase in wagers to generate $1.6 billion handle

H2 expects almost $1.6 billion to be wagered through onshore licensed sportsbooks. New York is likely to narrowly overtake Nevada as the state generating the most handle for the Super Bowl, ..

February 6, 2025

Super Bowl LIX: Record projections, prediction markets and prop scrutiny

This Sunday (9 February), the two-time reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs will defend their title against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX. The game is America's biggest stage, for legal bookmakers, illegal ones and everything in between.

As of this writing, the Chiefs are 1.5-point favourites over the Eagles at most major books, with the exception of Caesars Sportsbook (-1). The line has held steady since it opened following the conference championships 26 January. Kansas City is almost universally -120 on the moneyline, with Philadelphia hovering around even (+100) up to +105 at Bet365.

The over/under for the game opened at 50.5 points, but books now vary between 49.5, 49 and 48.5. The fact that it has gone down is likely in response to the Eagles’ first-ranked defence. That said, Kansas City has scored at least 25 points in three of its four Super Bowl appearances since 2019. The only time it didn’t was 2021, when it lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-9.

This ..

February 6, 2025

2025 a year of stability in Brazil as sector interprets new regulations, says legal expert

The first year of Brazil's legal online gambling market will be one of interpretation and major consolidation of regulations, predicts specialist betting lawyer Udo Seckelmann of Bichara e Motta Advogados. He also believes the public narrative against gambling is influencing the SPA's decisions.

Speaking to iGB, Seckelmann, who is head of gambling & crypto at Bichara e Motta Advogados, said he believes this first year of operation for online gambling in Brazil will bring many changes in regulations as the sector settles into the new rules.

He expects 2025 to be a “year of consolidation” for gambling in Brazil as regulations and expectations from the regulator are interpreted and finalised.

“We can expect a lot of changes and consolidation in Brazil this year, consolidation of the understanding or the interpretation [of regulations] for the SPA. [Consolidation] of what’s going to work, what’s going to be allowed, what’s not going to be allowed and eventual changes that w..

February 6, 2025

Record Q4 drives Betsson to “best year ever,” says Pontus Lindwall

Betsson reported its “strongest year ever” in 2024 after a record performance during Q4 helped drive full-year revenue, net profit and EBITDA to all-time highs.

Revenue for the three months to 31 December 2024 amounted to €306.8 million (£255.3 million/$318.8 million). This surpasses Q4 of the previous year by 21.8% and is the first time quarterly revenue has exceeded €300 million.

Betsson, which published its full-year results today (6 February), reported increases within both its casino and sports betting operations. The group also saw revenue rise across several regional markets around the world, with Latin America posting the most growth.

In Q4 the company recorded an increase in overall customer deposits to a record €1.58 billion, a new quarterly record. Active customers edged up to 1.3 million, although the number of registered players dipped 1.1% to 29.4 million following the decision to exit certain markets.

CEO Pontus Lindwall put this regional growth down to constant inve..

February 5, 2025

After IPI disaster, has CNMI abandoned land-based casino hopes?

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is drafting legislation that would dissolve its gaming commission. The Pacific island group is looking at igaming as a next step.

On 4 February, CNMI representative Ralph N Yumul told Marianas Variety that a house committee is reviewing the 2014 statutes which legalised gaming and established the Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC).

If enacted, the move would transfer the regulator’s enforcement powers to the lottery commission. At that point, Yamul said, the CCC “will not be in existence anymore”.

Committee members are also looking at online gaming and “marketing it out to the world”, Yamul said. The CCC “can’t do its job anymore”, he added, “because it’s tied with the only casino licensee in the CNMI.”

And its experience with that licensee, Imperial Pacific International (IPI), has been nothing short of disastrous.

Ten years ago, IPI opened a temporary casino, called Best Sunshine Live, inside a shopping mall on Saipan, th..

February 5, 2025

Hawaii senate committee moves sports betting bill, but road to legalisation no sure thing

A Hawaii senate bill that would legalise digital sports betting moved forward on Tuesday (4 February). But not convincingly.

On Tuesday the senate economic development and technology committee advanced SB 1569, which would allow for statewide mobile sports betting. It is the second wagering bill to gain traction in the Hawaii legislature in a week.

On 31 January, the house economic development and technology committee moved HB 1308 forward. That bill is the house companion to SB 1569. In both chambers, the committees unanimously moved the bills, but several lawmakers did so “with reservations”. That suggests that the bills won’t have a smooth ride through the legislature.

The sports betting bills are two of at least eight gambling bills in the state legislature. Among them is a house bill that would only allow for gambling in designated tourist zones, a restriction not seen elsewhere in the US, but proposed and in practice in several Asian countries. There are also bills that wou..

February 5, 2025

Greenblatt expects player acquisition decline as BetMGM aims to be “home of the premium mass player”

Entain and MGM Resorts' JV, BetMGM, expects player acquisition rates to slow as it looks to benefit from a premium player base placing higher value bets.

While the group posted a falling EBITDA, once again in the negative, in its FY24 results on 4 February, it pointed to a “year of investment” which sought to increase player value and active users of its product.

Speaking to analysts following the group’s full-year earnings call on 4 February, BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt said during the year the focus had been on investing in its igaming strengths and refining its marketing, attribution, CRM and segmentation models.

These helped to drive a stronger performance in the latter part of the year.

Monthly user growth expected to slow

Monthly users in the operator’s fourth quarter were up 55% year-on-year. Greenblatt said this was achieved without the addition of any new states. Total monthly active users for the year hit 946,000, up 14% year-over-year.

However, while BetMGM toute..