Betting News – Page 22 – FairOdds Network

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..

January 23, 2025

Ontario online gambling spend reaches record high in Q3

Ontario players spent CA$22.7 billion (£12.8 billion/€15.2 billion/US$12.8 billion) gambling online during Q3, the highest quarterly amount on record, while the Canadian province has switched to a new, monthly reporting schedule.

Previously, iGaming Ontario, which regulates online gambling in the province, published data on a quarterly basis. However, upon releasing figures for Q3, it confirmed results will now be available every month.

Data is now available for each month since Ontario launched legal online gambling in April of 2022.

Online casino spend reaches new high

Focusing first on Q3, total market spend was 32% higher than in the same quarter of 2023-24. It is also 22% ahead of Q2 of the current financial year. Ontario’s Q3 ran for the three months to 31 December 2024.

Online casino remains by far the main area of interest for players in the province. During Q3, some $18.9 billion was spent in this segment, up 38% on the previous year and another new record for Ontario.

S..

January 23, 2025

From Indiana to New York, US legislative season already packed with bills

State legislators again are taking on the challenge of expanding the internet casino market for 2025.

With the turning of the calendar year comes optimism in most any endeavour. Stage legislatures are no different when it comes to internet casino gaming and sports wagering. A flurry of gambling legislation nationwide has been filed in attempts to expand a still-growing market.

Casino Reports has been gamely trying to keep up with these state-by-state machinations. Here is a rundown of what is going on, perhaps in your backyard:

Indiana: Optimism abounds once more

The Hoosier State was among the first to launch sports wagering post-PASPA and has consistently punched above its weight. Indiana closed out 2024 by becoming the eighth state to surpass $20 billion (£1.6 billion/€1.9 billion) all-time handle. It has surpassed $1.75 billion in sports betting revenue.

Legalising internet casino gaming has been a tougher slog. There was a moratorium on such bills last year after former Repre..

January 23, 2025

Michigan online gambling reaches record $2.9 billion in 2024

Revenue from online gambling in Michigan reached an all-time high of $2.9 billion (£2.4 billion/€2.8 billion) during the 2024 calendar year, with the state reporting record figures across both igaming and sports betting.

Gross internet gaming and sports betting receipts for 2024 surpassed the previous record, set in 2023, by 23.8%. This is also more than double the $1.90 billion in the first year of legal online gambling in Michigan in 2021.

Adjusted revenue, which accounts for promotional spending, amounted to $2.4 billion, up 22.3% year-on-year. Figures from the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB), published on Tuesday (21 January), cover commercial and tribal operators.

Igaming revenue tops $2.4 billion

Starting with igaming, revenue in this segment of the market topped $2.4 billion in 2024. This beats the previous year by 26.3% and is a new record for the state. Adjusted gross receipts for igaming also reached an all-time high of $2.2 billion, an increase of 27.2%.

BetMGM and..

January 22, 2025

ICE: California tribes won’t try for wagering legalisation in 2026

On Tuesday (21 January) a panel of California tribal leaders told ICE participants that they won't put legal sports betting on the 2026 ballot. Indian Country has reached some consensus, but polling indicates voters aren't interested.

California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) chairman James Siva said that tribes have “come too far and have too far to go to rush into this complex sports betting (issue) which is tied to igaming”. His remarks led a chorus during the ‘State of Gambling in California: Current Trends and Future Prospects’ discussion at the ICE convention in Barcelona.

Siva was joined by Pechanga Band of Mission Indians councilmember Catalina Chacon and San Manuel Band of Mission Indians vice chairman Johnny Hernandez. The panel was the last of four put on by the Indian Gaming Association (IGA). A how-to guide for working with Indian Country, a history of how San Manuel grew gaming and a discussion about remaining growth opportunities for tribal sport..