sweepstakes – FairOdds Network

March 21, 2025

State of the Union: MD governor wants betting tax increase, new AR bill, 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.

Mixed bag in Maryland

Maryland’s governor, Wes Moore, unveiled his latest budget proposal on Thursday (20 March) night and it’s not terribly favourable for the gambling industry. The proposal does not include any funding from online casino and does include a sports betting tax hike.

Moore previously floated the idea of doubling the tax rate on wagering from 15% to 30%. In his new proposal, he pitches a 20% tax rate, which is projected to bring in an additional $32 million (£24.6 million/€29.6 million) in tax revenue in FY 2026. The state is facing a $3 billion deficit.

If lawmakers follow through, Maryland would become the third state in two years to raise its betting tax. Ohio was the first when Governor Mike DeWine pushed through a bump from 10% to 20% in July 2023, six months after wagering went live. He..

March 12, 2025

Mississippi house makes digital sports betting a political football, punts issue back to senate

The Mississippi house amended two senate bills in order to include legal sports betting along with a sweepstakes ban. Those bills are now back in the senate.

When the bills left the senate, neither was about legalising digital sports betting. But both passed the full house on Tuesday (11 March) and bill sponsor Casey Eure says it’s time to negotiate.

One of the bills originally addressed tidelands. The other addressed fines for platforms operating illegally in the state. Language from a dead house digital wagering bill was put into the tidelands bill.

Retail betting has been legal in Mississippi’s casinos since 2018, but attempts since then to add the type of mobile betting available in other states have been rebuffed.

“It’s a possibility” that tidelands will not get addressed this year if the senate fails to take up mobile sports betting, Eure said, according to the Clarion-Ledger. “But the house’s position is on mobile sports betting. We’re concerned about tidelands, but at this..

February 27, 2025

Florida legislature makes move that could result in sweepstakes ban, lay icasino groundwork

Bills would extend gaming ban to sweepstakes casinos, internet casino gaming, and online sports betting in the state outside the scope of the Seminole Tribe.

Two bills were introduced in the Florida legislature this week that would expand the state’s ban on gambling. “Sweepstakes casinos,” internet casino gaming, and online sports betting outside its compact with the Seminole Tribe could be prohibited if the legislation passes.

Representative Walter Barnaby filed HB953 24 February. Senator Corey Simon filed his companion bill, S1404, in the upper chamber 26 February. The language in the bills expands the ban to “internet gambling” and “internet sports wagering.” As written, the bills leave room for interpretation; one is that the Seminole Tribe may be looking to expand into internet casino gaming via Hard Rock, and another is that the bill is an effective ban on sweepstakes casinos.

Hard Rock expanded its retail casino suite of games to include Class III gaming — including mobile sp..

February 21, 2025

State of the Union: RG study might not be what it seems; Canada election betting

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.

Study raises RG alarm, but should it?

Since the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was overturned in 2018, the number of internet searches terms around “gambling addiction” has risen 23% nationally, according to an American Medical Association JAMA Internal Medicine investigation. Published on 17 February, the responsible gaming (RG) study revealed that searches rose most in Pennsylvania (50%), Massachusetts (47%), New York (37%) and New Jersey (34%).

In the abstract, investigators wrote, “The results of this time series study suggest that access to sportsbooks, sports wagers and potential help-seeking for gambling addiction increased substantially and highlight the need to address the health implications of sportsbooks, including recognition and treatment of gambling problems and their b..

December 16, 2024

Sweepstakes has its moment at NCLGS: Law change needed to regulate or ban

The panel, entitled ‘This Ain’t Your Granddad’s Sweepstakes’, delved into issues on licensing, regulation and taxation.

More than 15 years have elapsed since the passing of Ed McMahon, the Tonight Show sidekick also famous for sweepstakes commercials that featured him awarding unsuspecting Americans with gigantic seven-figure checks.

Yet McMahon’s name circulated through the halls of Harrah’s Hotel at Caesars New Orleans on Friday before the nation’s preeminent gambling regulators.

Ahead of next week’s senate hearing in the nation’s capital on sports betting, a panel convened on the online sweepstakes casino market. The issue is one that is sweeping the broader industry. The panel, entitled This Ain’t Your Granddad’s Sweepstakes, delved into hot-button issues on licensing, regulation and taxation associated with the multi-billion-dollar market.

The panel opened the daily agenda at the National Council of Legislators From Gaming States (NCLGS) 2024 Winter Meeting. Moderated by Chris..

November 21, 2024

CA tribes to sweepstakes operators: “We don’t negotiate with terrorists”

In the latest edition of the New Normal webinar series today (21 November), host Victor Rocha said there is no room for discussion between California tribes and sweepstakes operators. The time has come to explore enforcement actions.

Rocha, conference chair for the Indian Gaming Association (IGA), was joined by fellow host and IGA executive director Jason Giles. This week’s guest was Jonodev Chaudhuri, principal at Chaudhuri Law and former chair of the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC).

The theme of the episode was regulation and enforcement. More specifically, Rocha and Giles sought to know what tools the NIGC – and state and federal governments – can use to fight the proliferation of sweepstakes sites.

“You see the entire industry is reacting to this,” Rocha said. He noted that among California tribes in particular, “you’re starting to see the outrage” that typically follows attempts to encroach on tribal exclusivity.

He later asserted that there is no room for collabo..

October 21, 2024

Fliff CEO: Our customers “not of high value to a sports betting operator”

The social/sweepstakes sports-focused site is proving popular, but potentially polarising.
GK (who is 20 years old), resides in the Los Angeles area. On a recent Sunday, the college student clicked on an app where he maintains an account. He claims to have risked $250 on two NFL games, the same amount on a pair from Major League Baseball and smaller sums on props.

His activity is legal even though California prohibits sports betting. Of states that allow regulated betting, all but four have set the minimum age at 21.

Under current law, what GK does between classes and homework is not considered wagering.

“As a sports management major, I enjoy betting on sports but am not old enough to have accounts with official sportsbooks,” said GK, who asked that his full name not be disclosed. “Fliff is then my best option.”

Fliff company name pulled from short film
In 2019, the founders of the website Fliff, based in Philadelphia and patronised by GK latched on to the hype generated by widespr..

October 16, 2024

Tribes: Sweepstakes the latest threat to sovereignty, exclusivity

Angry and concerned that sweepstakes operators are another existential threat to sovereignty and gaming exclusivity, Indian Country is gearing up for a fight.
“This falls squarely on the tribes again,” Victor Rocha, editor of Pechanga.net, said during his weekly webinar on Wednesday (16 October). “If they don’t react, no one will. We thought it was over, but here we go again. We’re not saying you can’t come into California, we’re just saying that you have to do it through the tribes.

“We will take on that fight anytime, anywhere, anyhow. It’s brand new, it’s right on our platter and we’ll address it.”

Rocha, who hosts the ‘New Normal’, was joined by California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) chairman James Siva and National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) executive director Jason Giles. A week removed from the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) where sweepstakes were the talk of the industry, Rocha opened by sharing his anger and frustration that another group of “unlicensed” and “..

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Tag: sweepstakes