After the boom: US ignites sports-betting backlash
US sports betting under fire, Tonali allegations, Aristocrat/LNW dispute viewpoint, an esports feud hits the stage +More
Alabama’s efforts to legalize sports betting appear doomed amid scandals.
In +More: bet365 fine, Danish regulator blocks Stake.com.
Newcastle’s Tonali faces new betting allegations.
Aristocrat/Light & Wonder dispute won’t resolve quickly, experts say.
An esports feud takes center stage.
US sports-betting backlash
The sound of inevitability: After the wheels came off Georgia’s attempts to legalize sports betting, there are concerns Alabama’s efforts are destined for a similar fate amid a backdrop of national scandals, public outcry and a distinct souring in the atmosphere around online wagering. Proposals to legalize gambling in Alabama have run into familiar opposition: religious conservatives and anti-wagering campaigners.
Two bills proposed earlier in the year contained provisions to overturn the state’s total prohibition on wagering, and to legalize casino gaming at specified locations, establish a statewide lottery and permit online sports betting.
The pair initially had widespread support, with Alabama’s Republican governor, Kay Ivey, a significant backer.
Then came the shots: With the second half of the legislative session about to resume, the path forward appears narrower than ever. Sports betting has already been stripped from the bill as it made its way through the legislature and other proposals have been scrubbed or rewritten entirely.
Ivey has also cooled her jets and said she intends to thoroughly scrutinize the legislation most recently passed by the Senate.
“I may be wrong, but my take on this is that the House does not have the votes to concur. That’s a very heavy lift,” said Senator Greg Albritton, a sponsor of both bills.
Through a glass darkly: Although the two chambers could come to an agreement in a conference committee, there is little optimism. “But then you get to the point of, if we go to conference, what changes will be acceptable to both bodies and particularly where both bodies will probably have to change the constitutional amendment, which will require a three-fifths vote in each house,” said Albritton.
Everybody else is doing it, so why can’t we? Even in states where progress has been made this year, such as Minnesota, creeping doubts exist. Minnesota is aiming to legalize sports betting and daily fantasy sports sites, and would allow the state’s 11 tribes to offer both retail and online sports wagering.
A bill awaiting a vote in the House Taxes Committee has undergone major changes, however, with arguments still raging over the inclusion, or not, of the state’s horseracing tracks.
Legislators have also aired concerns that the bill in its current form may favor some tribes more than others, which could prove fatal for its chances.
Wider national scandals have spooked lawmakers, however, and resentment is spilling over into public forums.
“The mantra that ‘all of our neighbors have legalized sports betting’ has no more authority than a child's appeal that ‘all of the other kids are doing it’,” wrote Steve Sandell, a former municipal figure, in the Minnesota Star Tribune newspaper.
After the gold rush: Thirty-eight states have already approved sports betting, but hanging over the failure of Georgia and several others to pass sports-betting measures this year are the major gambling controversies dogging US sports.
Last year, the NFL suspended several players for making legal bets on other sports from team facilities.
This year, the NBA has suspended Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter over suspect prop bets he placed on himself.
The NCAA, which administers college athletes, has gone on the offensive, demanding congress ban prop bets outright, however lawyers said, despite the noise, the chances of success are slim. “As with the current lack of federal legislation on name, image and likeness, the area of sports betting also lacks a federal level of consensus and regulation,” said Gregg Clifton of law firm Lewis Brisbois.
Louisiana has become the latest state to succumb to the mounting pressure from the NCAA over college prop bets and will ban that form of betting after August 1 this year.
Shohei the money: The most eye-catching of all, which has sent US media into overdrive with op-eds denouncing sports betting and features adding color to the backlash at state level, is the increasingly strange case of Shohei Ohtani, two-way baseball icon and most valuable sports star on the planet.
Prior to turning out for his new team the LA Dodgers, Ohtanti was dragged into a very public scandal in which it emerged $4.5m had been sent from his bank account to an illegal bookmaking operation in Southern California.
Back stop: Ohtani’s now former interpreter and ex-best friend Ippei Mizuhara took the blame, was fired and is now the subject of federal probing for making wire payments to one Mathew Bowyer, who himself is up on charges of running an illegal bookmaking operation.
The pair allegedly met at a Las Vegas poker game in 2022, and Mizuhara began to rack up losses betting on multiple sports.
Sports Handle has since reported Bowyer is one of the country’s most prolific gamblers, is well known in Vegas, and frequently puts down six-figure wagers on sports and blackjack.
It has since emerged that Bowyer has been banned from several casinos and Vegas figures have been quick to distance themselves from his actions, stating they did not know he was running books.
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+More
BREAKING: bet365 will pay £582k towards socially responsible causes after the UK Gambling Commission uncovered AML and RG failures during a March 2022 compliance assessment. The Commission found, among other failings, that bet365’s enhanced customer due diligence and KYC triggers were “ineffective” at managing AML risk.
Kay Roberts, executive director of operations at the Commission, said the procedural failings “may not have been as severe as those at other gambling businesses in recent years but they were failings nonetheless.”
Denmark: In its 2023 annual report, Spillemyndigheden, the Danish gambling regulator, revealed that Stake.com was the highest-profile name among the 49 sites that were blocked to Danish citizens last year. Spillemyndigheden said it would continue its DNS blocking efforts.
The regulator added that of the 227 sites it blocked up to the end of 2022, site visits fell to 1.8m vs. 15.8m previously.
The report also cited an instance of the regulator going after a streamer who advertised illegal gambling sites. The streamer received a fine.
Spillemyndigheden subsequently conducted an investigation into the streaming activities of Twitch, YouTube Gaming, Facebook Gaming and Kick.
It added that during the inspection, no further marketing of illegal gambling targeting the Danish market was found.
Sweden: A new sports integrity memorandum has been proposed by the government that would allow for more information to be exchanged between Sweden’s gambling regulator, licensees and sports associations if match-fixing is suspected.
Brazil’s Ministry of Finance is debating giving sports-betting and iCasino companies in the country exclusive use of the ‘.bet’ domain ending. Not having that web address extension would mean the company is operating illegally.
Australia: The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission has fined MintBet A$100k (~$66k) for allowing a customer to gamble for 35 hours in a 50-hour period. The commission said MintBet allowed the customer to place 327 bets during a period where he lost A$31k despite the person indicating potential problem gambling issues.
It added that MintBet’s existing controls for at-risk players were inadequate and will now require the operator to provide a formal report on its plan to improve its systems.
UK: Bacta and the Bingo Association plan to submit recommendations to the UK Gambling Commission on technical requirements to promote safe gambling practices. The pair of trade associations said the goal is to fortify existing regulations, protect consumers and ensure the ongoing competitiveness of their members.
The digital verification platform Prove has announced it will supply its Prove Pre-Fill identity verification process to BetMGM.
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Agog on the Tyne
Think I’ll sign off the dole: Italian soccer player Sandro Tonali is sweating on further exile from the sport after being charged with placing 50 bets on football matches since joining the English Premier League last summer.
The Newcastle midfielder only played eight games for the club before copping a 10-month worldwide footballing ban for breaking Italian gambling regulations while playing for AC Milan.
However, English football bosses may extend the punishment, which runs until August this year, after the midfielder was alleged to have bet on matches 50 times between August and October 2023, following an investigation.
Tonali has until April 5 to respond to the charges, which are entirely separate to his suspension from the Italian FA.
If found guilty, the English FA may hand down further sanctions.
Tell the truth tomorrow: Club insiders feel an FA penalty could be backdated in line with his current ban, or suspended depending on any future offenses, allowing him to return next season.
The player’s case will be heard by an independent commission regardless of whether he pleads guilty or not.
Tonali’s agent disclosed last year that he suffers from a gambling addiction.
Players gambling on football anywhere in the world is banned by the FA and can carry a hefty punishment.
Brentford striker Ivan Toney was banned for eight months in May 2023 for 232 breaches of soccer gambling rules.
Double or nothing: “As I said when news of the FA investigation broke, it will be interesting to see whether the FA asks for any ban to run concurrently or consecutively with his [Tonali’s] current sanction,” said Alastair Campbell, partner at law firm Level.
Each bet is individually a breach of rules, “but it is more often the type of bet placed, rather than the number of bets, that has the most influence on sanction,” Campbell added.
He said previous bans have involved players placing hundreds of ‘less bad’ bets but have their sanction determined by reference to a handful of more problematic bets, such as bets against their own team.
Unless Tonali has placed particularly egregious bets while under the FA’s jurisdiction, it may not result in additional time away from the game, Campbell added.
Two dragons dispute set to, er, drag on
Blood on the tracks: Jefferies has reported that the legal dispute between Aristocrat and Light & Wonder over the alleged trade secret misappropriation surrounding the latter’s new Dragon Train game could take a long time to reach any type of conclusion.
Recall, Aristocrat has filed suit in Nevada alleging that L&W stole trade secrets from its Dragon Link and Lightning Link games to produce its own Dragon Train slot.
Having spoken to intellectual property lawyer and professor at UNLV Mary LaFrance, the Jefferies team said it was their impression the “process could take considerable time to result in meaningful impact.”
Suits you, sir: Suits within the competitive landscape of gaming supply are a regular occurrence, suggested the analysts, who pointed out it has been particularly prevalent among larger suppliers, which generally have the resources to pursue IP infringement cases.
The team said that, in this instance, Aristocrat is pursuing a copyright claim for audiovisual aspects, claims trademark or trade dress infringements and noted the audio similarities between the two companies’ games.
The claim went on to argue that such are the similarities it would lead consumers to believe Dragon Train is the same game as the already successful Dragon Link.
Conversely, it also argued that should the L&W game not be successful it could tarnish Aristocrat’s reputation.
Jefferies said it was their impression that L&W would be able to continue the rollout of the new game even as the lawsuit progresses.
Take your pick: Of the likely outcomes, Jefferies suggested three scenarios. First, the court finds no breach of trade, patent or copyright. Second, a settlement arrangement is reached as in previous cases whereby a cross-licensing agreement is reached. And, third, a settlement including the assignment of certain trademarks and rights from L&W to Aristocrat.
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Esports feud continues – on stage
Cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face: An ongoing feud between the two largest Counter-Strike skin-first casinos CSGOEmpire and CSGORoll came to a head over the weekend with a stage invasion at the $1.25m PGL Major in Copenhagen, Denmark.
King is in the counting house: The owner and CEO of CSGOEmpire who goes by the pseudonym ‘Monarch’ used his broadcast channel on Kick to repeatedly encourage those in attendance at the event to storm the stage and disrupt the match.
He was seen offering viewers “thousands” should they storm the stage, plus handcuffs and glue in an attempt to maximize disruption.
Empire strikes back: CSGOEmpire published a blog post shortly before protestors halted the G2 vs Mouz quarter-final for approximately 30 minutes. It claimed “since the beginning of the Empire, we have fought wars against scams – CSGODiamonds, Skinhub, CSGOWild, CSGORoll, HypeDrop, and more.”
“G2 must stop promoting scam casinos immediately, especially scam casinos that steal user balances and run a ponzi scheme,” added the blog.
“G2 must publicly disassociate and apologize for leading their fans into this scam.”
“The CEO of G2 must resign for his abhorrent behavior and statements, and for using children to promote gambling to a young fanbase.”
Roll with it: CSGORoll and G2 Esports had previously announced a ‘controversial’ deal in May last year that included multi-million sponsorship. The announcement video featured Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov on the day he turned 18, so filmed while 17, and following community backlash G2 removed CSGORoll from their list of partners without an explanation.
CSGORoll still claims to be an official partner of G2 and features the team prominently across its site.
Belize-based casino CSGORoll has previously faced regulatory action and been banned in Australia due to unlicensed operations. CSGOEmpire, positioning itself as the moral arbiter of skins and cryptocasino, operates under a Curaçao license.
Empire’s antics have gone down like a lead balloon. The casino’s previously announced $50,000 tournament is crumbling, with a plethora of exits as organizations look to distance themselves from the brand.
Six commentators have announced their withdrawal.
Eight teams will no longer compete.
The tournament organizer and production company Fortuna Esports will no longer be working with CSGOEmpire.
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