It’s information overload everywhere, and there’s not enough time to sleep and eat and stay fully informed of what’s happening on this crazy blue dot of ours (two out of three, that’s not is not bad). Here’s Sports Handle’s article from the weekend, “Get a Grip,” recapping the week’s top US sports betting headlines, highlighting some fresh news and rounding up key stories.
Top stories around our network this week
Late May isn’t usually a high spot on the NFL news calendar. The draft is finished. The training camps have not started. Sportsbooks have posted their futures odds for the Super Bowl champion of the 2023 season, team wins, individual awards, and even weekly game lines, and those odds won’t change much for months.
Any professional football news released around Memorial Day is as likely to be negative as it is positive, and that’s the situation over the holiday weekend. A month after the NFL suspended four players from the Detroit Lions’ 2022 roster among five cited by the league for playing violations, it is now reported that a fifth Lion is also under investigation.
Athletic did not identify the player as they reported news of the ongoing investigation which has yet to determine wrongdoing, but said he “was not a prominent member of the team. 2022”. That was generally the case with the other players suspended in April, although wide receiver Jameson Williams was notable as the Lions’ No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft.
The report followed an article by ESPN’s David Purdum this week in which he summarized the various NFL gambling issues and reported that the league was “investigating a second wave of potential violations of its gambling policy.” He noted that seven players, at least one assistant coach and an undisclosed number of team employees have violated league play policy in the past five years. This period covers the period since the United States Supreme Court’s PASPA decision largely opened up the country to legalized sports betting.
It remains to be seen what America’s most popular sport has in terms of new gambling offenses and how the league deals with them. Unfortunately, this comes at a time when the problematic issues surrounding the intersection of sports and betting are already in the news. Sports Handle reported this week on recent investigations into college sports and professional football, among other concerns.
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Our staff will keep abreast of future developments and cover all broader topics related to the sports betting industry, as demonstrated in the stories linked below from the past week. And for more on the gambling industry, check out US Bets and its weekly column, Double Down, as well as the latest Gamble On podcast.
Fanatics crave big moves this year
No license transfer required as Fanatics begins to move to New York
Massachusetts becomes a third state with access to mobile bookmaker Fanatics
Massachusetts regulators are voice type
Massachusetts Gaming Commission ‘frustrated’ by DraftKings violation
Massachusetts betting regulator maintains tax on promotional games
Decision time in North Carolina
Report: Senate vote on North Carolina mobile betting bill coming soon
Heavily Amended North Carolina Mobile Betting Bill Begins Senate Journey
New York tries not to go too far
New York regulator backs away from plans to ban third-party sports betting ads
Lawmakers busy in Illinois
Illinois Legislature Extends State School Betting Through 2024
Bally’s gets potential increase in labor pool with passage of Illinois bill
A new sports betting bonus stands out
ZenSports offers cash back to Tennessee sports bettors
The official’s tweets misrepresented it
Maine betting regulator furloughed over controversial tweets
New partners make more bets
Hard Rock partners with Simplebet to improve micro betting options
College students animated by their bets
NCAA study of college-age sports bettors finds 61% have placed a live bet
Let’s teach bettors about money
Reading Between the Lines: Financial Literacy in Sports Betting
A good research topic
Risky Business: UNLV Gambling Conference Leaves No Cards Unturned
Researchers try to explain gambler behavior at Vegas rally
Circa regains the lead in the competition
Circa increases Million and Survivor pool payouts to $14 million combined
Tweet of the week
The Heat try to play defense tonight: pic.twitter.com/JQVtViZWwy
— FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) May 26, 2023
More of the most important and interesting stories
LAS VEGAS A’S OFFERS A LOT OF POTENTIAL: Stadium A could be a home run for gaming and leisure properties [The Nevada Independent]
ATHLETES ARE PROBLEM PLAYERS TOO: FA reduced Ivan Toney’s suspension due to gambling addiction diagnosis [ESPN.com]
WORRIED FOR CHILDREN: Children as young as 8 are reporting gambling addiction, advocates say, calling for sports betting ads [CTV News]
A SPORTS BOOK FOR A GUY COULD DROP: Circa Sports has a new sports betting manager, but the same sharp model [Las Vegas Review-Journal]
It took Chris Bennett 19 years of hard work in the sports betting industry to achieve his goal of becoming director of sports betting. https://t.co/v7z2MeZhzd
— Las Vegas Review-Journal (@reviewjournal) May 24, 2023
THE HONEYMOON COULD BE OVER: Dave Portnoy’s Barstool Sports future uncertain with contract 20 months away [New York Post]
WHEN DIVERSITY IS NOT SO DIVERSIFIED: Schuetz Chronicle: A less than perfect job [GGB News]
TRYING TO PUT A RAP ON THIS: Meek Mill named PrizePicks Brand Ambassador and Cultural Advisor [Boardroom]
BEYOND A RETURN TO NORMALITY: Las Vegas airport sets April record as international travel surges [CDC Gaming Reports]
