Another exciting week for the legal gaming industry. As we mentioned last week due to the NFL, NCAA football and basketball, NBA and NHL all in their prime sports season sportsbooks are especially flush…as a gambler might say. Outside of the record setting handles being bet on sports there are some new stories making their way into the news this week. Gambling discrimination, mergers, Josh Shaw and lobbyist efforts directed at the multi-billion dollar gaming projections by the state are all part of the news this week.
Riot Games Will Pay $10 million in Discrimination Settlement
There is no question the legal gaming industry is relatively new spanning about the last half dozen years excluding Las Vegas. Well, the short time span hasn’t stopped Riot games from racking up an impressive 1,000 women compensation lawsuit for sexual harassment all stemming since 2014. That equals approximately 150 women a year or one sexual harassment case every two days since 2014. Hooters is the only company to put up those type of prolific harassment numbers per employee. Ultimately $6.2 million will be paid out due to the “bro culture” but the link below will have the full lawsuit if interested.
Penn National and White House Gaming Sign Long Term Deal
The gaming industry seems to have one common growth strategy thus far in its early beginnings. While the company’s plan and wait for brick and mortar casinos to be built, in the meantime they have turned their resources to mobile gaming specifically tailored to sports betting. As we mentioned in previous weeks MGM has gone to a light overhead model for this current terrain and adaptability in a growing market. Penn National and White House Gaming have done the same thing pairing up in a merger. Penn National operates in 42 casinos and racetracks in 19 states while White House gaming is a leading igaming platform provider operating under the Kambi Group. Penn National is also waiting for a big rollout in the third quarter of 2020.
NFL Player Josh Shaw Suspended for Sports Betting
Here we go! This story is a big deal due to the simple fact it exposes what could be a potentially major problem with legalized sports betting. Like Norman Chad said, “Legalized sports betting, what could go wrong?” Recently NFL player Josh Shaw of the Arizona Cardinals, who is on IR, placed a second half bet as part of a parlay that included his team to lose against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He opened an account with the sportsbook under his own name while placing the bet giving away his crime to NFL officials and suspending him through the 2020 season if not forever. The NFL has to take a hard line on this or it could become a real problem. What could stop a player from placing bets on inside knowledge? Any misperceived conception could cause irreparable damage to the NFL’s clean image. Even though everyone and their dog can see what is happening with the NFL officials and late flags ruining game outcomes. And doesn’t a player only need someone to place a bet for them to get away with it? With fans betting from their seats arriving soon this problem will only get worse. Ultimately I believe this will become uncontrollable by the NFL or any other league and transparency might be the only way through.
https://www.legalsportsreport.com/36203/holden-josh-shaw-nfl/
Tidbits:
- Pennsylvania skill games machines not regulated by the Gaming Act.
- Lawmakers to tackle California sports betting report in January.
- The gaming industry launches a lobbying effort to shield smartphone games from Washington gambling laws.
- Illinois sports betting market could rival Nevada’s once it opens.
- Danish regulator warns 888 over AML concerns.
- Rick Salomon, a high stakes poker player, lost a case worth $2.8 million.
- The St. Louis Blues’ have a predictive gaming app revealing the future of NHL gambling.
