guncurug

Okay, I can read a calendar but it's a little hectic around here right now (political campaigns we're working on are heading to the wire) so you get some reading links early:

Earlier this week, HR 2267, the bill which will repeal UIEGA, the Unlawful Interstate Enforcement Gambling Act and permit, regulate and tax online gaming.  The gaming allowed is primarily poker - sports betting is specifically excluded thanks to the lobbying efforts of the NCAA, NFL  and the major professional leagues. 

One should not get too excited about this milestone, however, as there is still a long road to passage through the whole Congress.  Even should it manage to get through the House, there is still the Senate to contend with and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is from Nevada, particularly susceptible to the entreaties of the lobbyists of Las Vegas' casinos.  So far those casinos have lined up in opposition to the bill, which I believe is the wrong approach.  They should be actively encouraging the passage of the bill with a tought regulatory scheme written to favor licenses going to existing land based casinos rather than existing online gaming operations. 

As it exists in its current form, should it become law, the winners will be the online gaming sites and the shakeout in that space has already begun.  Party Gaming announced an agreement to merge with Bwin and form a $3.3 billion company.

There is certainly a lot of movement in and around sports betting in America these days.  I just recently wrote about the fantasy game being run by the Philadelphia Daily News allowing online fantasy gaming. In addition, a sports betting hedge fund is about to be launched in the UK, not unlike one proposed several years ago by Mark Cuban, although the newer one now being organized has a broader based strategy.

The once unbreakable line against legal sports betting in this country continues to show significant cracks.  The latest breach appears in the online version of the Philadelphia Daily News.  The paper is offering an online fantasy gaming outlet called "Instant Fantasy Sports Games" in partnership with FanDuel.com, a British wagering company. Games are currently being offered for the NBA, NHL, and MLB.


"We're trying to serve two goals," said Yoni Greenbaum, vice president of product development at Philly.com. "Those are content differentiation and revenue. If you're looking at the sports sites out there, a lot of them have the same stuff. In this day and age, sports fans have insatiable appetites."

 Right now, the game is free to play and you can win cash.  However, once the paper starts charging people to play, how is this game different from most other forms of sports gaming which the Feds have decided to shut down?  Mind you, I have no objection to the game and hope that the Daily News finds it to be wildly successful, sparking imitators around the country.  Maybe then we'll finally see the popular groundswell needed to get rid of the ridiculous limitations on sports gambling in this country.

HT: Wiz of Odds