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North Carolina Continues Rapid Gambling Expansion with Online Sports Betting Launch
Only four months after introducing its online lottery, North Carolina launched online sports betting. Starting today, sports bettors can place online wagers with eight licensed operators, including FanDuel, BetMGM, Bet365, Caesars, and DraftKings. This expands on the existing forms of gambling in the state, which include retail tribal casinos and—as of November—online lottery games. North […]
Playbawk—Can California’s Tribal Bingo-Sports Hybrid App Catch on Elsewhere?
Last month, the Chicken Ranch Tribe of Me-Wuk Indians in California launched Playbawk, a Class II bingo-based sports theme app. While the app is only available on the tribe’s reservation outside Yosemite National Park, its launch could be significant. It could pave a new way to offer sports-based gambling in states with no legal online […]
North Carolina Online Sports Betting Launches Later This Month—Are Online Casinos in the State’s Future?
North Carolina legalized online sports betting last year and will become the latest US state to launch its market on March 11. Over half of states now have legal mobile betting, with North Carolina poised to become the 30th, following Vermont in January. A further eight states have retail sportsbooks but no app-based gambling. North Carolina lacks legal […]
West Flagler SCOTUS Appeal—What’s at Stake?
West Flagler Associates filed its request for the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to hear its Florida sports betting case on Feb. 8, 2024, the last day allowable under the extension it obtained in December. Many of those following the case believe that it’s unlikely that SCOTUS will grant the appeal in light of […]
An Online-Only Sports Betting Bill Might Represent Georgia’s Best Chance Yet at Gambling Expansion
Georgia now has two sports betting bills active for the 2024 legislative session, the latest of which differs substantially from previous efforts. Sen. Clint Dixon’s bill is unique as it does not require a constitutional amendment and would be tied to the state’s lottery. Another critical difference between SB 386 and previous attempts is that it […]
Hawaii Gambling Bill—Senator Proposes Single-Operator Online Poker & Sports Betting for Wildfire Relief
Hawaii could legalize online gambling in a limited way in 2024 despite not being high on anyone’s list of states likely to do so. Sen. Ronald D. Kouchi has introduced a bill to create a single-operator market for online poker and sports betting. As it stands, Hawaii has no legal gambling whatsoever. It is almost unique in that regard, with Utah […]
California Sports Betting Effort Scrapped, Surprising Exactly No One
Proponents behind an effort to legalize California sports betting have pulled a pair of initiatives after facing strong opposition from tribal gaming interests. As a result, Californians won’t be voting on sports betting in 2024. In addition to pushback from most of the 110 federally recognized tribes in California, leading sports betting operators came out […]
The Federal Excise Tax—a Ball-and-Chain for Regulated Gambling
A difference of opinion over modes of taxation could sink what should otherwise be a very popular proposal to allocate more money to problem gambling harm reduction. One of the most common arguments presented by gambling expansion proponents is that a portion of the tax revenue generated by legal gambling can be used to mitigate its […]
Fliff Lawsuit—Court Deems Sweepstakes Site’s Compelled Arbitration Clause Valid
The proposed class action lawsuit against sweepstakes sports predictions site Fliff won’t happen, as a California federal judge ruled it must proceed to arbitration per the operator’s terms and conditions. It’s an important decision and one that might signal that the flurry of litigation against social gaming sites is coming to an end. The plaintiff in the […]
Hard Rock Bet Waitlist Ends, Florida Online Sports Betting Open to All
There’s no more Hard Rock Bet waitlist. As the online sports betting operator’s ad proclaims seven times in 60 seconds, “Hard Rock Bet is legal in Florida.” On Dec. 5, a post on X by Matt Primeaux — Hard Rock Bet’s executive managing director and president — let Florida’s sports bettors know the app was open […]