Big Ten refs are insane, stop the steal!

2025 Maryland football the greatest team in college football history

Kalshi says it never wins when users lose. That's not true—at least for the parent company. Kalshi Trading, owned by Kalshi Inc., is a for-profit entity operating on the exchange. We break down the affiliate and how its existence seems to contradict Kalshi's public messaging.

Kalshi and Polymarket say state law doesn't apply to them. What about intellectual property law? That's the latest potential land mine they're testing, so far without pushback.

I became a law professor in 2005, and have taught sports law every year. Looking back at my syllabus from 20 years ago, let's just say things have changed—from the NCAA, to sports betting to marijuana. Plus now it's a "real" area of law. My @sportico.bsky.social column:

The way his hands waggled lets me know she was woofing at him like a Rottweiler on the loose, goddamn

Just seven years ago, WNBA players didn’t appear in 2K at all. Since then, women’s basketball has enjoyed a wave of commercial and cultural momentum that made Take-Two take notice.

Manchester United has more than 20 players on its books whose earnings this season will eclipse every Grimsby player combined.

Roger Goodell and a host of athletes donated to Jay Feely's campaign.

NEW: Polymarket will be in the U.S. for NFL season, and like Kalshi, it is not shying away from sportsbook lingo and imagery. In one ad, it uses the logos of DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM.

Sports betting and fintech are moving closer and closer. You'll be able to trade on oil and gas prices on FanDuel this year.

As Novig enjoyed a positive media blitz last week regarding its $18 million raise, the sweepstakes platform was in retreat from a massive market. More state exits could be in store.

My colleague @dan-bernstein.bsky.social crunched the numbers and found that console users are playing less Madden NFL in recent years 🏈🎮📉 Read more: www.sportico.com/business/tec...

EXCLUSIVE: Research shows EA's "Madden NFL" franchise has seen a sharp fall in time played per user 🎮

EA is not seeing the same year-over-year revenue gains from microtransactions that it once did, and it is coming off its worst Q1 in live services (the category in-game purchases fall under) since 2022.

Anyway, when I pulled the Take Two worker numbers, they looked really low compared to the ones I recently pulled for EA. Here's a chart. Why the difference? Could be geography? I'm told some 22% of TT workers are in "low cost locations" such as India, China and Turkey. Don't have that figure for EA

First strike in Fenway Park history ✋

The bets that drive sportsbook revenue are not doing the same for sports prediction markets.

Polymarket on Monday announced the $112 million purchase of QCEX, which the prediction market platform said will fast track its return to the U.S. after three years away.

NEW: Found public records showing Polymarket spent about $1 million on Meta last fall for ads targeting U.S. users—even though it couldn't actually offer its prediction markets in the states.

Penn State is accused of forcing out a trustee who fought to unearth details over a major athletics department partnership. The situation is part of a broader issue in college athletics, writes @daniellibit.bsky.social

"Bet on NBA legally!” Does that strike you as a call to gamble? Kalshi doesn't think so. "This language is very common in the financial world," a company official said when presented with the ad material I found.

Flutter statement clarifies that $1.76 billion cost of the deal breaks into two parts: -$1.55 billion for 5% stake -$205m attributable to the revision of various existing commercial terms This revises FanDuel's valuation to $31 billion—lower than Sky's initial reporting but still way up from 2020.

Is "College Football 26" a trap game for Electronic Arts? The publisher needs momentum heading into the fall but could struggle to replicate the excitement from last summer's NCAA video game return.

The value of NWSL teams has soared in recent years. The latest data point: the Utah Royals were valued at $100 million by the buyer in their recent sale to the Miller family, according to three people familiar with the transaction who were granted anonymity because the details are private.

Lots of people hate the 2025 Club World Cup. But you won't find Fluminense among its critics, with the tournament bringing the Brazilian team goods that could alter its future outlook for the better.

"Rematch" is exploding in popularity 📈

Nobel laureate Claudia Goldin is working with the Women’s National Basketball Players Association as an unpaid consultant during collective bargaining.

Roth IRAs were intended to help average working Americans save, but IRS records show Peter Thiel and other ultrawealthy investors have used them to amass vast untaxed fortunes. (Published 2021)

He brought the case against the NCAA and Electronic Arts over the illegal use of players' likenesses in video games. That case made NIL in college sports possible. My friend Ed OBannon now writes an exclusive column for @sportico.bsky.social on the return of EA's College Basketball Video Game:

For the first time, women's college basketball programs will be in a video game from a major publisher 🤝

The expansion fee is a record $250 million, according to two sources who requested anonymity because the discussions were private.

It's a Royal Rumble with key participants previously unfamiliar with one another: Silicon Valley, Wall Street, sports betting, tribal rights, state rights, corruption allegations

The saga of sports prediction markets is pretty wild—but it takes a bit of catch-up reading to understand what's going on. I put together an FAQ to spread the word.

Expansion fees for a new NHL franchise would be at least $2 billion, and the new owners would need to additionally commit at least $1 billion toward an arena if the potential city requires one, according to two sources familiar with the process.

Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert is looking to sell a stake in his NBA franchise, according to a half-dozen sources who asked not to be named because the details are private 🔎

Spent some time in Salisbury to talk with those in the organization who loved Luis Guevara most. They called him their brother. A coach promised to be more like the 19-year-old. A minor league baseball team embraced the spirit of an amazing kid. Read: www.thebaltimorebanner.com/sports/oriol...

There is zero doubt Republican gains last November have helped elevate the business outlooks of Polymarket and Kalshi—and contributed to this week's fund raises. My latest 👇

Every WNBA team has gained at least $100 million in value in just one year 😮

GameStop has tried to be many things. Now batting: A venture into the collectibles market 🆕

I’ve long laughed at the bullpen routine at Camden Yards when there is a bench-clearing incident. Home and away relievers run down the same stairs, through the same gate, and take the same path to the infield. Do they see the irony? So I wrote about it: www.thebaltimorebanner.com/sports/oriol...

States are trying to use their sports betting laws to regulate Kalshi, a derivatives exchange and prediction market operator. Now more than 60 tribes and tribal advocacy organizations write amicus brief in favor of the states. @dan-bernstein.bsky.social and I discuss for @sportico.bsky.social:

“First, [the U.S.] said they’re going to take our land, and they took it, then they said they’re going to come for our gold, and they took it, and now they say they’re going to come for tribal gaming,” IGA conference chair Victor Rocha said. “The big difference is, now we’re ready for it.”

EXCLUSIVE: The Tampa Bay Rays are in advanced talks to be sold 🗣️

EXCLUSIVE: San Jose Earthquakes owner John Fisher has hired an investment bank to sell his MLS club, according to multiple people familiar with the billionaire’s plans.

WNBA players are looking to the NWSL for inspiration.

All it took was an Illinois schoolteacher hiring a private investigator, an independent development studio re-engineering the game’s source code and a generation of fans keeping their interest in the franchise alive over a dormant decade.

An independent sports video game success story—and a win for the fight against microtransactions.

Owners of the Seattle Storm recently sold small pieces of the WNBA team at a $325 million valuation.

An inside look at what Robinhood is trying to get out of its controversial leap into sports—which is distinct from other gambling industry players.