The U.S. sports betting world moves quickly and unpredictably in 2025. In order to properly take stock of it all, we offer InGame’s “EndGame,” an end-of-week compilation of the top storylines, some overlooked items, and all the other news bits from this past week that we found interesting.
Caesars debuts digital wallet in Nevada
Sports bettors in Nevada now have access to a digital wallet on the Caesars Sportsbook platform, the company announced Thursday. With the upgrade, bettors can use a single wallet wherever legal across the U.S. Universal digital wallets allow consumers to access their funds in multiple jurisdictions.
BetMGM became the first to offer a universal digital wallet in Nevada in August 2024. The two biggest digital sports betting platforms, DraftKings and FanDuel, are not available in Nevada.
“The launch of our universal wallet in Nevada is a significant step forward and a long-anticipated enhancement that brings greater convenience and connectivity to our mobile app,” Caesars Digital President Eric Hession said via press release. “With this update, sports bettors who visit Nevada and our world-class destinations on the Las Vegas Strip or beyond can enjoy a consistent experience wherever they go, with their account, funds, and rewards all in one place, just as it should be.”
Jill R. Dorson
NJ bill banning college-wagering deals now law
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed A4113 banning public institutions of higher education from partnering with sports betting companies. The bill was approved for public law Tuesday, and New Jersey becomes the latest state to ban such partnerships. Several other states, including Massachusetts, already ban such partnerships, and the American Gaming Association’s gambling marketing code includes a prohibition.
In New Jersey, the new law applies only to public universities, and includes athletic departments and booster clubs. Banning college partnerships became a key issue in the sports betting industry in 2020 after a PointsBet-Denver deal in which the university was paid $30 per referral came to light. Caesars Sportsbook went on to partner with Michigan State and Louisiana State, but all the deals were nixed following pressure from responsible gambling advocates.
Gaming institute launches at SDSU
San Diego State University June 23 launched the Institute on Sports Wagering and Gaming (ISWAG), a research and education hub focused on the sports betting industry. The release highlighted three pillars the institute will focus on: research, industry engagement, and education. ISWAG hopes to become a leading institute in policy analysis and academic-industry collaboration for the sport betting industry.
NM tribe seeking help from AG to ban Kalshi
A New Mexico tribe has asked the state’s attorney general to take an active role helping to ban prediction market platform Kalshi from operating in the state, and on tribal land, according to Source NM. Tribes across the U.S. have recently banded together in an effort to prohibit Kalshi from operating on Indian land. Digital sports betting isn’t legal in New Mexico. Kalshi is licensed by a federal agency and has so far been allowed to offer its sports betting-like product throughout the country.
During a committee meeting at the Inn of the Gods, the Mescalero Apache Tribe casino resort, Monday, tribal VP Duane Duffy said, “That is a threat to the gaming market here in the state, and a clear violation of the state tribal gaming compacts. And so that is something that we are going to have to work together on [to] address.”
Jill R. Dorson
That’s quite the statement
Kalshi’s Tarek Mansour continued to sound off heading into the holiday weekend:
In the last month, the sports betting industry’s disdain for prediction markets has created strange bedfellows — 34 state attorneys general signed an amicus brief and more than 65 tribal groups filed their own, both in support of the state of New Jersey in a case against Kalshi. Mansour’s company has sued three states for the right to continue operating.
Jill R. Dorson
Costas no fan of sports betting
Iconic U.S. sportscaster Bob Costas last week spent a few minutes of his Meet the Press interview sharing his thoughts about legal sports betting. Let’s just say, he’s not a fan. Costas called for additional regulation, pointed to gambling harm, and shared that he refused to read gambling promotions because he said he “couldn’t in good consisience encourage people to do something which I know … there’s an insidious aspect to it that I didn’t want to be a part of.”
Jill R. Dorson
LeoVegas extends partnership with Kambi
LeoVegas, an online gaming operator owned by MGM, extended its sportsbook deal with Kambi until 2027. Although LeoVegas acquired Tipico’s U.S. betting platform last June and plans to transition to an in-house proprietary sportsbook, it will continue to partner with Kambi “to ensure business continuity” during the Tipico integration, according to iGamingBusiness.
The deal is beneficial for Kambi, since the company has lost business as more operators are switching to in-house sportsbooks. LeoVegas accounted for about 3% of Kambi’s revenue in 2023. Kambi is looking to develop more flexible offerings, such as its Odds Feed+ package, which LeoVegas took as part of the deal.
Hard Rock Sacramento sports bar coming
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sacramento at Fire Mountain in California is set to open a sports bar as part of the casino in the fall. The bar will be able to broadcast up to 20 sports games at once on an immersive video wall. There will also be a 24/7 ticker of game scores for guests to keep up with. Sports betting is not yet legal in California, but the idea behind the sports bar is that the property will be ready whenever legalization happens.
“Adding this sports bar allows us to be fully equipped to support sports betting once it is introduced in California,” Mark Birtha, president of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sacramento at Fire Mountain, said, according to Indian Gaming.
This sounds fun
BetMGM and Marriott Bonvoy are partnering with retired All-Pro NFL quarterback Matt Ryan for a fun promotion ahead of football season. Take a look:
FanDuel, PrizePicks beef up exec offices
FanDuel added Shailagh Murray, formerly of Columbia University, and Jonathan Nabavi, formerly of the NFL, to its executive suite, the company announced Monday. PrizePicks Wednesday announced that former Massachusetts Gaming Commission General Counsel Todd Grossman will take over as director of gaming regulatory compliance.
Murray, the new senior vice president for public affairs at FanDuel, held a similar title at Columbia, and previously worked on the communications team in the Obama White House. Nabavi, hired as the VP of federal affairs, helped shape public policy and craft the legislative agenda for the NFL.
At the MGC, Grossman was also the interim executive director, and was part of the team that launched legal sports betting in 2023.
Jill R. Dorson
Meta rolls out new gambling ad policy
Meta announced a policy to require gambling advertisements to obtain authorization to promote on their platforms, NewsNet5 reported Tuesday. The rule applies to any gambling-related promotion, including sports betting, online casinos, prize-based games, and poker.
On Facebook and Instagram, anyone who wants to put up a gambling advertisement must now go through the Authorizations and Verifications tab in the Business Suite and request approval from Meta. Influencers promoting gambling will have to get Meta’s approval as well.
UK FA player banned for betting
The UK Football Association banned Ryan Bowman for 3½ years for placing 6,397 bets in eight years. The ban began in March and will last until September 2028, BBC reported Wednesday. England’s Football Association prohibits players from betting on any soccer game worldwide.
Bowman reportedly placed 351 bets on Shrewsbury and Exeter games — two of his previous teams. The BBC reported that he was accused of betting “from the substitutes bench on a game between Shrewsbury and MK Dons that was already underway in January 2023, something he denied.” He allegedly placed eight bets against Shrewsbury games, three of which he played in, and he placed six bets on himself in games he played.
ICYMI on InGame
FanDuel Valued At $31 Billion As Flutter Buys Out Remaining Boyd Stake
Time For Sports Betting Operators To Bail Out Of Illinois? Not So Fast
State Lawmakers, Others At NCLGS No Fans Of OBBBA
FAIR BET Act Introduced To Roll Back Gambling Losses Tax Deduction Cut
Are Prediction Markets Solution For Over-Taxed Bettors?
Kalshi’s Latest Fee Change May Mean Higher Costs For Sports Traders
Tribes Say A New SCOTUS Decision Strengthens Argument In NJ-Kalshi Case
Examining State Of Play After California AG’s DFS Sports Betting Opinion
