EndGame: UFC Integrity Fail; Congress, NBA Convene On Scandal

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.

Dana White no hero in Dulgarian scandal

UFC chief executive officer Dana White rightly rang up the FBI immediately after featherweight Isaac Dulgarian lost in a stunning first-round submission to underdog Yadier del Valle on Saturday.

White, alerted to heavy pre-match betting against the favored Dulgarian by integrity monitor IC360, had called “The Midwest Choppa” prior to the fight seeking any possible explanation. He was reassured enough by Dulgarian’s proclamations of health and that he would “kill this guy” to allow the show to proceed.

After watching Dulgarian submit quickly, White contacted federal authorities who are still working an NBA betting investigation that recently led to charges against former Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier. White later conceded this didn’t “look good.”

Good for White having that moment of clarity. But his reaction feels more like a fit of pique in being lied to by an employee – or former employee, as Dulgarian was promptly released – and a CYA move.

Granted, some sportsbooks refunded wagers on the bout, but White has a responsibility to proactively prevent an integrity breach, especially after receiving advance notice. The MMA media corps is swarming, with one outlet claiming that upwards of 100 bouts could have been compromised and another writing that this morass harkens to another scandal from just a few years ago.

White has been dismissive, telling TMZ: “Now, you see people online saying there are hundreds of fights under investigation — total bulls***. The usual clickbait bulls***. But, we just had an office full of FBI agents here.”

White doesn’t get to bemoan online sleuthing over whether his product is compromised when he chose to ignore the professional kind. He was warned that there was a reasonable suspicion that a rigged match was about to happen. And then he let it happen anyway.

He does not get to un-ring – literally – that bell.

Congressional staffers, NBA lawyers huddle

NBA lawyers and House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee staffers met on Wednesday to discuss details of how the league is addressing ongoing sports betting scandals, how it plans to stop them, and the league’s partnerships with sports betting companies, according to The Athletic.

Neither NBA Commissioner Adam Silver nor his deputy, Mark Tatum, were present.

The Athletic described the meeting as cordial and the dialogue in keeping with the request letter sent to the league after Rozier and former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones were arrested as part of the investigation that led to a lifetime ban for Jontay Porter for conspiring to fix outcomes.

NYSGC lobs one up for Adam Silver

The New York State Gaming Commission on Thursday informed Silver that it would “act with utmost alacrity” to winnow its sports betting menu to help reduce future manipulation.

Specifically, Chairman Brian O’Dwyer mentioned the player props that Silver has targeted since Porter and, allegedly, Rozier manipulated them at the behest of gamblers.

Silver was the first “big four” pro sports commissioner in the United States to advocate for legal sports betting as a revenue vertical and engagement tool and arguably is the most negatively affected by scandals revealed with subsequent integrity protocols. Following through on eliminating some of these props, particularly unders, and specifically for fringe players looks like a slam … you know.

Beasley remains in investigation limbo

Rozier was “cleared” of forbidden gambling activities by the NBA and still eventually indicted by the FBI on wire and bank fraud charges stemming from the same allegations.

Former Detroit Piston Malik Beasley’s illegal betting investigation is unfolding in the opposite direction. His lawyers claimed in September that the free agent was no longer under FBI scrutiny, but the NBA has yet to announce a resolution to its query of the free agent. Beasley updated his Snapchat followers of his situation recently.

The NBA all-clear obviously didn’t amount to much for Rozier, but a pro sports league certainly doesn’t wield the national policing power of the Department of Justice.

That said, Beasley’s lawyers told Front Office Sports that their client remains “stuck in investigative purgatory” because the NBA’s Rozier investigation, in hindsight, looks feckless.

“Given the recent arrests, and the criticism the league has received regarding its investigative ineptness, they are reluctant to take a position on clearing Malik despite him completely complying with the league investigation. Losing over $40 million [in potential salary] for accusations void of a criminal charge or conviction may be unprecedented in the history [of] pro sports,” attorney Steve Haney told FOS.

It would appear that DraftKings is serious

Two weeks after acquiring Commodity Futures Trading Commission-certified exchange Railbird, DraftKings is advertising to hire a prediction markets trade operations manager. The company went full steam ahead on Thursday, proclaiming it would soon launch DraftKings Predictions in states without legal sports betting.

The job sounds exciting, but don’t even bother unless you bring “high attention to detail and a bias for action when resolving time-sensitive issues.”

Kalshi riding with new executive

The Information reported that ex-Uber executive Saurabh Tejwani has been hired as Kalshi’s chief financial officer. Tejwani told the outlet that an IPO is “something we will consider” in the future.

Upright betting market

The K-ball is allowing NFL kickers to blast field goals from record-breaking distances, and sportsbooks are responding after Jacksonville’s Cam Little (above) hit a 68-yard game-winner against last Las Vegas week that reset the league record.

Hard Rock on Wednesday had odds of +1700 on whether someone hits from 70 yards or further this season.

PrizePicks launches fantasy insurance

Following sportsbooks like Fanatics and FanDuel, who offer early-exit injury insurance on parlays, PrizePicks on Tuesday launched its own feature.

And nobody has to get hurt for PrizePicks to pay up. Players can simply void a leg if they’re feeling iffy about a certain player.

Said PrizePicks: “Players will now have real-time control of their lineups and can strategically cash in based on the momentum of a contest or choose to ride their picks to the end. PrizePicks players will have the opportunity to use an Early Payout slider once two or more players in an eligible lineup have started playing. The payout value updates throughout the game based on player performance, putting strategy and control directly in the user’s hands.”

Judge dismisses Iowa college athlete suit

A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that Iowa Department of Public Safety, Division of Criminal Investigation agents had immunity in obtaining geolocation data for 35 student-athletes as part of a gambling investigation even though the search was technically unconstitutional.

The federal suit by former athletes at the University of Iowa, Iowa State and Ellsworth Community College was thereby dismissed.

Sort-of-eulogizing ESPN Bet

In some ways, it will be sad to see ESPN Bet go the way of Mobile ESPN and ESPN Vodka — wait, that might have been someone else — because it had some merits. The color scheme was snappy, and the integration with FanCenter showed some promise. But it never was able to fulfill the market share promise that the ubiquitous ESPN brand should have delivered.

It turns out that Hot Paper Lantern CEO Ed Moed wrote the app’s eulogy in September, telling InGame:

“Think about everyone in that audience — and think about how that captive audience could be –could walk over that bridge, and it hasn’t. It was a natural.

“The power of ESPN and the brand and the base, and even the millions they have on fantasy, and all the pools they have, all that, to not get a giant part of that base is crazy.”

When ESPN Bet launched in 2023, it looked like a sure bet: the world’s biggest sports brand entering a booming market through Penn Entertainment.

But 2 years later, the partnership is a cautionary tale in why brand power can't overcome a rushed product.https://t.co/ehBaA71T6Z
— Sports Business Journal (@SBJ) November 7, 2025

Change coming in Nevada?

Boomer’s Sportsbook founder Joe Asher and Caesars Chief Development Officer Dan Shapiro offered thoughts to the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) on next steps with sports betting regulation in the wake of the NBA sports betting scandal, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. The NGCB on Wednesday solicited advice from stakeholders as it considers revamping rules in an effort to tamp down on the exploitation of prop bets.

A key part of the NBA scandal was bettors with insider information wagering on the “under” for individual statistical performances. In both cases, those bettors knew ahead of games that Porter and Rozier would leave early.

“I do think there’s room for regulation around this, because what is important is that in a given jurisdiction, all of the operators are playing by the same rules and that the same standards apply to everybody and that the bet offerings can have some consistency,” said Asher. He cautioned against completely banning prop bets “so there isn’t a fear that, ‘Well, if we don’t offer this, but our competitor is, then maybe we’re going to lose business to that competitor.’ ”

The discussion, which came during licensing items on the Wednesday agenda, could point to the board preparing to make rules changes, though none has been posted.

Jill R. Dorson

Bettors can open Missouri accounts Nov. 17

**Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images**

The countdown to the launch of legal sports betting in Missouri will ramp up a notch Nov. 17 when consumers can begin opening and funding accounts with approved operators. Those operators are already advertising in the state.

The Missouri Gaming Commission awarded licenses to 10 sports betting operators in October, including ESPN Bet, which will shutter as of Dec. 1. The license for the platform was awarded to Penn Entertainment, which said it will pivot to theScore Bet for wagering, but it’s not clear if it will need additional approvals in Missouri – or elsewhere – to do that.

Launch is set for 12:01 a.m. Monday, Dec. 1. The Kansas City Chiefs will play their first game in a legal market Dec. 7 against the Houston Texans.

Jill R. Dorson

Odds and ends

Minnesota’s attorney general Wednesday sent out cease-and-desist letters to 14 operators illegally conducting wagering in the state, including offshore sportsbook Bovada. In October, the same 14 sites got letters from the state’s Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division.
Georgia sports betting will be without an experienced champion in the 2026 session after State Rep. Marcus Wiedower resigned in late October to focus on an opportunity in the private sector. His senate counterpart on sports betting, Brandon Beach, left the legislature in May to become the U.S. treasurer.
Real American Freestyle (RAF), the self-described “first-ever unscripted pro wrestling league,” announced a multi-year deal with ALT Sports Data this week to create pre- and in-match betting markets for licensed sportsbooks in the U.S.
Betr’s Ball in the Family Podcast — hosted by NBA player Lonzo Ball; his brother, professional basketball player and rapper LiAngelo Ball; Darren “DMo” Moore, and Anthony “Ant” Salazar — will debut on Nov. 11 with ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith as a guest.
S 211, a Canadian bill that would restrict gambling advertising, got its first reading in the House of Commons on Wednesday. The bill would task the Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage with crafting a national advertising framework, with an eye toward limiting when, where, and how often gambling ads could be displayed.

Check it out

The Philadelphia Inquirer‘s origin story on Shane “Sugar” Hennen is an illustrative look at how a kid from a hard-scrabble neighborhood near Pittsburgh became a major online “betfluencer” and eventually enmeshed in the Porter-Rozier betting case as a co-conspirator.