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.
Kalshi raises $1 billion
Kalshi has raised another $1 billion, at a valuation of $11 billion, according to TechCrunch.
The funding round was led by Sequoia and CapitalG, both of which had participated in previous funding rounds.
The prediction market’s valuation has soared in recent months. In September, the business revealed it had raised $300 million at a $5 billion valuation.
The funding round will give Kalshi a major war chest as it aims to compete with new entrants in the world of prediction markets, such as DraftKings and FanDuel.
Missouri wagering sign-ups underway
Licensed operators in Missouri opened sign-ups Monday, two weeks before the Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) is set to launch 10 platforms Dec. 1. Among the offers from sportsbooks:
- New BetMGM bettors in Missouri get a match of up to $1,500 in bonus bets on their first bet, should it lose. The bonus bets are valid for seven days and expire within seven days. In addition, BetMGM is offering “eligible” players $100 in bonus bets for a minimum $10 deposit made between Nov. 17-30.
- New Missouri-based Caesars customers who deposit $5 by Dec. 1 will get five “profit boost tokens” and up to $150 in bonus bets on their first wager.
Bet365, Circa Sports, DraftKings, Fanatics Sportsbook, FanDuel, Kambi, Penn Entertainment, and Underdog are also set to launch. It appears that Penn will launch its theScoreBet platform, as ESPN Bet will shutter Dec. 1.
DraftKings Thursday announced that it has partnered with the St. Louis Blues as the team’s sportsbook and daily fantasy partner. The partnership will include in-arena signs, brand integrations on both DraftKings and Blues platforms, hospitality experiences, and promotion of DraftKings’ responsible gaming tools and messages.
Operators can go live as early as 12:01 a.m. Dec. 1. The launch will be the first since operators in North Carolina went live March 11, 2024.
Jill R. Dorson
Coinbase to launch prediction markets with Kalshi?
In addition to its capital raising news, Kalshi appears to have a major new partnership in the works. Tech blogger Jane Manchun Wong reports that Coinbase is working on a prediction market, and provided screenshots that show its contracts will be offered by Kalshi.
Wong generally reports on tech companies’ upcoming products by examining their public source code.
Coinbase teased a prediction markets launch in August, but did not reveal how it planned to enter the space.
Canadian senators pushing for ad ban
After passing a bill that would curb sports betting advertising, more than 40 Canadian senators sent Prime Minister Mark Carney a letter asking him to ban gambling advertising in the country, Canadian Gaming Business reported Thursday. Sen. Marty Deacon is the author of S-211, which would impose limits on sports betting advertising, and Sen. Percy Downe signed the letter with others in support.
The senators called sports gambling, which is legal throughout Canada but only live in Ontario, a public health issue, and told Carney of a nationwide ban that “such a measure would be similar to the advertising ban for cigarettes, and for the same reason: to address a public health problem.”
Jill R. Dorson
Playing politics? Why sportsbooks can make donations
Sportsbook operators, but not casino companies or executives, can make political campaign contributions, the Louisiana Board of Ethics determined, according to a Louisiana Illuminator report from last week. The board, in an opinion on a matter involving Caesars-owned American Wagering, wrote that the current restriction on campaign contributions doesn’t extend to sportsbooks.
“There is no provision under which [the political contribution ban] applies to [American Wagering] directly,” ethics board attorney Charles Reeves wrote.
Jill R. Dorson
Nevada approves Caesars settlement over Bowyer AML checks
The Nevada Gaming Commission voted to approve a $7.8 million settlement negotiated with Caesars over the operator’s links with illegal bookmaker Matt Bowyer.
Caesars executive chair Gary Carano and CEO Tom Reeg apologized for the company’s actions, with Reeg saying the Bowyer scandal has been a “stain on the state and I’m embarrassed that we’re a part of it.”
A complaint from the Nevada Gaming Control Board filed last week said Bowyer played at Caesars properties from 2017 until his arrest in 2024. It went on to claim the operator did not look deeply enough into the illegal bookmaker’s source of funds.
The commission voted 4-1 to approve the settlement. Commissioner Rosa Solis-Rainey voted against, arguing that the findings relating to Caesars were “more egregious” than those for MGM, which agreed an $8.5 million settlement in April over its own role in the scandal.
Kalshi launches NBA props — but only overs on site and app
Kalshi launched NBA player props this week, but most customers are only able to bet overs.
Traders can bet on whether NBA players will exceed certain point totals, but users on the Kalshi website and app can only bet “yes.” API users appear to be able to bet “no.”
Props appear to only be available for starters and more prominent bench players.
The decision not to list unders or players near the end of the bench appears to be a way of avoiding the types of markets that have been associated with recent betting scandals. The Jontay Porter scandal encouraged sportsbooks to limit bets for players on two-way contracts, while Terry Rozier was arrested last month after being accused of manipulating outcomes for the benefit of associates who had placed bets on his “under” props for points, rebounds, and assists.
Liquidity and volume on the markets appears to be low so far.
Massachusetts: theScoreBet approved, Caesars fined
As Penn Entertainment continues the process of switching its online betting skin from ESPN Bet to theScoreBet, it Thursday got approval from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to make the change. The commission unanimously voted to allow the change, planned to go into effect Dec. 1, after Penn explained that the guts of the platform won’t change, just the branding. In addition, the MGC approved a change in branding Penn’s Plainridge Park retail facility, as well within the company’s house rules.
In other action, the commission assessed at $7,500 find to Caesars Sportsbook for offering wagering on “The Showdown” golf tournament between Nov. 25-Dec. 16. The tournament was not approved for wagering, and the MGC’s Investigations Enforcement Bureau flagged the violation ahead of the actual event. At that time, Caesars canceled and refunded bets.
Jill R. Dorson
Banned college player explains his motivations
Former University of New Orleans guard Cedquavious “Dae Dae” Hunter, who was one of six men’s college basketball players banned last week by the NCAA, told Good Morning America on Monday that he needed “fast cash” because he had just become a father.
“I just had a child, and the school wasn’t paying me money,” said Hunter, who initially denied, but recently admitted he helped manipulate outcomes in seven games. “So I was trying to get money to actually take care of my child.”
Brant James
Manfred: Prop ban is good, about to answer Congress
MLB Commissioner Rob Mandred told reporters last week that a new $200 cap on microbets will “strike the right balance” in maintaining integrity and satisfying bettors.
The cap was added after former Cleveland pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis L. Ortiz were indicted on federal conspiracy charges stemming from their alleged pitch-fixing for gamblers and their personal gains. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Manfred said he will look into prediction markets’ security protocols and soon plans to answer questions posed by the Senate Commerce Committee regarding the scandal.
Brant James
Breaking: Entire NBA teams throwing games
The National Basketball Association’s out-in-the-open integrity problem continues to fester, as some teams continue to spackle to feckless rosters to lose games and improve their draft lottery prospects.
If this was being done to benefit gamblers, well that would be yet another bad look in the NBA’s recent run of them. That said, a tank job did work its way into the federal indictments of former NBA player Terry Rozier and player and assistant coach Damon Young, as an unindicted “Co-Conspirator 8” — who perfectly matched the description of former Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups — apparently tipped gamblers to a tank in 2023.
According to Sportradar and initially reported by Front Office Sports, this is just the third time in NBA history that four teams — Pacers (1–13), Wizards (1–12), Pelicans (2–12), and Nets (2–11) — have won two or fewer of their first 13 games.
In other NBA scandal news, a firm working for the league has asked several teams — including the Los Angeles Lakers — to provide documents and cell phones as part of an ongoing investigation.
Brant James
NCAA survey: High level of hoops player abuse
36% of Division I men’s basketball student-athletes reported experiencing social media abuse related to sports betting within the last year, according to an NCAA survey.
The survey also found that 16% of FBS football players and 7% of all Division I athletes have experienced betting-related social media abuse.
The findings come as the NCAA pushes for bans on collegiate player prop bets.
“States and gaming operators that continue to offer these bets are putting student-athletes and competition integrity at risk,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a press release. “The NCAA runs the largest integrity monitoring program in the country, and we educate hundreds of thousands of student-athletes about the damages of sports betting, but regulators, lawmakers, and gaming operators can and should do more.”
Thompson sees prediction market broadcast integration
Former NBA player Tristan Thompson is a prediction markets guy now. The former Cleveland Cavalier (among several teams) is a regular on the crypto and exchange convention circuit and has some interesting takes on how prediction markets will be integrated sports broadcasts, and eventually, he thinks, overwhelm sportsbooks.
Brant James
Check this out
A lot has been written about supposed failures in sports betting integrity.
Reason‘s Jason Russell offered the other side of the argument in his latest column, pointing out that leagues and the sports betting industry are actually doing plenty to fight betting corruption without the need for lawmakers to interfere.
“Ideally, this is how the regulation of the sports betting industry should go,” he writes. “It’s a great example of private actors (the leagues) in business with private companies (the sportsbooks) coming to an agreement on how things should be done.”
Odds and ends
- ISI Sports has added wagering kiosks at the Canton Gaming Sportsbook in Pikesville, Maryland, the company revealed Thursday. It is ISI’s second kiosk location in the state.
- MLB is fleshing out its integrity efforts in the aftermath of the Clase/Ortiz federal indictments for alleged pitch-fixing. It’s hiring a policy analyst for integrity and compliance, an investigator, a senior counsel for policy, integrity, and compliance, and a senior manager for the same.
- DraftKings on Monday announced that it opened a brick-and-mortar sportsbook at the Foxwoods El San Juan Casino, featuring a ribbon-cutting ceremony with New York Yankees great Jorge Posada.
- Casino del Sol now has naming rights to the football stadium at the University of Arizona, the university announced Monday. The 20-year deal is worth $60 million.
- The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has begun placing betting awareness posters on college campuses around the state with messages like “Is your friend always on sports betting apps?” in the wake of recent studies highlighting the need for greater education for this demographic, according to Brandeis student newspaper The Journal.
- Caesars Entertainment Thursday announced that it has opened a new trackside sportsbook at New Jersey’s Monmouth Park and a new William Hill sportsbook at the Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas. The Monmouth Park location features indoor and outdoor viewing areas as well as a prime view of the track.
- Bloomberg reports that Wall Street high-frequency trading firm Jump has “quietly” started trading on prediction markets, and that it may start trading sports contracts too. London-based betting syndicate Moon Intelligence also announced plans to get into prediction market making.
- Kalshi is now the “official prediction market partner” of finance data site Barchart.com.
- We’ve all made our share of bad bets, but perhaps none worse than this:
This week on InGame
Fanatics To Launch Prediction Markets With Crypto.com After Buying Into NFA Approved Firm
DraftKings, FanDuel Resign From AGA
New NCAA Rule Letting Student-Athletes Bet On Pro Games Would Start Saturday
CFTC Nominee Selig Dodges Sports Event Contract Questions, By Saying He ‘Will Look To The Courts’
What DraftKings, FanDuel Exits From AGA Mean For Prediction Market RG
Maryland Regulator Latest To Warn Operators Off Prediction Markets
SABR Historian Puts GuardiansGate Into Historical Perspective Vs. Black Sox, Rose
Senate Committee Votes To Advance Selig Nomination To Be CFTC Chair
Wisconsin Digital Wagering Bill Pulled From Assembly Voting Agenda
Polymarket US Testing Volume Surges As CFTC Publishes Its Self-Certifications
