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.
Analyst: Proxy fight won’t affect Penn stock
As Penn Entertainment prepares for what could be a fiery shareholders meeting next week, Susquehanna’s Joe Stauff writes that the potential fireworks likely won’t have a similar affect on the company’s stock. Activist investor HG Vora has been waging a campaign to revamp Penn’s board of directors, after saying the company, including CEO Jay Snowden, has failed in its initiative to become a relevant player in the digital gaming world.
After entering the digital sports betting marketplace with partner Barstool in January 2020, Penn ultimately sold its stake in the company back to previous owner Dave Portnoy for $1 in August 2023. At about the same time, Penn unveiled a new $1.5 billion partnership with ESPN to launch ESPN Bet.
At a meeting scheduled for June 17, shareholders will vote for at least two new board members — both recommended by HG Vora. Penn has already nominated and said it will seat the two. At issue is a third available seat that Penn eliminated. HG Vora contends Penn’s decision is an end around to snooker shareholders, and early this week two proxy advisory businesses offered conflicting guidance to shareholders. Institutional Shareholder Services is recommending that shareholders vote for a third seat, while Glass Lewis is recommending shareholders vote only for the two prospective board members.
Stauff wrote that the meeting will likely be “anticlimactic” because there is a “high probability” that only two board members will be seated and a “low probability” that three will be. Susquehanna set a $25 price target for Penn, which closed at $16.48 Thursday.
Citing strong land-based casino performances, projected growth for ESPN Bet, and launches of the Hollywood Casino online casino brand, Susquehanna wrote, “We do NOT see any material strategy change in any scenario considering our views that: 1) there’s little bid strength for land-based industry consolidation, and 2) a sustainable digital strategy is more important and valuable to drive potential customer acquisition/retention for both land- and digital-based gambling channels.
“PENN’s mid-course digital strategy shift (to ESPN Bet from Barstool in August 2023) was painful for the stock and slower progress was frustrating for shareholders, but we think necessary to course-correct over time.”
Scheffler deleted Venmo because of bettors
There is no doubt that a certain segment of sports fans are idiots. Another sizable segment is sports bettors.
Sadly, a detestable idiot/bettor subspecies existed long before sports gambling was legalized by 41 U.S. jurisdictions. But with sports betting and the empowerment of knucklehead behavior intersecting on mobile devices, PGA Tour No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler’s pre-U.S. Open anecdote offers another example of the new normal.
“I think everybody hears from fans whether they have a financial benefit or anything in their outcome. That’s why I had to get rid of my Venmo because I was either getting paid by people or people requesting me a bunch of money when I didn’t win. It wasn’t a good feeling.
“I don’t remember the most that somebody would send me. Maybe a couple bucks here or there. That didn’t happen nearly as much as the requests did.”
Status update: Illinois, Louisiana, Rhode Island
Lawmakers in Illinois and Louisiana voted in the last month to either add a sports betting tax or to raise the tax. The decisions will dramatically change the landscape in both states should the governors sign the bills. In Illinois, lawmakers pushed through a first-of-its-kind per-wager tax that will punish the most prolific operators in the state. DraftKings and FanDuel have already responded by saying they will add a 50-cent surcharge to every bet.
The tax was added to the state budget with no warning. The budget passed through the House and Senate May 31 and awaits Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature. Pritzker has 60 days from when he receives a bill to sign or veto it. If he does neither, a bill would automatically become law. Pritzker is expected to sign the budget.
In Louisiana, HB 639 was signed by the Senate president Tuesday and sent to Gov. Jeff Landry for his signature. The bill would raise the digital sports betting tax from 15% to 21.5%. Landry has 10 days to sign or veto the bill. If he does neither, and 10 days passes, it automatically would become law.
In Rhode Island, there doesn’t appear to be a tax hike on the horizon, but the Senate passed SB 748, which would open the now single-source market to competition. The bill is headed to the House. Should Rhode Island legislators choose to open the market, they would become the second group of lawmakers in about a year to open a one-platform market. The DC Council opened its market last July, and saw handle, operator revenue, and tax revenue skyrocket. There are now five digital platforms available in the nation’s capital.
NCAA reveals decrease in online harassment
The NCAA Tuesday reported a decrease in online abuse related to sports betting during this year’s March Madness tournament. Although online harassment of student-athletes, coaches, and teams is still very prevalent, the study showed that it decreased significantly against the 2024 tournament. Betting-related abuse declined 66% for women’s sports and 36% for men’s, and total betting-related abuse went down 23%.
Sports betting is one of the top causes for online abuse during the tournament, and NCAA President Charlie Baker made reducing this abuse a priority. The NCAA hired Signify Group, which used AI to flag 54,096 posts, and analysts then classified 3,161 of those as abusive or threatening. Signify reported the posts to the social media platforms or law enforcement to take action.
Ella Gorodetzky
Monumental adds Mystics to ‘Game Center’
Monumental Sports Network Thursday announced it added the WNBA Washington Mystics to its Game Center streaming app of “live sports betting, advanced stats, and gamification options.” Monumental Sports and Entertainment owns the network, the NHL Washington Capitals, the NBA Washington Wizards, and Capital One Arena in the District of Columbia.
The Monumental Game Center, in a partnership with tech platform Play Anywhere and sports betting partner BetMGM, debuted earlier this year with Capitals and Wizards betting content integrated into its streaming options.
According to Monumental:
- Monumental Game Center features can be accessed via streaming on the M+ app and will be seen only by fans who opt in.
- Live betting odds will only be accessible to viewers 21+ as verified by BetMGM’s verification protocols.
- Linear broadcast viewers will be prompted to sample Game Center with ”occasional” in-game graphics offering a QR code directing.
PrizePicks sues employee who left for DraftKings
PrizePicks is suing its former Director of Social Media Judah Huffman, saying he took trade secrets and broke a one-year non-compete agreement when he took a job as director of social and community for sportsbook at DraftKings. In the lawsuit, PrizePicks accuses Huffman of running his non-compete clause through ChatGPT in order to determine its enforceability. The company also wrote that DraftKings increased its offer from $200,000 to $210,000 because Huffman shared proprietary information.
PrizePicks outlines three counts in its lawsuit and has asked a federal judge in Washington state for a temporary injunction to keep Huffman from working at DraftKings and sharing proprietary information. In 2023, DraftKings was involved in a similar lawsuit, but as the plaintiff. In that case, DraftKings and Fanatics Betting & Gaming reached a settlement.
MGC’s Maynard to participate in global forum
Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) Chair Jordan Maynard is participating in the Global Forum on Responsible Gaming and Gambling Policy in Alberta this Friday and Saturday to share information about Massachusetts’ stance on responsible gambling.
The G7 Brain Economy Summit aims to discuss how brain health and cognitive skills contribute to economic growth and innovation. The Global Forum on Responsible Gaming and Gambling Policy will dive into how gambling-related disorders, such as addictions, affect the economy.
Maynard shared his excitement to participate and described Massachusetts as a leader in responsible gambling efforts. “My goal is to share what we have learned in the Commonwealth for inclusion in the global framework on responsible gaming. I also want to learn what has worked in other jurisdictions and bring those solutions back for consideration by the Commission,” Maynard said in a press release.
Ella Gorodetzky
NFL re-ups with Genius Sports
Genius Sports and the National Football League have extended their multi-year partnership, which includes the London-based company remaining as the league’s exclusive distributor of the official data feeds used in BetVision.
Sportsbooks began adding the live video feed in 2023, allowing bettors to watch games on which they were wagering. The extension ends after the 2029 season.
Flutter to cut 200+ jobs in Ireland and Britain
Flutter, a software development company that owns the gambling company Paddy Power and U.S. betting site FanDuel, may cut more than 200 jobs in Ireland and Britain, according to an Irish Times report Wednesday. The company says the annual forecast for U.S. revenue was taken down by $280 million.
A Flutter spokesperson explained the cuts as part of a move to combine the company’s brands into a single tech platform, as well as manage costs and regulations. The company’s new acquisitions raised its annual sales forecast, but lowered projected U.S. revenue.
Ella Gorodetzky
Apache Nugget Corp. to open New Mexico sportsbook
A sixth retail sportsbook is set to open in New Mexico in August, according to a Focus Gaming News report Wednesday. Apache Nugget Corp., the commercial arm for the Jicarilla Apache Nation, has plans to add a sportsbook to its travel center and casino location at the crossroads of US Highway 550 and State Highway 537. The location is about two hours north of Albuquerque and about two hours south of the Colorado border. ISI Race & Sports will operate the sportsbook.
Tribal nations have exclusivity for gaming in New Mexico, and the Santa Ana Star opened the first in-person sportsbook there in October 2018.
Kalshi, Quintenz, and more …
Prediction markets, specifically news about and around Kalshi, continue to flood gambling media platforms, and InGame is no exception. The week started with Brian Quintenz fielding questions about the future of sports event contracts if he becomes the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chief, and two days later tribal leaders broke down what Quintenz had to say. They believe prediction markets encroach on their exclusivity and sovereignty, but have not identified a clear path forward, either to participate or fight back.
Wednesday, we got a look at New Jersey’s response to Kalshi in that court case, and one lawyer called it “incredibly underwhelming.”
And we couldn’t resist digging a little deeper, exploring whether or not prediction markets are really truth tellers and looking back to see how prediction markets and exchanges have fared in other parts of the world. Turns out, they’re not all that … and popularity has decreased over time.
ICYMI on InGame
Federal bill would redirect wagering excise tax to fund ICE
DraftKings, Underdog first to file Missouri applications
Not all tribes are getting rich from gaming
FanDuel to charge Illinois customers a 50-cent per transaction fee
Two days later, DraftKings says it will do the same
Canada’s gambling ad-restriction bill identifies an issue, but that’s not Parliament’s job
