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SportsTranscript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:03 - Right now it appears that the Seminole tribe
00:05 will not relaunch their Hard Rock sports betting app
00:08 as this group West Flagler has been petitioning
00:11 to not allow it and have filed for the Supreme Court.
00:15 But the latest story here, Sam,
00:17 is now another level of sports betting
00:20 taken to the fantasy side as they're cracking down
00:23 on what they claim to be illegal bets
00:25 offered by fantasy sites.
00:27 And Florida has ordered prize picks,
00:29 Underdog and some other sites to offering,
00:31 to stop offering fantasy sports immediately.
00:34 And Sam, I can speak to this very interestingly enough.
00:37 Last Sunday morning, I'm driving on the highway
00:41 and I saw an ad for prize picks, like offering,
00:44 hey, like this is how you sign up.
00:45 You may wanna pick Tua, you may wanna pick Tyreek Hill.
00:48 And I saw the ad and now I wonder
00:51 if I'll be seeing them again.
00:52 - Well, Craig, first of all,
00:55 did you pick Tua or Tyreek Hill?
00:57 'Cause if you did, you'd be a rich man.
00:58 - I wish I could say I did, but no, I did not.
01:02 - Yeah, so unfortunately for you
01:04 and everybody else in Florida
01:05 who's been clamoring for sports betting,
01:07 I know time and again on this show,
01:09 you guys have hit on what's going on with this case
01:12 that might go to the Supreme Court
01:13 or rather what's not going on.
01:15 And basically sports betting is in limbo, as you know,
01:18 and we're still waiting on that.
01:19 But other people in Florida who wanted it on sports
01:23 have essentially been using these apps,
01:24 prize picks, Underdog, now Better,
01:27 has their own product, Better Picks,
01:29 playing on their Pick'em games,
01:31 very close to sports betting.
01:32 It sort of operates under (indistinct)
01:36 to most states, which in Florida,
01:38 like a lot of other places, it's kind of a gray area.
01:40 So it's been a huge market for these companies.
01:43 It's no coincidence that you're seeing ads everywhere.
01:46 It's people who wanna be able to bet on sports legally
01:48 in Florida are turning to these apps
01:50 and it's a huge driver.
01:52 One of the reasons that their downloads
01:53 are up massively year over year,
01:56 especially compared to the more traditional
01:58 fantasy sports operators like FanDuel or DraftKings,
02:01 which have really focused a lot of their attention
02:02 on the actual sports betting in those legal states.
02:05 But this past week, the Florida Gaming Commission
02:08 sent three cease and desist orders to those companies,
02:11 basically telling them that all forms
02:13 of paid fantasy sports are illegal
02:15 and we are deeming you in violation of that law
02:19 and you gotta leave the state immediately.
02:21 It's really interesting timing with the case going on
02:24 and potentially the Hard Rock app coming back online.
02:27 You have to wonder if maybe they wanna eliminate
02:29 what they see as competition.
02:31 But what really stood out in these letters
02:33 was unlike the other states that have cracked down
02:35 on this sort of pick 'em, player parlay mechanism
02:38 that these apps use.
02:40 This letter said that all forms
02:42 of paid fantasy sports entries are illegal.
02:45 So that would seemingly implicate DraftKings and FanDuel
02:48 and other daily fantasy sports operators
02:50 that have been in the state for years.
02:53 But they didn't receive letters
02:55 and I haven't gotten any indication that they will.
02:58 So right now it's these pick 'em companies
03:01 getting targeted by Florida.
03:02 They just updated their FAQ page on the regulator's site
03:06 to kind of address fantasy sports even more
03:08 to make it explicitly clear
03:09 that they consider it sports betting,
03:11 which would only be legal through an app
03:14 controlled by the Seminole tribe.
03:16 So right now the apps are saying
03:17 we're gonna keep operating,
03:18 keep fighting against it, work with regulators,
03:21 potentially even lobby to create a law.
03:24 Florida's fantasy sports laws are very old.
03:26 So a lot of this was written before we even had a concept
03:30 of the ideas we're talking about now
03:31 with pick 'em and different contests.
03:33 But it's a huge state, so its implications could be massive.
03:38 (upbeat music)
03:41 [MUSIC]