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00:00Welcome back to Newswire.
00:04So the NHL calendar is very interesting and in fact we're seeing a report this morning
00:10from one of the insiders who covers the NHL that there could be a potential change in
00:13schedule, an 84 game schedule wrapping up the finals before June because just so much
00:19happens in the NHL so quickly.
00:22I mean the NBA it happens fast but as we bring in Mike Mazzeo, the NHL, I mean this is like
00:27super fast.
00:28They had the championship, the team's having a parade in the interim before the parade
00:32there's even a draft.
00:33They had the draft.
00:34People forgot about that this past week and as soon as that's over you have free agency
00:37too.
00:38Dare I say it's faster as far as the transactional period than it is in the National Basketball
00:43Association and because of that Gary Bettman is forced to the podium.
00:47It leads me to all of that and Mike, aside from the potential change in schedule story,
00:53the big story coming out of the draft wasn't the draft as much as was Gary Bettman talking
00:58about sports betting and some of these scandals that have been going on.
01:01What did you learn from watching that and I guess long way of saying thanks for coming
01:05on the show.
01:07Thanks Craig.
01:08Great time here with NBA and NHL free agency.
01:12Transactions going wild.
01:13One of the most fun times of the year I think at least for myself.
01:15Thankfully I don't have to report on all the transactions but just watching it as a fan
01:20is spectacular.
01:22So to get to the NHL story Gary Bettman talked to CNBC right before the NHL draft which of
01:28course ironically was held in Las Vegas at the Sphere.
01:31We know how much the NHL like the other leagues has embraced gambling.
01:34We see the Las Vegas Golden Knights win a Stanley Cup and move to Vegas.
01:38And so you see Circa and the Blackhawks, Circa is going to be on the Blackhawks uniforms.
01:44This is a league like the others that has embraced sports betting and then with that
01:47there's obviously been a ton of scandals.
01:49Bettman saying like the other owners and commissioners as a result of legal betting we're able to
01:55monitor this stuff better.
01:57So when Shane Pinto is suspended for 41 games and we unfortunately still don't know exactly
02:02why due to the NHLPA negotiated settlement.
02:07At least we know that he did not bet on hockey as Bettman reiterated.
02:12That is an absolute no-no for players, staff, front office, any sort of organization, people.
02:19But he did apparently according to Bettman not adhere to rules that the sports books
02:24have in place.
02:25And we know that there's been reporting from the Canadian press about a third party potentially
02:29being involved in this.
02:30So I asked an NHL spokesperson what exactly, is there a list or something like that and
02:34they just said you can't bet on hockey and whether it was something with a sports book
02:40account or something like that I don't know.
02:43But Bettman is happy with where things are.
02:46He said the education programs are in place to hopefully not have this happen again.
02:50Like the other leagues you hope that that's the case and that these players know not to
02:54do this stuff.
02:55We know in baseball it's posted all over the clubhouse.
02:58But yet if you have one guy doing it, it makes everybody else look bad and if that guy is
03:02a franchise player, thankfully it wasn't Otani, but if it is that kind of player or it's a
03:08team-wide thing, this whole industry could come crashing down.
03:10So they can't afford to have that happen.
03:12You hope that Pinto learned his lesson.
03:14It seems like he's going to now maybe leave Ottawa according to Pierre Lebrun.
03:17He might get out of it, get a trade.
03:21So that was a hot story involving a player that is involved in gambling infractions unfortunately.
03:26And so this is a storyline that isn't going anywhere and you hope the leagues have cleaned
03:31it up and you don't have that major scandal that could take this whole industry down.
03:36And again, whether it's a marquee player or a role player, it simply doesn't matter.
03:43We're talking about it.
03:44And because we're talking about it, it's a subject and Bettman's forced to address it
03:48as is the commissioners of the NBA, the NHL and the NFL as well.
03:52All right.
03:53So sports betting in California, that's the topic of our next discussion here, Mike.
03:57And certainly a lot of what's going on in California is trying to emulate or mimic what
04:02happened in Florida, which is the Seminole tribe took over sports betting and now have
04:06exclusivity for a number of years.
04:09It just doesn't seem it's that simple in California, Mike, where I'm sure the tribes would love
04:14to have it, but there's a lot that's going to have to happen before this gets legalized.
04:18Right, Craig.
04:20So there was the Florida sports betting ruling where West Flagler's challenge was turned
04:25down by the Supreme Court.
04:26They decided they would not take this case.
04:28And so there's a question of, OK, now that this Seminole model is in place for 30 years,
04:34is this hub and spoke model something that other states can emulate?
04:37And everyone obviously looks at California because if it legalizes, eventually it could
04:41be the number one sports betting market in the country.
04:43And there was a financial analyst who said, OK, because of this ruling, it seems like
04:47Florida can just change it.
04:49I mean, excuse me.
04:50California can just change its compact and not have to go to the ballot initiative, so
04:53not have the public vote on it.
04:54They can just amend the compact and that'll give sports betting to California.
04:58But I talked to a tribal attorney, Scott Crowell, who has been with the tribes doing
05:02gaming for decades, and he said that's not the case.
05:06I also talked to an industry source who reiterated the same thing that, you know, there's no
05:10real shortcuts here for they're still going to have to have all parties moving in the
05:14same direction. It's not going to be Fandul and Draftkings versus the tribes.
05:16It's going to be tribal led.
05:18And then you hope that all the operators get on board, the major politicians like Governor
05:22Newsom, who have a very good relationship with the tribes, everybody pulling in the
05:26same direction. And then you still have to turn a public that voted 82 percent no on
05:32this Proposition 27 in 2022, which would legalize online sports betting.
05:36So there's a lot of moving parts here.
05:38The tribes with 110, you've got the big tribes, the small tribes, the major gaming
05:42tribes, tribes that get the revenue sharing from gaming that don't participate.
05:46They're in rural areas. There's a lot of parties that need to get on the same page, or
05:50at least most of them need to get on the same page.
05:52And so I think we're miles away.
05:54James Siva Sinaga, the chair, said on a recent podcast with Victor Rocha that he would not
05:59commit to 2026 for California sports betting at this point.
06:03That's obviously the next time they could get something done.
06:05So I think there's a lot here.
06:08You hope that California sports betting gets done, but the steps still need to fall into
06:12place as they would have before this ruling in Florida.
06:17Yeah, I would agree.
06:18And I don't think that any two states are the same.
06:21And we've seen this play out all over the country.
06:23When states gets legalized, states get legalized.
06:25It's not like two states do it at once.
06:27There's just a lot that goes into the requirement there.
06:29All right. Speaking of another state, let's head over to Massachusetts and talk about the
06:33latest for Bally Bet.
06:34Last week on the show, Mike, we had, of course, some guest contributors from Legal Sports
06:40Support talking about how Bally Bet's launch in July seems to be delayed.
06:45And look, there's some serious questions, I think, just generally speaking, about some
06:49of these operators that are not named FanDuel and DraftKings and BetMGM.
06:54Is Bally Bet one of those that we have to wonder what the future lies at this point?
06:59Yeah, Craig, so I agree with you.
07:01I think, you know, Bally Bet actually, our Sam McQuillan is on that Massachusetts meeting
07:06just minutes ago.
07:07Bally Bet was approved and will launch in Massachusetts tomorrow.
07:10So that update is here.
07:13Bally Bet's the seventh operator in Massachusetts, joins, you know, DraftKings, FanDuel, the
07:18Legacy Casinos, MGM, Caesars, and then the newcomers, Fanatics, and ESPN Bet.
07:22Yeah, Bally Bet just really hasn't done much in other states, barely like, you know, one
07:26percent to less than one percent market share and revenue share in the other handful of
07:30states it's in.
07:31In New York, it has not done well.
07:33It had rebranded its app and kind of updated its app.
07:36That kept it out of, you know, Massachusetts for, this Massachusetts market's been open
07:39for 16 months already.
07:41So the other operators have had a head start.
07:42We've seen DraftKings and FanDuel pretty much dominate in every state with around, you know,
07:4670 to 80 percent market share and handle share.
07:49So yeah, I think they're behind the eight ball.
07:52They're certainly, their investors have talked about, you know, get out of this.
07:56Sue Kim, their, you know, CEO chairman has said, you know, it's good we're offering this.
08:01We're maybe more of a casino brand, but it's good that we can offer this to our customers.
08:05So I guess that's the way they're looking at it.
08:07I don't expect them to make much of a dent.
08:09They have the, you know, deal with Diamond.
08:11That seems like FanDuel is going to take that over.
08:13That transaction is pending.
08:15But yeah, I mean, what's the future for Bally Bet?
08:17It doesn't seem that great, but they're going to take a shot here in Massachusetts and we'll
08:21see where it goes.
08:22Yeah, getting a small pair piece of the market share is better than getting none, I guess.
08:27It just comes down to the amount of money they have to advertise and give out some promo
08:32dollars to acquire some of those people who have not yet signed up to bet on sports.
08:37Mike, great to catch up with you here on Newswire.
08:39We'll see you again next week.
08:40Thanks for coming into the studio.
08:43Thank you.