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00:00In case you missed it last night, Thursday Night Football, another game with a lot of points, especially at halftime, not so much in the second half of the game, but all tied at 14.
00:11The Rams really needed their offensive weapons back and they got them and also picked up a win in the process.
00:17A 30-20 final with the Rams beating the Vikings as Pukunukuwa returned to the Rams.
00:23He had a big game. Cooper Cup also backscored a touchdown in that one.
00:27And Matthew Stafford really carved up the Vikings' defense, although there was a late score that may have pushed this thing over the total, depending on where you got it, with a safety.
00:36But needless to say, the Rams have their full complement of weapons. They're one game under .500 and a very excited head coach in Sean McVay, proud of the team after the win.
00:46What a great team win against an excellent opponent. You guys know the respect and admiration and love that I have for Kevin O'Connell.
00:53You know, what a great job, what a great team they've been really through the first six weeks.
00:57And obviously now we're in our seventh game. You know, they had a bye as well, but our guys were ready to go tonight.
01:02I was really pleased. I thought Matthew Stafford was outstanding. Congratulations to him for going top 10 all time completions now, surpassing Dan Marino all time for ninth.
01:12You know, our offensive line was really good. I thought they did a great job being able to get removal. I thought their protection was outstanding.
01:17Kyron always plays so tough. Great job on the first touchdown to be able to win on a little option route.
01:23And then it was so great having Puka and Cooper back. You know, there's an energy, there's a spark.
01:28Thought the defense fed off of those guys. They did a good job offensively coming out, getting two scoring drives.
01:33But then I thought we settled in. We were able to get pressure on Darnold. We knocked out the run.
01:38And then for us to be able to close it out with a safety. Awesome job. But we've got to continue to get this going.
01:43And today was a real positive, but it's one game, but really happy for those guys.
01:48And it'll make for a little bit more enjoyable birthday for my son Jordan on his first birthday.
01:53How about Rams pick up a win as Coach McVay mentioned getting those two wide receivers back?
02:02Definitely very big key to the game. We'll see if they can stay paced now with the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks for that matter.
02:09All right. Now, as far as the Minnesota Vikings are concerned, after an undefeated start to their season,
02:13they've now dropped a couple in a row, one in a late field goal and another with basically a poor defensive performance.
02:19And we have seen Kevin O'Connell, head coach of the Vikings, says a lot to improve on after that one.
02:26Disappointed. You know, offensively, I thought we got off to a good start in the game and, you know,
02:33had some self-inflicted once again that kind of slowed the momentum there. It's good offense we were playing.
02:38They got healthy and were pretty explosive against us.
02:42And we just got to find a way as a team across the board to play better.
02:48You know, not going to make any kind of excuses about the short week, about penalties or anything like that.
02:54We'll get back to work. We're five and two football team with a lot of football in front of us.
02:59But if we if we take for granted that we need to work, we need to improve.
03:05We need to get back to doing some of the things that helped us get to this point five and two before these last two games.
03:11And we will do that. I have a lot of trust and confidence in my coaching staff and a ton of confidence that we've got the right guys in that locker room,
03:19both talent and the makeup of our football team.
03:23Christian Derusal did sustain a left knee injury. I don't have an update for you at this time,
03:29but we'll continue that evaluation here and then on into tomorrow and try to confirm what that is.
03:36Keeping keeping our fingers crossed that we get some positive news.
03:40But other than that, that's the only injury update for you guys.
03:45And O'Connell referring to the Vikings left tackle, a very big injury, if indeed it is a long one.
03:51Tonight, the first game of the World Series feels like we've been waiting all week.
03:54If we have. Yeah, you're probably right. We have the Yankees and Dodgers.
03:58We'll kick it off tonight in Los Angeles. Right now, L.A. is minus 126 on the money line.
04:02You're going to see a lot of really close, tight lines, I would guess, throughout the World Series.
04:07Garrett Cole, ace of the Yankees, goes up against Jack Flaherty of the Dodgers.
04:13And certainly at this point, the series is also in favor of the Dodgers.
04:18They do have the home field, although it hasn't mattered that much in the past.
04:20Dodgers minus 122 and over five and a half games, minus 180 on FanDuel, plus 145 on the under.
04:27And as you can see, some minus one and a half there and plus one and a half, including tonight's game as well.
04:33Meanwhile, this notion that Shohei Ohtani could potentially return to pitch for the Dodgers in the series has been completely eliminated.
04:40Dave Roberts, the manager of the Dodgers at Media Day yesterday, saying there is no possibility, none whatsoever.
04:46But thank you for asking.
04:47So, Ohtani will be back and he will pitch next season, but the Dodgers will need his offense.
04:51And they'll probably need some good pitching aside, because Jack Flaherty, their starting pitcher,
04:56has seen a little bit of a velocity dip in the playoffs right now, down to about 91 miles an hour.
05:01Mark Pryor, the pitching coach of the Los Angeles Dodgers, said there's some moderate concern.
05:06But, you know, Flaherty's never been a 97-mile-an-hour guy either.
05:09So, we'll see how he ends up performing.
05:11Again, Game 1 tonight of the World Series, and we'll have it covered for you here on SportsGrid, 8 o'clock Eastern tonight.
05:17Carlos Rodon Clark-Schmidt will start Games 2 and Game 3 for the Yankees.
05:21Anthony Rizzo, of course, playing through some pain, expected to play first base for the Yankees moving forward.
05:26A story that has really percolated the last few days here about Kawhi Leonard, who, you know,
05:31there was some thought that Kawhi Leonard was going to start the season playing for the Clippers.
05:35Now, according to ESPN, he's going to be out for an extended period of time.
05:39And how about this story that came out along with it?
05:41Former Clippers trainer Randy Shelton is suing the franchise for wrongful determination, among other things,
05:47after he was claimed that he was fired after complaining that Kawhi Leonard was being subjected to unsafe and illegal treatment method for injuries.
05:54The quote is, Mr. Shelton's claims by the Clippers were investigated and found to be without merit.
05:59We honor Mr. Shelton's employee contract, paid him in full.
06:02Lawsuit is belated to shake down the Clippers based on false allegations that he should know are false.
06:10Kawhi Leonard remains sidelined yet again for the Los Angeles Clippers.
06:15Josh Reynolds was injured in a shooting last week. He's a wide receiver on the Denver Broncos.
06:20He was treated and released from a hospital. This just got reported yesterday.
06:23The Miami Dolphins have to make a decision on Tuatung of Iloa.
06:26It appears as though he will play this weekend against the Arizona Cardinals.
06:30He has to be a full participant today. He was yesterday, and then they can activate him and play him on Sunday.
06:36Jaden Daniels, the star quarterback of the Washington Commanders who missed most of last week's game,
06:41does not appear to be playing this week against the Chicago Bears,
06:44although you'll probably have to check back Sunday morning to be sure on Pro Football Today.
06:48And Bucky Irving, the rookie running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who had a nice season thus far,
06:54remained out of practice on Thursday.
06:57Buccaneers could have to return to Tucker and White as their two running backs coming up on Sunday.
07:02Yesterday in college football, you don't see this happen very often,
07:06but not only did Syracuse lose the game against Pittsburgh,
07:10their starting quarterback threw five interceptions, and they gave up three defensive touchdowns in the game.
07:17My goodness, it can't get worse than that.
07:19But let's give credit to Pitt. 41-13 was the final there, but yes, it was an ugly, ugly performance for Syracuse.
07:25Tonight, No. 17 Boise State and Ashton Gente visit UNLV 3.5-point road favorites.
07:31Bill Bender will be with us. We'll preview that game in just a bit.
07:34Boston College takes on Louisville, BC plus 7.5.
07:38Home dogs, you would say tonight, and the Trojans are 13.5-point home favorites against Greg Ciano and Rutgers.
07:46In the NBA last night, the Boston Celtics cover another big point spread, 14.5 last night.
07:52They beat the Wizards 122-102. Jason Tatum scores another big number.
07:58He had 25 points in this one. Clay Thompson had 22 points as the Mavericks beat the Spurs 120-109.
08:06The Thunder crushed the Nuggets 102-87, and late in the game, Anthony Edwards hit a couple of free throws
08:13as the Minnesota Timberwolves defeat the Sacramento Kings by a final of 117-115.
08:20National Basketball Association tonight, we've got a playoff rematch in Madison Square Garden
08:25as the Knicks are four-point favorites as they take on the Pacers.
08:28Suns one-and-a-half-point underdogs taking on LeBron James and the Lakers.
08:32John Morant in Houston, two-and-a-half-point favorites, and no M-beat again for the Sixers,
08:37and they are five-point favorites on the road tonight against Toronto.
08:41Welcome back to Newswire here on Sports Grid.
08:43Let's bring in Matthew Waters from Legal Sports Report as we wrap up the week
08:46with some hot stories over at legalsportsreport.com.
08:49Matt, great to have you back on here on Newswire.
08:52Let's get started and talk about the offshore market and lead off with Bovada,
08:57a company that used to be supremely popular all over before the legalization of sports betting.
09:02They have been deemed restricted now in more than a dozen states,
09:06and they seem to be complying with that, which I guess was my biggest surprise.
09:11Yeah, I agree with you there, Craig, the fact that these guys are offshore,
09:17and so kind of by definition they're not regulated in the U.S. to operate.
09:22So I know that there are plenty of people that want to argue that, yes, it is legal to bet with offshores.
09:27No, it's not. Let's get outside of that for a second.
09:30The fact that they are just complying with this is surprising to me.
09:34And you know what, Craig?
09:36Maybe it is a situation where Bovada wants to break good at some point.
09:42Maybe they want to get on the good side of these regulators.
09:45We saw that before with Five Dimes coming to a deal with the U.S. attorney general
09:50and paying some fines and all that kind of stuff.
09:54So I don't know. There's two things that get me right now, Craig.
09:58One, I don't really understand why Bovada is complying.
10:01It's great that they're complying for the regulated sports betting industry.
10:04But, yes, it confuses me why they're complying.
10:06And two, why is Bovada the only one that we're focusing on?
10:10And I understand that it's probably difficult because we don't know –
10:16we don't always know where these offshores are located, right?
10:20It sounds like we got a tangible physical address for Bovada.
10:24And so they were able to actually serve them with legal documents.
10:28And that appears to be the why for now.
10:32But there are plenty of other offshores not named Bovada that do big business, Craig.
10:38And it's interesting because when the industry was being legalized,
10:43such a large part of it was bringing it into the light, getting people off of the offshores.
10:50And while that certainly has been something that everybody has wanted to do,
10:54there's not really an easy way to do that, is there?
10:58And it seems interesting now that we have the state rollout slowing down.
11:04We still have operators seeing their revenues grow because they're doing certain things
11:09and they're getting more out of older customers than they thought they might.
11:12But it is interesting now that we are entering this slower stage of sports betting.
11:17And now it seems to be like, oh, hey, we need to shut them down.
11:20We should shut them down. Let's shut them down.
11:22It's bad for the industry.
11:24Well, maybe it's bad for your bottom line. I don't know.
11:26But we're going to keep an eye on this.
11:28We'll keep watching what Bovada does.
11:31But like I said, there's bigger fish out there.
11:34And I'm interested to see where kind of that next step takes us.
11:39Yeah, you know, it never really occurred to me that Bovada could go to the regulated market.
11:44But you may be right.
11:45I mean, maybe that's the reasoning behind this, is that they're looking to do that.
11:49Good point by you.
11:50All right, let's get to the latest in California, sports betting alliance involved.
11:54California is still looking to legalize sports betting.
11:56It seems like the alliance, by the way, in some of the discussion here, is looking for the tribal companies,
12:02basically, essentially, to do a better job of regulating or at least institute more regulation.
12:07What is going on here?
12:09Well, what we have here, Craig, is that there is a form of gaming out there called sweepstakes gaming.
12:14There are various Web sites that offer casino-like or sports betting-like experiences that are not regulated through the same rules.
12:24They are regulated through sweepstakes rules.
12:27When you think sweepstakes rules, you think about when you see something that says no purchase necessary, right?
12:32You think about the McDonald's Monopoly game.
12:36And that's kind of what they are linking it to here.
12:40And California wants no part of that.
12:42They want to make sure that when sports betting comes to California, that they are in control, that they know what's going on,
12:51and that they're the end-all, be-all.
12:53And they're saying that this is simply an unregulated sports book hiding under these sweepstakes laws.
13:00And I don't know if you can call it that.
13:03If the sweepstakes laws are legitimate and they are operating legitimately under those laws,
13:09then I think you have a different issue here that gaming is going to have to figure out altogether.
13:13But what strikes me about this, Craig, is you have the California tribes on one side.
13:18And now on the other side, you have the Sports Betting Alliance who's made up of FanDuel, DraftKings, Fanatics, and BetMGM.
13:24And just remember until the last time we tried to get sports betting passed in California, these guys hated each other, man.
13:29And now the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
13:33And so we see them partnering up and doing what they can to get these sweepstakes shut down.
13:40But it's trickier than that.
13:43I've tried to go to regulatory agencies and say that this is unlawful gaming.
13:49And yeah, maybe it's unlawful if you're trying to apply iGaming laws to it.
13:55But that is not what these sweepstakes companies say they are.
14:00And it's going to be interesting to see how this shakes out because right now, Craig, there are some sweepstakes websites out there that maybe are even offering a better price
14:12on some things than a sports book might be.
14:15And the regulated industry will say, well, of course they can.
14:19They're not paying the same taxes as us.
14:21They're not paying the same license fees as us.
14:24They don't have as much regulation as us or oversight.
14:27And so the sweepstakes guys are saying, no, we do.
14:29We do the same know your customer.
14:32We do the same kind of checks that everybody else does.
14:35And not all of them do, but some of them do it very well.
14:38Some of them use the same vendors that the gambling operators use.
14:41So really kind of crazy story here, Craig, with how it's going to shake out.
14:47But California, the tribes are insisting that they want no part of this.
14:53And look, the California tribes are a powerful entity in California.
14:58Usually if they want something, it happens.
15:02So we'll have to see where exactly they take the sweepstakes conversation in California.
15:10All right, fascinating story to watch.
15:12Also, let's get the very latest on DraftKings.
15:15They get some updated odds-making ability from a new company that I have not heard of.
15:20You'll have to tell me who they are.
15:22But specifically, this is surrounding golf.
15:24So I'm guessing PGA Tour, Live Golf to help them with some of their pricing.
15:29Yeah, so this is actually Mustard Golf is a syndicate.
15:32They bet on golf, and they now sell their models and their pricing models and everything to outside companies.
15:39And DraftKings went in and snapped them up.
15:41Eilers & Kretzschek said it was relatively low-priced at around $20 million in cash.
15:47And they went back and did some of the math off of if they just add this much in golf betting, it'll pay it off.
15:54So it seems like it's a pretty good deal all around for DraftKings.
15:58It seems like it's a good deal for people that want to bet golf.
16:01And betting golf is not where we thought it would be just yet.
16:05Craig, golf was one of those sports that we looked at when sports betting was legalizing,
16:10and we saw it kind of like a tennis where you could have action on just about everything that happens.
16:15And it had the upside against tennis, whereas that next shot isn't coming as quickly as the next serve in tennis, right?
16:23But we just haven't seen golf really break out as something that the mass market better is latching on to.
16:29That could change if DraftKings brings mustard systems in, and they really add markets that people are interested in.
16:38Start seeing same-match parlays for golf or same-round parlays, whatever it may be.
16:46There could be a couple of different ways that they take this.
16:49But it's interesting to me that DraftKings is jumping into one of the smaller sports.
16:54Like I just said at the beginning, Craig, companies are starting to try to find money elsewhere,
16:59and they see that golf is a little lower than it could be.
17:02Well, let's take a gamble. Let's spend $20 million on this and see what happens.
17:06And, you know, it looks like just the way that it fits in right now, it looks like it should be a pretty good deal, Craig.
17:11Yeah. All right. So we will see. All right, Matt, that'll do it for the show.
17:15Thanks again for coming on. Really appreciate it and hope to see you next week for sure.
17:20Thanks again, as always, for coming on the show, as you always have. You've always done a great job for us. Thanks again.
17:25Much appreciated, Craig. Love the show.