The NCAA announced it will create a working group of “subject matter experts” to assess areas such as officiating, NCAA rules, federal and state laws, and the use of integrity services. NCAA leadership has already called for federal regulation on sports betting. NCAA rules prohibit sports wagering by athletes and athletic department employees. https://www.ksl.com/?sid=46363687

4 reasons NOT to buy a $522 million Mega Millions ticket Lottery jackpots are overwhelming played by low-income Americans, studies show. In fact, the lottery jackpot only becomes “progressive” — meaning that high earners spend more on tickets than more than low earners — when the jackpot is at least $806 million or more, according to this study by Emily Oster, currently a professor of economics at Brown University. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-this-1-billion-scratch-card-game-a-new-high-or-low-for-us-lotteries-2017-05-12?mod=newsviewer_click

The New York Times wrote a must-read story about the topic of sports data and how it will be essential to any modern government-sanctioned sports gambling gambling scheme. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/02/sports/sports-betting.html

We finally have a better idea of how a DraftKings sportsbook is going to happen in the US. Kristian Nylén, Kambi Chief Executive Officer, said: “I am delighted Kambi has been selected to partner DraftKings as it enters the sports betting market. “The Kambi technology is unique in that it empowers operators to innovate and create differentiated sports betting experiences, providing the flexibility which will be crucial in the developing U.S. market.” The deal will also apply in other states...

Facebook actually was in the online casino space in 2012 with a third-party developer called Gamesys (that) launched Bingo Friendzy using cash for the first time instead of the popular virtual-goods purchases in other gaming apps like Farmville,” Sandler said. “This trial didn’t really get very far, but structurally everything is in place for users and developers to leverage Facebook as a gaming and sharing channel when online betting goes live. Could Facebook, Esports, Media Boom From Legalized Sports Betting?...

State officials from California to Connecticut spent last week maneuvering for control of the tens of billions of dollars in projected revenue from sports betting, and joining them was another group of powerful, and familiar, gambling operators aiming to claim their piece of the action: American Indian tribes. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/21/sports/sports-betting-indian-casinos.html

Americans who made bets with gaming, lotteries and offshore regulated betting firms lost approximately $107 billion in 2017, an increase of 1.5% on the previous year, and that’s expected to increase to $118.5 billion this year, according to H2 Gambling Capital, a data and market intelligence firm based in the U.K. That does not include unlicensed or “black market” activities. Sports betting’s aggregate losses — after wins are taken into account — are estimated to account for just $209 million...

USA Today, “Supreme Court sports betting decision is unlikely to fix state budget problems” https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/05/14/supreme-court-sports-betting-ruling-unlikely-relieve-budget-crises/609317002/  

APPLETON, WI — Citizens Against Expanded Gambling released the following statement regarding this morning’s U.S. Suprme Court’s ruling overturning the federal law that preventing states from sanctioning and promoting sports gambling: While today’s court decision centered on questions involving states’ rights, studies continue to show that gambling promotes an increase in crime, contributes to the destruction of families, comes with some sizeable costs to taxpayers and increases the number of compulsive and problem gamblers without additional dollars dedicated to treatment....

A company hired to manage the Illinois Lottery cheated players and lottery vendors by misrepresenting the odds of winning scratch-off games, a class-action lawsuit in federal court alleges. http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/lawsuit-alleges-illinois-lottery-contractor-cheated-players-vendors/article_1c12ba2a-938c-545d-9d87-25a1c203c48a.html