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SportsTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC]
00:03 Now, the battle against the offshore sportsbooks seemed to pick up some steam
00:07 as soon as sports betting got legalized.
00:09 We really don't hear a ton, honestly, Pat, about this.
00:13 But look, there's more money to be made, I understand, by the legal sportsbooks in
00:17 the states if the offshores are eliminated.
00:19 But Pat, have we really truly seen an effort to eliminate these?
00:24 It feels like a lot of talk and not a lot of action just because of the difficulty
00:28 of trying to stop the operators.
00:30 >> Yeah, I don't think we've seen a full real effort yet.
00:33 And the AGA, of course, has asked the Department of Justice for
00:37 help battling the offshore.
00:40 And first of all, let's just get that out there.
00:42 The benefit of the regulated market is kind of shutting down the offshore shady
00:46 operators, the ones who don't have to pay if they don't want to.
00:50 The checks and balances and the consumer safety nets and the like,
00:55 that's the benefit of a regulated market.
00:59 And Michigan has a ripe open market for both sports betting and iGaming.
01:05 And Governor Gretchen Whitmer kind of has recognized that and
01:09 seen the tax revenue that's bringing in.
01:11 What she did during her state of the state and proposed budget,
01:14 she has her proposed budget has lots of probably,
01:19 I forget the exact amount, but almost $10 million, I think.
01:22 One going to helping the problem gaming, which the known problem gaming issues
01:28 do rise when you regulate sports betting.
01:31 That's because the increase of available calls to the hotlines and whatnot.
01:35 So she wants to increase the funding there and help kind of tamper that fire.
01:40 And then yeah, she also is allocating money to the offshore fight,
01:46 to give the Michigan Gaming Control Board ability to some extra funds to say,
01:51 let's go get this and shut this down.
01:53 And I think we're gonna see that more and more across the states as we kind of see
01:57 more and more mature markets like Michigan.
01:59 And of course, this of course has to go through the House and
02:03 the Senate of Michigan and go through that.
02:05 Those could get stripped as anything happens in budget talks.
02:09 But it's Governor Gretchen Whitmer kind of saying, yeah,
02:13 these are important things that we need to use and kind of highlight and fund.
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