The Impact of Legal Sports Betting on Offshore Operators

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00:00I think that this is a story that probably hits home for people.

00:06There's probably some people, by the way, Sam, watching us discuss this saying, what

00:09are they?

00:10These guys don't know.

00:11Of course I know what a bookie is.

00:12We thought we would educate you a little bit.

00:13Okay.

00:14So now you have that education.

00:15So then after the bookies came in, let's say about 20 years ago, I'm going to throw a number

00:19out there.

00:20All of a sudden you were able to bet online for people when the internet started on several

00:25different websites.

00:26This was before sports betting was legalized and there are a ton of sports betting websites,

00:32but the problem is they were illegal.

00:33So they operated outside of the United States and you would pay them how you would normally

00:39pay maybe FanDuel or DraftKings, but how you would get paid was very sketchy, to say the

00:44least.

00:45I don't know.

00:46By the way, who you paid and how you got paid was very bizarre.

00:47Needless to say, one of these operators, and I'm not accusing them of anything, but they

00:51were the most popular for a long time is Bovada.

00:55Now, Sam, they are still around and they operate in, again, offshore markets and also a very

01:02important tool to operate in markets where sports betting is not legal.

01:06Because again, if you live in a state where you can't bet on sports, you may find yourself

01:09to one of these.

01:11But sports betting now legal in Michigan and they're trying to turn the tables on an offshore

01:16sports betting operator.

01:17What is the outcome going to be of this?

01:19Yeah, Craig, Bovada has been around for as long as I can remember and is still going

01:23strong today and really benefits from the proliferation of legal sports betting, all

01:28the advertising around that.

01:29A lot of people probably don't even know it's fully illegal in some legal states, but Michigan

01:34is leading the charge here, sending a cease and desist to Bovada.

01:37A couple of states have cracked down on it in the past, so they actually had until yesterday

01:42to leave the state.

01:44I haven't gotten any word on whether Bovada is actually complied.

01:47It's sort of tricky here because there's not much states can do when it's a company based

01:52in Curacao like Bovada is, but they have less states like New York, Maryland, New

01:58Jersey, Nevada in the past once they've gotten the threat.

02:01But now once states are seeing, okay, Michigan's doing this, Connecticut just saw their example

02:06and is going to do the same thing next week, I'm told, send a cease and desist to Bovada.

02:11So some regulators, it's tough for them out trying to ensnare this whole, you've got illegal

02:17bookies, you've got offshore websites, it's a lot to handle.

02:20But Massachusetts as well is preparing action.

02:24I'm told that they actually got the idea at a gaming conference this week where they caught

02:28up with Connecticut regulators, caught up with Michigan regulators, and were kind of

02:32inspired by the charge they took.

02:33So it's really interesting to see everyone coalesce around this.

02:37Whether or not Bovada will actually pull out could have big ramifications for the offshore

02:41market like you alluded to.

02:43It's one of the biggest ones.

02:44It often gets confused as a legal one just because they're so present online and get

02:49picked up by a lot of legacy news outlets, quite frankly.

02:52So if Bovada were to all of a sudden leave three new states, it's like, where does the

02:57buck stop?

02:58Are more states going to make it leave?

02:59And eventually, what does that do to the offshore market?

03:01Do more states get emboldened?

03:03Does the Department of Justice get involved?

03:06The legal market's been asking forever.

03:08So it's an interesting development.

03:09We'll see what happens next in this whole Bovada scenario.

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