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00:00And some big news as the landscape has completely changed in college football with the potential Heisman Trophy favorite missing time.
00:07That's where we'll begin today. It was announced yesterday by Brent Venables, the head coach at Oklahoma, that quarterback John Mateer is going to undergo surgery to address a right hand injury that he sustained against Auburn.
00:20Incredibly stayed in the game and had a pretty good game as well.
00:24Venables says that Mateer will return to action at some point this season.
00:30He was the favorite along with Fernando Mendoza of Indiana.
00:34My gosh, have these Heisman Trophy candidates changed?
00:38No longer Arch Manning involved, although Jeremiah Smith of Ohio State sits at 11 to 1.
00:43This thing could be upside down over the next month or two. We will see.
00:46Major League Baseball also about to make it official. They will be incorporating the new ABS challenge rules next season.
00:54So as they say, robot umpires are coming in 2026.
00:58Each team will get two challenges and they can keep them if they're successful.
01:02The challenges can only be initiated by a pitcher, a catcher, a batter, and the request must come right after the pitch.
01:09To signal a challenge, the pitcher, catcher, or batter has got to tap his helmet to let the umpire know, and no help from the dugout can happen.
01:16By the way, they've tested this out very successfully at the minor league level and also at the Arizona Fall League.
01:22The Pittsburgh Steelers are headed on the road this week.
01:24In fact, they're headed to Ireland.
01:26First international game of the season is this Sunday morning.
01:30And of course, this is the first time we're going to see the Steelers travel internationally in a long time.
01:34Mike Tomlin talked about the challenges of preparing for a game that is overseas.
01:40You know, it's been a long time for me individually, and that's kind of what I was referring to.
01:46There's been a lot of organizations since then that travel, and I just think procedurally is less mystical.
01:53I think procedures are more global.
01:55There's more shared information about how to best pull off these trips.
01:59We have that information.
02:01The Vikings have that information.
02:02I think it's, you know, less of a discussion topic in today's game as it was maybe in 2014 or whatever year that was that we went to London.
02:13Mike, how do some of the injury recoveries work with this, with the international travel and playing on a different field?
02:19I don't expect it to be significant in any of those discussions.
02:24Liam Cohen of the Jacksonville Jaguars back at the podium this week.
02:28The Jaguars have a tough matchup against the undefeated San Francisco 49ers.
02:32One team's going to feel a lot better about their season after they play this Sunday.
02:37Here's Cohen on the matchup and just how well coached the Niners are.
02:41His clubs will present.
02:42Yeah, very well coached in all three phases.
02:46Offensively, very detailed, wide zone, mix it with some gap and perimeter.
02:54And then, you know, the just the illusion of the run with the formations and the keepers, you know, the boots and the play pass is all pretty clean.
03:05You know, they've done a nice job.
03:06I have a ton of respect for Kyle, obviously offensively, but also as a coach and what he's been able to do there in San Fran playing against those guys for so long, you know, being in L.A.
03:16So defensively, they fly around.
03:19There's a huge, clear distinction in terms of the way that they play.
03:25Very similar to the defense we just played in the way that they attack, the way that they run to the football, the way that Fred tries to take the ball away.
03:33Right. And then on special teams, very well coached.
03:36Brent Boyer has been an NFL special teams coach for a long time.
03:40And you can see that the way that they play on teams, very similar to the way that they play on defense and very similar to the way that they try to run the ball and impose their will physically on offense.
03:50So a lot of respect.
03:52Mike Parsons about to say hello to his old friends with the Dallas Cowboys, says it's going to be painful on getting ready to sack Prescott coming this week.
04:02Dallas is not playing good football.
04:03Also, the Texans have released C.J. Gardner Johnson after just three games.
04:08Of course, he's had a nice NFL career, but appears to be coming to an end.
04:11Major League Baseball's postseason race is not coming to an end anytime soon.
04:14In fact, we have several days to go, and it feels like a lot to decide.
04:18The Cleveland Guardians were 15 and a half games back on July 8th, and they're now in first place in the Central.
04:24How about that?
04:25Three runs in the sixth inning.
04:26They end up beating Tariq Skubal and the Detroit Tigers, and so now the Guardians are basically in the prime position because they hold the tiebreaker against the Tigers and have a chance now to win the division.
04:37Incredible comeback for them.
04:39They played the best baseball of anyone in September.
04:41Here is Stephen Kwan on facing off with Tariq Skubal and having success.
04:46Yeah, I mean, his first five are pretty dominant.
04:49He's putting it where he wanted to.
04:50He's getting up to 100.
04:51So, just trying to mix it up a little bit, kind of get the defense moving around.
04:57Yeah, it was funny, too.
04:58Me and Angel didn't talk about back-to-back bunts, so I would drop one down.
05:01I wasn't even ready for his, and he put a great one down.
05:04So, yeah, just trying to get him off his normal cadence and just, you know, try to create chaos.
05:08I mean, we're doing a lot of uncharacteristic things, and it's, you know, it's hurting us.
05:15So, it's a tough game.
05:17You know, when we didn't capitalize early, you always look back and wonder if the game could have separated a little bit more.
05:23I thought we were in a good place when Riley hit the homer.
05:27But they showed that the team that made the most contact got rewarded for it.
05:31Even if it wasn't great contact, they did a good job of battling.
05:34The New York Mets struggling in the month of September, but seemingly they were able to pull one out last night when they needed it most thanks to Francisco Alvarez.
05:44He had a two-run home run last night to defeat the Chicago Cubs 9-7.
05:48The Mets trailed 5-1 in this game and came back to win.
05:52Here's Carlos Mendoza on the gutty effort.
05:54Describe what a lift that was that Alvarez gave you.
05:56Yeah, I mean, huge, you know, big hit right there.
06:01But, obviously, we were talking about that one in the eighth.
06:04But, man, like, overall, the name three-run homer is to tie the game, but just they have bats once you get down 6-1.
06:12But the guys battled back and two big swings right there by name and, obviously, the one from Alvi needed that one.
06:19Peterson, just how deflating is that for him to go out there and give you that?
06:26Yeah, tough night for him.
06:28Not able to feel the strikes on the way we wanted to, the way he wanted to.
06:34Got behind in hitters.
06:36And then when he came in, they made contact and they hit some balls hard at him.
06:40You know, the fun holes.
06:41You know, the walks.
06:43But, again, we're going to need this guy.
06:46You know, I know he's been a struggle.
06:47It wasn't a good one today, but our job is to continue to support him.
06:51And he's going to play a big role here in the next few days.
06:55So, counting on him, you've got to flush this one and then be ready for whenever we're giving the ball again.
07:00When you say big role in the next few days, does that mean bullpen, maybe?
07:03Maybe, yeah.
07:04I mean, where are we at nowadays?
07:06Like, we've got to take it one day at a time, you know.
07:09Maybe he starts a game, but it's just we've got to get there.
07:15Day by day for the Mets.
07:17And the Yankees took it day by day over the last few.
07:20They end up getting into the postseason yet again.
07:23They still can win the division over the Blue Jays.
07:25But, for now, they're in the playoffs.
07:26They beat the White Sox 3-2 yesterday.
07:28Also, Red Sox bullpen pitches 4.1 innings of hitless baseball.
07:31They beat the Blue Jays 4-1.
07:33So, the Jays hold a one-game lead over the Yankees.
07:36Red Sox also in the catbird seat to get that wild card as well.
07:40That's the latest in baseball.
07:42Also, 4-10 Eastern today.
07:43First game of consequence in the postseason chase.
07:46We've got the Brewers taking on the Padres.
07:48Some jockeying for position could occur.
07:50But, beyond that, that's the only afternoon game to pay attention to that has postseason applications.
07:56Welcome back to Newswire here on Sports Grid.
07:57Great to have Sam McQuillie with us from Legal Sports Report.
08:00We will have an update on the prediction markets.
08:02It looks like another company is getting involved.
08:04And why not?
08:05Until they say you can't do it, might as well have everybody do it.
08:09Maybe we should even do it here at Sports Grid.
08:10All right, but let's get started here.
08:12Sam, great to have you back here on Newswire.
08:14I know Nebraska, if I'm not mistaken, you're able to make bets at certain places in Nebraska.
08:18But they've been trying to fight to get things online now for a couple of years.
08:23And at least this is going to go to a vote, which tells me there could be a change coming next year, potentially.
08:27Yeah, Nebraska is one of 20 states that doesn't have online sports betting.
08:34It does have legal in-person sports betting, but that's limited to only a few of the state's casinos.
08:39So, there's this one tribal group that this week came out and announced that they're going to start collecting signatures to bring this issue to the ballot next year.
08:48So, it's this Native American group called the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.
08:52They own casinos in Lincoln and Omaha called the War Horse Casinos.
08:58And they really want to, you know, bring this online so it's not just legal in-person so they can, you know, get an app and join the other almost 40 states that have done online sports betting so far.
09:10Lawmakers estimate it would raise about $32 million in tax revenue.
09:14So, there's a lot of support for it.
09:16Of course, there's always opposition against it.
09:19Folks are concerned about addiction issues, particularly with young men in the state.
09:24The tribe will start gathering signatures about next month or so, I'm told.
09:28They need $125,000 in order to bring it to the ballot because it's a constitutional amendment, which requires about 10% of signatures from all registered voters in the state.
09:39So, it's going to start picking up over the next couple of months or so.
09:42The governor is in favor of online sports betting, which is always, you know, good for your prospects.
09:47But it's been the lawmakers in the state legislature where it's been held up.
09:52There was a push to legalize it last year, also via a constitutional amendment in the legislature.
09:58That bill passed the first committee.
10:00But because it's amending the state's constitution, it required two-thirds majority from the entire chamber, which it ultimately never got.
10:06It was filibustered by opponents and was not moved forward in the session.
10:11Now, that bill still is alive technically for next session.
10:14So, there is also the option if it isn't legalized on, you know, the ballot via voter referendum, it could signal momentum moving forward in the statehouse as well.
10:25So, we'll have to see what happens in Nebraska, but it's one of those few states right now where things are looking up if you're trending towards sports betting.
10:33There was about 4 million attempts last year in Nebraska to access legal sports books, according to GeoComply.
10:40So, there's definitely an appetite for it in the state.
10:42The question now is just can we get those signatures and can lawmakers finally get on board with it?
10:47Yeah, it should be.
10:48I think a couple of states got to get online here eventually and not just have the in-person sports betting.
10:54All right, so, what's going faster than legalizing sports betting is the unregulated prediction market world where everybody seems to want a piece of the pie.
11:03Sam, who is the latest operator in the space that wants to open up some money and some customers to online prediction market, not bets, but prediction market wagers?
11:17I mean, what do you even say?
11:18Selections?
11:19Okay, prediction market selections.
11:20Yeah, it's telling itself it's just kind of a head-scratcher or a tongue-twister to kind of figure out what to call them.
11:28This basically is sports betting, but not sports betting.
11:31PricePix is the latest company that is getting into this space that others already, like Underdog, a fellow fantasy sports operator, as well as Calci, obviously, have gotten into.
11:42These prediction markets, which are available in all 50 states, allowing people to buy contracts on the outcomes of things.
11:50This is the first year, really, where the opportunity to buy contracts on outcomes has been extended to sporting events, which has created a whole mess of regulatory pushback and disagreement over what's sports betting and what's not.
12:03But PricePix just this week made a major move filing with the National Futures Association on Monday to be granted for a Futures Commission merchant license, which will allow it to do these prediction markets, although it hasn't said when it's going to start doing them.
12:16One important thing to note here is that PricePix has not publicly said that they're going to be doing sports specifically.
12:23If you remember, Calci and Robita and all these other companies started getting into predictions pretty much around the election, allowing events to bet on the weather, the Oscars, other kind of novelty things out here.
12:36So PricePix has not come out and specifically said it will go into sports.
12:39Now, that's obviously what they're positioning themselves for.
12:42FanDuel has made a similar move, also saying that they're not going to do sports, at least at the start.
12:47And DraftKings has reportedly taken similar steps.
12:49But all companies have been kind of careful so far not to say we're going to do sports because you've had a number of states so far push back where these companies are licensed.
12:57You've had Arizona recently, you've had Maryland, you've had Ohio say that, you know, if you start offering what we essentially deem is unlicensed illegal sports betting in other markets, that could jeopardize your licenses in this state.
13:10PricePix is probably the biggest daily fantasy sports operator around there.
13:15They have their popular pick-em games, which are very close or similar to parlays, and that's been a huge boon for their business.
13:22So it's a little bit of a chess game right now, kind of waiting to see what happens with the CFTC, whether they're ever going to come down and regulate on it.
13:30A new commissioner is supposedly being considered now that the current nominee is kind of falling out of favor with the administration.
13:38That commissioner or supposed commissioner also has ties to Kalshi, so they'd also be favorable here.
13:43So this is just kind of another sign of a company taking a major step while it still waits to fully dip its toes in the pool of this whole prediction market business.
13:51Yeah, definitely so.
13:53And PricePix also making some news as far as some leadership is concerned.
13:56Does this have anything to do with the prediction markets?
14:00I would say it's definitely not a coincidence that on the same day that PricePix announced that they're going to do prediction markets, they also announced they're selling the majority stake in their company, 62%, to this European lottery company called Alwin, which deems them, which gets them $1.6 billion in cash.
14:17That's how much the sale was for. And it values PricePix at $2.5 billion, which is pretty interesting.
14:23That's more than Kalshi has been valued at. That's more than underdog.
14:27So it's getting this huge valuation at this time that it's announcing that it wants to go beyond Pick'em Daily Fantasy Sports and beyond sports betting even.
14:35So there's a number of incentives in the deal as well that could make this go up to $4 billion by 2029.
14:42PricePix, in the meantime, will continue to be run independently by CEO Mike Ibarra, as well as the founder Adam Wexler.
14:50But it's now under this umbrella of this larger European lottery company, which gives it a lot more kind of financial reach.
14:58This is a company that owns the company that runs the U.K. lottery.
15:02They own the company that runs the Illinois lottery, as well as a lot of different sports betting operations across Europe.
15:07So it gives this kind of heft to PricePix's company.
15:11It also gave us the first opportunity to look at what they're really doing.
15:14We saw that they grew revenue 60% last year and has registered over 20 million users, which is quite a lot of people in the sports betting and fantasy sports space.
15:25So, yeah, PricePix continues to grow.
15:27And in the meantime, they get the huge dollar, billion dollar figure out of the sale.
15:32And we'll see what happens with their prediction markets.
15:34Yeah. And I think, Sam, just from reading through, you know, the tea leaves here from all the reporting from you folks over at Legal Sports Report and even across the country,
15:46is it does seem like at some point the Regulatory Commission is going to get involved.
15:51But the longer this goes, it gives these companies chances to prove that they can operate.
15:55So, therefore, maybe even if they do get shut down for a period of time, if they have success, maybe they could pop back in when it does become legal.
16:03And that just, at the very least, will give people an opportunity to try them out until it does become that.
16:08So, they're sort of getting ahead of the curve.
16:11Yeah, I think you're spot on with that assessment, Craig.
16:14And beyond that, it gets people registered onto these platforms.
16:17What happens eventually one day if we have the CFTC or whoever is figured out to be in charge of it come out and say,
16:24yeah, this stuff actually is illegal, but we weren't doing anything about it, so you're okay.
16:28These companies already have all these users in all these states.
16:31This is an opportunity for prize picks to reach more users in states before sports betting is legalized,
16:36an opportunity for FanDuel to do the same.
16:38So, not only are they benefiting from it now, they also build up their base,
16:42and you're seeing these valuations boom in the meantime while the CFTC just kind of waits back
16:47and doesn't do much, at least so far right now.
16:49So, yeah, it's definitely just kind of a no-grainer for them.
16:52Yeah, agreed.
16:53All right, Sam, great stuff.
16:54We'll read more over at legalsportsreport.com.
16:56Thanks again for coming on Newswire today.
16:57We'll catch up with you again on Friday.
16:59Yeah, you too.
17:00Thanks, Craig.
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