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00:00Well, let's get to our top story of the day here in sports, and we'll hit on college basketball
00:03in just a few minutes. But first, let's dive into the latest, yes, in prediction markets.
00:07A federal appeals court has denied Kalshi's bid in Nevada. So say farewell to anyone who's
00:13using prediction markets, at least for the time being in the state. Federal appeals court has
00:17rejected Kalshi's emergency bid to halt the Nevada's push to block the prediction market
00:21sports platform from offering contracts in the nation's gambling capital. Kalshi had filed a
00:26motion to the US Appeals Court in Las Vegas seeking an immediate and administrative stay
00:31on Nevada's city enforcement case during the company to keep them alive. As of right now,
00:37they appear to be on the outs. Kalshi will no longer be allowed to operate in the state of Nevada.
00:43Meanwhile, some changes could be entering into broadcasting and sports in the state of New York.
00:48MSG Sports says it will explore separating the New York Knicks and Rangers into two separate
00:52publicly traded companies. MSG Sports Board of Directors has approved the plan. James
00:56Dolan, the owner has said this proposed transaction would provide each company with enhanced
01:01strategic flexibility for its own defined business focus and clear characteristics for
01:06investors. That's a lot of legalese. That's a lot of investment talk. A story for another day.
01:13Major League Baseball is getting ready for its biggest labor negotiations coming up after the
01:17season. And one of the key figures involved no longer going to be the case. Tony Clark,
01:22the head of the Major League Baseball Players Association, no longer. Executive Director Tony
01:26Clark resigned yesterday after an internal investigation revealed he had an inappropriate
01:30relationship with his sister-in-law who had been hired by the union in 2023. Reaction around the
01:37league seemingly positive from the players saying the ball will just keep going and keep rolling
01:41and they will get exactly what they want in the upcoming labor negotiations. But here are some
01:46reactions from players including Giancarlo Stanton, Marcus Simeon, and Ian Happ.
01:51Yeah, I just really heard about it on the field during practice. So I don't have much on it as
01:56I don't have
01:59any info on who, what, where, when, and why. But yeah, not ideal
02:08timing is all I know and let me get more info on it.
02:13This came out with no discussion with reps. You know, we have 30 other team reps that are seeing this
02:19news that it's like, you know, it's hard to process right now. So there'll be a lot more conversations
02:26about what we do moving forward in the year where we have a CBA that expires in December.
02:33What I do know is the team we have, the chief staff of the PA, is one of the best
02:42in sports.
02:43Yeah, I don't know that it's ideal, but I would say that for the most part, you know,
02:50the strength of the union is in the players and the players ultimately are the ones that dictate
02:55the direction that any negotiation or any talk is going to go. And so that doesn't change.
03:02One of the bigger stories in baseball coming up this summer will be the labor negotiations. All
03:06right, let's get to some college hoops as we're exiting the month of February and getting into
03:10March. The favorite to get to the championship, maybe even to win it all, has to be Michigan at
03:15this point. They pick up another big win in the conference over Purdue last night, 91 to 80. They
03:20were two and a half point favorites. They now have 21 wins by double digits as they move ahead of
03:26Arizona to capture the ranking of number one team in the country last week. Here is Dusty May on the
03:31environment in Indiana and picking up that big win over the Boilermakers.
03:35What an incredible college basketball environment. Several times, especially in the second half,
03:41Purdue made a play. The place erupted and our guys were able to answer and calm the storm a little
03:49bit. I thought our poise, I thought our togetherness was incredibly impressive, especially
03:54Adai does so much for us. And for him to not really be able to play in the second half,
03:59our bench stepped up. I think we had 34 points total off of our bench and really sound play,
04:05ball security, whatnot. And so that's how we're built. We have a team that so many guys are capable
04:11of stepping up and making contributions.
04:13In the second half, Cadeau was really good. I thought Cadeau made some really good plays.
04:18And when you sit there and your fourth, fifth option can carry the weight or someone like LJ
04:23Kaysen can come in the game and control a game at the end of the game, even though he didn't
04:28control
04:28the game today, so to speak, he made a lot of good plays. Just look at their bench.
04:35And when you can go to them and get consistence, get threes from all of them, they make their free
04:40throws, their bench doesn't turn the ball over. They're the number one team in the country for a
04:45reason. A lot of times people have a solid five and then they make a dip when they sub. These
04:51guys
04:51don't make a dip. They're a good team.
04:55Miami, Ohio continues to roll in college basketball, although they got a scare last night against
05:00UMass. But inevitably, the 22nd ranked team in the country is now 26-0 on the season after their win
05:06over Massachusetts, 86-77. They closed as three and a half point favorites and naturally covered
05:12that spread as well. Meanwhile, Michigan State keeps rolling. Number 15 team in the country
05:16crushes UCLA, 82-59. Jeremy Fears, 16 points, 10 assists. Tom Izzo after the game, certainly looking
05:25at his team contribution, especially from his seniors that led to the win.
05:29It happened when I needed to happen. I thought my seniors, Coop and Jackson, were really good
05:34early. I thought Jordan and Jeremy were really good early. I thought Cohen, you know, and that's
05:40kind of what we got to be. My four guys got to be good. And they were really good. We
05:45did a lot of
05:46really good things, mostly defensively. I felt for Mick, his team's a lot better than that.
05:53And, uh, I guess he upgraded that to a flagrant too, huh? That's the first time I saw a coach
05:59do
05:59it. But, uh, that, that sounds like Mick. So he'll get that straightened out.
06:04What was your thought on the student section, Channing Booker's name?
06:07I could give a rat's ass about the other team's student section.
06:10I just bet the overall, the way that you...
06:13I would like to give you a, uh, kudos for the worst question I've ever been asked.
06:20All right, I'll take it. Did you like the preparation of the...
06:24Do you really think I care about the other team's student section?
06:26No, I don't. I don't think you care about the other...
06:27Are you raising your voice at me? No, I'm just...
06:29Yeah, you are. Yeah, you are. Come on, dude.
06:31No reason. Come on. Yes, you were. Everybody's standing here listening to you.
06:35Everybody. This is on camera. They can hear you.
06:37I answered the question. I could give a rat's ass about the other team's student section.
06:42I coach UCLA. I don't care about Michigan State students.
06:47Who cares?
06:49The team that just lost by 30.
06:52Apology forthcoming.
06:54Iowa beats Nebraska 57-52.
06:57Number nine team in the country ends up winning their 19-7 on the season.
07:01They were one-and-a-half point favorites and won by five.
07:04That's right, 57-52 in a college basketball game.
07:07Okay, in baseball, let's go around spring training.
07:10Pablo Lopez, one of the top starters on the Minnesota Twins,
07:14looks like he's going to need Tommy John surgery.
07:16He has a UCL tear that's going to cost him the entire season.
07:20Meanwhile, the Dodgers, Dave Roberts, back on the field in the full squad workout for the first time.
07:25They've won another title last season, looking to win a third straight this year.
07:30That is the goal, says Doc Roberts.
07:33I feel good.
07:34I'm excited.
07:35Our players are excited.
07:36Coach is excited.
07:38It's good to get everyone together and, you know, start our journey for 2026.
07:43And I think there's always optimism early, like every camp.
07:48And so now it's just kind of trying to sustain that energy, that focus every day,
07:54and put those blinders on and get to work.
07:57Is there a theme or a message in which you hope for this team to embody this season?
08:02I think for us, it's just more of looking forward, focusing on ourselves and what that means,
08:11and not kind of concerning ourselves with outside expectations, noise, other teams.
08:16And that's what we've done a pretty good job of in years past.
08:19And with that, that should remain the same.
08:23Meanwhile, we're keeping an eye on some Olympic hockey.
08:26Canada and Chetia tied at two in the knockout round at the Olympics.
08:31Of course, Canada, one of those teams expected to either win the gold, come close.
08:36That wouldn't be the case if they lose today.
08:37Sam McQuillan is with us from Legal Sports Report.
08:40Is it the end of prediction markets in Nevada?
08:43I guess that's the question that we have to start off with here on the show and ask Sam if
08:47indeed that is the case.
08:49Sam, welcome back to Newswire.
08:50We already know that several states around the country are really not happy about having these prediction markets operating without
08:57any sort of jurisdiction, legality, and, of course, taxes.
09:02That's really the key here.
09:03What do you make of this latest piece of news that we got today?
09:07Well, it's certainly a new development when, for the past couple of months, we've been talking about states filing lawsuits
09:13against Kalshi and Polymarket and Crypto.com and just other states kind of doing the same, judges ruling one thing,
09:21and then court proceedings playing out.
09:22The biggest news now that we have kind of this patchwork is that Nevada filed a civil enforcement penalty against
09:30Kalshi, basically came after a judge denied Kalshi's emergency motion for administrative stay.
09:38So Kalshi had been saying, you know, we can't stop offering our contracts in Nevada.
09:42It would hurt our business too much.
09:45We have to let the lawsuit play out.
09:47The judge said, no, you have to stop while the lawsuit plays out.
09:50So the lawsuit is still going on, but it means that now Kalshi has to actually comply with, you know,
09:57the state gaming regulators in Nevada, who were the first real, you know, regulators to come out against these prediction
10:04markets.
10:05Of course, you know, earlier this week, you had CFTC chairman Michael Selig came out and issued a really strongly
10:14worded op-ed and then a video on X where he defended prediction markets, called out the states for, you
10:21know, trying to crack down on them, mischaracterize them as kind of overreaching and saying that the CFTC plans to
10:28really defend these prediction markets in court.
10:31That, of course, that, of course, is a very stark reversal from what he said only a few months ago
10:35in November during his confirmation hearing, where he said, you know, I'll pretty much agree with that.
10:40So now we have a situation where the courts have decided one thing.
10:43It'll be interesting to see now if, you know, the federal authorities do get involved, if Selig and the CFTC
10:49do weigh in on this Nevada case.
10:51They certainly have a bunch of other lawsuits as well.
10:54New Jersey, Maryland, countless others, you know, 34 states have filed in support of these states.
11:00So it's kind of just another wrinkle in this long prediction market story.
11:03We'll see what happens in Nevada as far as Calci and Polymarket really pulling out.
11:08I think there have been some other jurisdictions across the country where these apps have been able to kind of
11:13geofence themselves offline.
11:15But this certainly is the biggest one here in Nevada, obviously, you know, the gaming state and really the leader
11:20on this front.
11:21So we'll keep watching it and see what happens from here.
11:25Sam, DraftKings and FanDuel launched their separate prediction markets prediction apps, and they seem to be doing swimmingly, at least
11:31for the time being.
11:33The CEO made some interesting comments about their platform.
11:36What did he say?
11:38Yeah, DraftKings came out with earnings this week, which is always a really good time to get color from management
11:44and what they view as kind of the road ahead.
11:46Obviously, prediction markets have been really the big news that everyone's been focused on.
11:51But an interesting reaction to some of his comments.
11:54He's called prediction markets the biggest opportunity for the company since PASPA fell.
11:58That basically means since states were allowed to legalize sports betting.
12:01So that's quite a statement, considering that's basically been the company's entire business for the past, you know, eight years.
12:08And DraftKings only just got into prediction markets a couple months ago.
12:11It has sports prediction markets in about 17 states.
12:13But they actually adjusted guidance this year to account for hundreds of millions of dollars that they're going to invest
12:20in the prediction market service.
12:22So it's off the ground, but they have a lot more plans to expand it to really become, you know,
12:27what they want to do in every front, which is be the leader on this front,
12:30not just compete with Kalshi and Polymarket in states where sports betting isn't legal, but to offer a better product,
12:37to use its user base of sports book customers,
12:39convert them over to prediction market customers where it's more profitable.
12:42But because the guidance accounted for that investment and did not account for any revenue they would make from prediction
12:49markets,
12:50the stock market really reacted sharply.
12:53The stock fell about 26 percent last week to its lowest level since about three years ago.
12:58So now CEO Jason Robbins has said that that's intentional.
13:02We want to kind of under promise, over deliver.
13:05It's a similar strategy they used a couple of years ago when they were really launching sports betting, get off
13:09the ground.
13:10I'm old enough to remember when everyone was wondering when these companies were going to be profitable.
13:14When are you going to show us how you can make a profit?
13:16They did that with same game parlays.
13:17But, you know, a few years later, now it's how are you going to make money off prediction markets?
13:22And their handle has been down a little bit as well.
13:24I want to mention that only about up about four percent in January when last year was up about forty
13:29five percent.
13:30So some people have questioned our prediction markets.
13:32The reason is Calci the reason they've dismissed that.
13:35But others are asking, OK, what happens when they do start taking some of that handle with the trends we're
13:40seeing?
13:41So it'd be a really interesting year for DraftKings on a lot of fronts, but definitely in prediction markets.
13:45And I'm really excited to see how they invest in this product, which they're betting big on now by lowering
13:51the guidance they're expecting to overpromise at the end of the year.
13:55So we'll see what the rest of the year has in store for them.
13:57Is it possible, Sam, that we get a state legalizing sports betting?
14:01It feels like we've heard some rumblings of North Dakota, South Dakota jumping into the fray.
14:07They don't necessarily get a lot of attention from us because their revenue wouldn't be nearly as high as some
14:13of the other states.
14:13But what do you make of some of these rumblings?
14:15Could they come to fruition?
14:18Yeah, we've talked about a few states this year.
14:20I think mainly the focus right now is on states that have already legalized sports betting.
14:25You know, the Mississippis of the world and now the South Dakotas, they've only had in-person betting since they
14:31legalized.
14:31And lawmakers in those states are really looking around like it's about time we finally do get on board expanding
14:37to mobile.
14:38I think a lot of the sentiment over the past couple of years about, you know, not wanting to take
14:42revenue away from casinos, that has died down a little bit as you see, you know, some of the numbers
14:48come out where, you know, people are actually still going to the casinos, although they can still bet on sports
14:53on their phone.
14:53People just like that experience as well.
14:55That seems to be what's happening in South Dakota, like you mentioned, another small state.
14:59But lawmakers this week passed a joint resolution that would bring the question of online sports betting to the ballot
15:06in the November 2026 general election.
15:09Currently, South Dakota, I think since 2021, they have sports betting, but it's only in-person at casinos in the
15:16historic town of Deadwood.
15:17So there's a reason that the state ranks dead last in handle and revenue and hold.
15:23It's not just because it's a very small state, but it's because you basically can't really bet anywhere.
15:29Lawmakers have been vocal about, you know, it's happening anyway.
15:32It's happening offshore.
15:33It's happening on prediction markets.
15:34And it's happening in the state of Iowa, which a lot of people cross over to bet online legally.
15:39It's a lot easier than traveling to Deadwood.
15:41So I would be more bullish on a state that already has sports betting legal going online and passing an
15:49online version this year or at least getting close to it more than I would be a state like Hawaii,
15:53where they kick the can down to the year 3000 or a state like Utah, which probably never will.
15:59But as prediction markets hang in the balance and if they stay legal, that could spur these states to capture
16:03some of the tax dollars.
16:05I think the American Gaming Association has estimated there's about $250 million that states have lost to prediction markets ceding
16:13sports to them.
16:14So if that keeps playing out, maybe that could pressure some others.
16:17But like I said, probably only states moving online versus, you know, jumping into sports betting wholeheartedly.
16:23And speaking of online, let's get to casino gaming in Virginia as we get ready to wrap it up, Sam.
16:28It seems like this is potentially moving forward.
16:32Yeah, iGaming is only legal in about seven states.
16:35So the fact that Virginia lawmakers both passed bills out of the House and Senate that would legalize iGaming is
16:40really big news for the DraftKings and FanDuals of the world.
16:44The folks that really want iGaming legal, we've always said that's the real endgame for these sports betting companies.
16:49Get people to become sports bettors and then eventually get states to pass online casino, which is a much higher
16:54margin business.
16:55It did about $10 billion in revenue this past year, up 30%, despite, you know, only having seven states and
17:01no new states legal.
17:03So lawmakers in Virginia are going to have to come together and reconcile their differences between these bills before March
17:0914th and then hand it to the governor.
17:11But it's certainly the farthest we've seen a state come on iGaming in some time and obviously a very, very
17:16big, important state in Virginia.
17:18So we'll have to see what happens.
17:19But some good news in kind of, you know, when the news hasn't been so good for these gaming companies,
17:24hopefully they get this over the milestone and go from there and have iGaming in Virginia.
17:31We'll have to see.
17:32We'll check back Friday, Sam.
17:33Maybe we'll get an update on that story and a whole lot more.
17:35I would encourage folks to head on over to LegalSportsReport.com to read Sam's columns, his stories, and everyone else
17:41over on their crew to learn more about prediction markets and legal market, sometimes the illegal market as well.
17:48Thanks again, Sam, for coming on the show.
17:50Really appreciate it.
17:50We'll catch up again Friday.
17:52Yeah, sounds good.
17:53Thanks, Craig.
17:53All right.
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