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00:00But great things would not be a way to describe North Carolina basketball in recent years.
00:04And that has cost Hubert Davis his job.
00:07Five seasons, he's out at UNC.
00:09An overall record of 125-54, four tournament appearances.
00:13He did win the national championship in his first season with the Tar Heels.
00:17But I guess the school felt like it was really not his players, I guess, initially when he took over.
00:22Either way, he has $5.3 million of guaranteed money on his deal, and they'll honor the term.
00:26So Hubert Davis will sit home and get $5 million.
00:29Good job by him, I guess.
00:31U.S. House of Representatives has passed a Muhammad Ali Boxing Revival Act.
00:37Why? Because boxing has fallen off over the last few years.
00:40Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the act, which will try to reshape how pro-boxing is organized,
00:45creates a unified boxing organization, promotes fights, ranks fighters,
00:49and implements a UFC style to boxing with ranks and titles.
00:53Of course, there's so many different championships and titles in boxing right now.
00:57It's really hard to keep up, and the heavyweight division has certainly taken a huge hit after the last decade,
01:03I would say, or so.
01:04Not a lot of big heavyweight fights in boxing, and that's what keeps it going.
01:09All right, how about tonight in Major League Baseball?
01:11We got opening night.
01:12It's on Netflix.
01:13You can stream it.
01:14First time ever a streaming service will host the first game of the baseball season.
01:19How about that?
01:19Yankees and Giants in San Francisco.
01:22Tough one to call, right?
01:23Yankees, a slight favorite.
01:25Minus 122 on the money line.
01:26Total is seven.
01:27Usually a lot of low-scoring games to open up the season.
01:29Yankees' season win total is 90.5.
01:31They are plus 170 to win the AL East, also plus 450 to win the AL, and 10 to 1
01:36to win the World Series.
01:37Giants' number is higher than it's been in the past couple of years.
01:39Their win total is 80.5.
01:41Remember, they made that great trade last year to acquire Rafael Devers, who will be in the starting lineup tonight.
01:46When things kick off, I am intrigued to get this baseball season going.
01:50The NBA's Board of Governors has approved a vote for expansion bids.
01:54It looks like Seattle, Las Vegas, among the teams that could be listed,
01:57it does appear to be those were the only ones that will really get a shot at it.
02:01And we'll see if this gets executed now or in a few years,
02:04but it seems like the NBA is just going to expand,
02:07and probably Vegas would be the first choice.
02:09That's a guess by me.
02:10Okay, no guessing.
02:11The Hornets are surging toward the playoffs.
02:13They've had a really good season, 134 to 90,
02:15so they absolutely covered that big spread last night.
02:1817.5-point home favorites.
02:20They made a franchise record 26 three-pointers.
02:24Wow, LaMelo Ball, 20 points.
02:26Kobe White had 27.
02:27Charles Lee knows all about those big threes
02:31and said that was the key to the win.
02:33It started with our defense to have that type of attention to detail,
02:36focus to win every quarter.
02:40I was really impressed with our guys' competitiveness on the defensive end.
02:44I think once we get stops, you know, we're really dangerous out in the open court.
02:49The guys have done a phenomenal job of continuing to share the ball,
02:53the pass the heads, the pass the crosses, not over dribbling versus pressure.
02:57You see a shift, making the right pass, finding windows, and then shooting it with confidence.
03:02So love the effort that everybody gave today,
03:05but I think it started with our defense and total competitiveness and engagement on the defensive end.
03:11And meanwhile, the, I mean, look, the Hornets are one of those teams that don't really feel like a favorite
03:16to win the East,
03:17but they're playing good basketball.
03:18The Knicks are one of those favorites to win the East,
03:20but, man, do they play down to the competition.
03:23They beat the Pelicans last night, 121-116.
03:26They needed this all the way down to the wire to win.
03:28So Pelicans covered.
03:29They came up big with Jalen Brunson, of course, as always.
03:31He had 32 points in the game.
03:33And after the game, Josh Hart talking about just how clutch Brunson was and has been all season.
03:39When Jalen takes over a game like you did at the end of tonight,
03:43just, you know, what's it like to be on the court when he's, you know, scoring almost every possession, taking
03:48every shot?
03:48Yeah, I mean, that's the position that, you know, I know he likes to be in.
03:54You know, we want him in that position.
03:59And, you know, you learn when you watch this game and you play this game.
04:03You know, the last three or four minutes of a game is winning time,
04:09and that's when your players go, you know, your superstars, your main guys go out there
04:12and show them why they're at that level.
04:14So that's what he did.
04:17I mean, it steps in the right direction.
04:21And some of those games, we weren't just right there.
04:24We actually had it, but then we lost it.
04:27But so those are just growing pains that, you know, we just, we got to finish it.
04:33I don't know what else to say.
04:34We just got to finish it.
04:35But we have taken steps in the right direction.
04:40It's good to see Zion playing this season and back on the court.
04:43The Magic just can't get out of their own way.
04:45They lose again yesterday to the Cavs, 136 to 131.
04:48I guess if there's a silver lining, Paolo Bencaro had 36 points for Orlando and they covered the spread.
04:54But beyond that, it's been all Cleveland, especially since that trade of James Harden.
04:57Donovan Mitchell had 42.
04:59Harden had 26.
05:00Kenny Atkinson, head coach of the Cavs, says this combo between the two of those players has really worked.
05:06Two talented players that understand the game.
05:12High-level scorers, high-level playmakers.
05:16But, you know, I just told the team in the locker room, if we're going to play defense like this,
05:22we're going to have a short playoff stint.
05:29So, you know, right now we have a mentality that we're just going to outscore people.
05:35And we all know when it comes to playoff time, it's not going to be that easy offensively.
05:44You're not always going to shoot like we're, you know, scoring now.
05:48So, if we're giving up 132 points, 128, I don't know.
05:52Seems like every game.
05:55We're not going anywhere.
05:56One, I'm proud of how hard they played tonight for 48.
06:01I mean, there was intensity.
06:02There was urgency.
06:03There was a focus level to them.
06:06Obviously, we turned it over a couple too many times.
06:09I gave them some breaks.
06:10They hit some tough, tough shots, communication breakdowns.
06:14But at the end of the day, we've got to make sure we continue to play with this amount of
06:17intent, intention, and urgency for the remainder of these 10 games.
06:23And we give ourselves a chance every single night.
06:26Not just the Magic, but a lot of teams gave themselves a chance last night.
06:29A lot of dogs covering, including the Suns.
06:31They lose 125 to 123.
06:34Jokic had a go-ahead jumper with 11 seconds to go.
06:36And here is Jokic on that final possession.
06:40Nikola, can you explain what you saw in that final possession that led to the game-winning shot?
06:47Yeah.
06:48Yeah, we run the pick and roll.
06:53And I think there was some kind of misunderstanding in their coverage.
06:58And Jamal had a kind of mid-range, and he passed to me, and I had a little floater, push
07:04-out, whatever it is.
07:06And I made it.
07:08And then defensively getting that stop down the stretch.
07:11Yeah, we knew that the ball was going to find a booker somehow.
07:16And I think we did a good job.
07:17You know, it was a pump fake contest, seven contested, or whatever.
07:22But he needed to work through it, and that's what we needed.
07:25That's what we kind of wanted.
07:27You know, he's a really good, creating his own shots, tough shot maker.
07:36Yes.
07:37Jokic, of course, always a threat for a triple-double and a win.
07:41The playoffs are coming.
07:42We'll see a lot of that.
07:43Long way from the playoffs in baseball, but the Chicago Cubs are expected to be there,
07:48and they'll have opening day tomorrow.
07:51Pete Crow Armstrong has $115 million now in his pocket.
07:54Six years, 115.
07:55That's the official extension.
07:57Kevin McGonigal has made the Tigers opening day roster.
08:0021-year-old infielder, supposed to be one of the best young players in the game.
08:04He's the favorite to win the American League Rookie of the Year.
08:06Brandon Sprout makes the Brewers opening day rotation,
08:09as he ends up getting in the rotation after being traded.
08:13Of course, for Freddy Peralta.
08:15Also, Connelly Early, the Red Sox number three prospect, made the Red Sox.
08:18He'll be in the starting rotation as well.
08:20He's a left-handed pitcher.
08:21Pitched very well in the playoffs last year.
08:23And Shohei Otani, you ever heard of him?
08:25He pitched in the spring yesterday.
08:2611 strikeouts, 4 innings pitched.
08:28Welcome back to Newswire here on Sports Grid.
08:30Sam McQuillan is with us.
08:31Midweek edition from Legal Sports Report.
08:34So make sure you head on over to LegalSportsReport.com
08:36to read about all of the topics that we discuss here on the show.
08:39And we do begin, as usual, with a discussion on prediction markets.
08:43Sam, let's get started.
08:44We'll head over to a story that you guys have up about Calci and Parlays.
08:49No big surprise that Parlays dominate the sports betting market.
08:52How are they doing on the prediction market?
08:56Yeah, Parlays are pretty much the reason that FanDuel and DraftKings
09:00were able to become profitable a couple years ago.
09:03Because, you know, there's such high-margin bets.
09:04They're long shots, and sportsbooks tend to win, or they do better when you lose.
09:09So think about a straight bet that someone places on a sportsbook.
09:14Usually about 5% hold rate for a sportsbook.
09:17A parlay, it's about 20%.
09:19So there's a reason that all the promos you get,
09:23all the advertisements, all centered around parlays.
09:25Sportsbooks tend to do better when you bet more parlays.
09:28That's why when Calci, which is on this prediction market platform,
09:32which functions differently than sports betting,
09:34when they came out with their parlay product in late September, early October,
09:39everyone was really interested in how it would work, how adoption would grow.
09:44And we're seeing right now that it's gone from about 2% of weekly activity
09:48to about 20% of all the sports trading on the platform.
09:52So I think one out of every five sports bets placed on Calci is now a parlay.
09:57But the big question or the big dilemma, rather, for Calci is they're not making
10:01any more money from these bets, just like sportsbooks do.
10:04Because the way Calci works, the very reason that prediction markets are able
10:09to avoid sports betting laws and call themselves not betting is also the reason
10:13that they don't make more money when people lose.
10:16Calci takes about a 1% fee on every trade.
10:20It pairs a better up with another better to take the other side.
10:24So a straight bet or a parlay means just the same 1% fee for Calci versus a sportsbook.
10:31It can maybe mean 20% higher margin.
10:33Another big problem is because it's a peer-to-peer model,
10:37Calci has trouble pairing people with other people to take the bet.
10:41It's a lot, you know, on a sportsbook, you can go and build out your parlay,
10:45customize whatever you want.
10:46They have all this technology that prices in risk.
10:48If you do a same game parlay, it prices in different factors in the game,
10:52which could impact the odds for you.
10:54On Calci, you're really just dependent on someone taking the other side of your trade.
10:58So we're seeing that parlays are growing on Calci.
11:01There's more people taking those trades out there right now.
11:04I know Calci has a request for proposal system that it puts out to try to match traders
11:09with a lot of money to the other sides of these long-shot bets,
11:13where, you know, it's peer-to-peer trading versus sports betting.
11:15But the big kind of dilemma for them right now is, yeah, it's growing,
11:19but it's not making them any more money,
11:20which is precisely why DraftKings and FanDuel are investing in prediction markets of their own.
11:26You know, we've talked about the products they launched back in December
11:28really just kind of look the same as most other prediction markets right now.
11:33But for those companies, DraftKings just bought a company called Railbird Exchange
11:38for about $250 million.
11:40FanDuel plans to spend another $300 million
11:43on its prediction market services basically to build out its own technology
11:47to make sure that it can make more money off these kind of bets
11:51than right now where parlays just kind of equal the same as a straight bet.
11:54So it's kind of fascinating to see what, you know, the growth is moving.
11:59That's kind of the first step for Calci and other prediction markets.
12:02But the second step is that growth doesn't really matter
12:04if these bets are, you know, functionally the same as straight bets.
12:08Certainly, it allows you to be more competitive with your offerings.
12:11You know, you can say, hey, we have parlays too, bet them here.
12:13But for those services right now, A, they're harder to actually do and provide.
12:17And B, you know, the most important part is they're not giving the economic benefit.
12:20So it'll be really interesting to see over the next couple of weeks in March Madness,
12:23I'm sure parlay activity will grow as they keep trying to expand it.
12:27But then when does that next phase hit?
12:28When does DraftKings and FanDuel kind of come in
12:30and really try to perfect the product so it's making them more money?
12:34So, yeah, it's an exclusive we have on Legal Sports Report.
12:36I'd urge you to go check it out.
12:37It's pretty interesting to see how these numbers grow and correlate
12:40and how it's affecting the bottom line of the sportsbooks that are taking your bets.
12:44Yeah, and as Sam mentioned, check out LegalSportsReport.com,
12:46not just for that story, but a lot of the writing that the team does over there
12:49surrounding prediction markets and all the content as well.
12:52All right, Sam, let's move on to Congress, the Senate.
12:56It does seem like these prediction markets, at some point,
13:00we knew that this was going to come.
13:01It would be more than just the states getting involved as to whether or not
13:05these companies can function and operate around the country.
13:09So now we have a Senate bill that is up here,
13:12and I don't know what's going to end up happening here.
13:14And listen, it may not come to fruition to make it voted positively, negatively.
13:18I have no idea.
13:19But if this vote goes through, whether it's in a month, two months, six months, or a year,
13:25this unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you feel about prediction markets,
13:29could lead to somewhat of a downfall of them operating.
13:34Yeah, Craig, it's almost so crazy to talk about lawmakers introducing this bill right now,
13:39the prediction markets, our gambling act, which, as you mentioned,
13:42would functionally just kind of destroy prediction markets as we know them.
13:45It would make sure that prediction markets aren't able to offer sports betting-style contracts
13:50or casino-style contracts, which is about 86% of all the money they've taken over the past year
13:55is sports betting.
13:56So without that, they would just be fundamentally a much different business.
13:59But we've been talking about prediction markets for over a year now, you and me,
14:03how it took a while for states to react, it took a while for regulators to react.
14:07But finally, we're seeing a real big push in Congress.
14:11And I'll note this one is bipartisan, too.
14:13It's from Senator Adam Schiff, a Democrat in California,
14:15as well as John Curtis, a Republican in Utah,
14:18which is notable because Utah doesn't have any gambling.
14:21They certainly don't have sports betting.
14:23But right now, they do have prediction market activity going on in the states.
14:26So prediction markets are angering those states that don't want sports betting as all,
14:30just the same as they've been angering states that say,
14:33oh, if you want to do sports betting, you have to go through us.
14:36The proposal would change the language of the Commodity Exchange Act
14:40to explicitly prohibit sports-style contracts,
14:43or even casino-style contracts if they ever get issued,
14:46to make sure that companies like Talshi, Polymarket, et cetera,
14:51can't really offer sports betting but with a different name.
14:54There was a release from both senators that came out pretty hard against it,
14:58that criticized the CFTC for essentially greenlighting these sports event contracts to exist.
15:03As we know, these prediction markets have been around for a while,
15:06but they only got into sports about a year ago,
15:08which is when the new administration kind of greenlit prediction markets to do sports.
15:13If the CFTC is working on rules right now that it says is going to really govern this,
15:18it's soliciting comments from stakeholders.
15:20We'll see when those rules get put out.
15:22But there's more kind of momentum building in Congress.
15:26It's notable it's bipartisan from both aisles.
15:28There's another bill that Senator Chris Murphy put out about a month ago
15:32that wanted to explicitly make sure that we state that you cannot bet on assassinations
15:37or war or death on prediction markets,
15:40which has been a controversial topic as the U.S.'s involvement with Iran has spiked
15:45and Venezuela, where some users have said markets were settled because of death
15:51or not because of death.
15:52And these prediction markets have kind of had to play catch-up.
15:54So it's interesting we're seeing on Capitol Hill this push moving against prediction markets,
15:58at least to restrict them.
15:59Certainly, if this measure would get passed and go through,
16:03it'd have to then be signed into law.
16:05You know, Trump has been very, very pro-prediction markets.
16:07So it doesn't really seem like this would actually happen anytime soon,
16:11but it is signaling, you know, more effort from folks across the aisle,
16:15which I think is really notable,
16:16especially because you have the federal agency right now
16:18moving to defend these contracts in court with about 30 states suing to stop them.
16:23You know, you just had Arizona filed a criminal lawsuit against Calci
16:26for offering illegal sports betting,
16:28or what it says is illegal sports betting.
16:30And Nevada just won a temporary court decision,
16:33which basically kicked Calci out of the state until the lawsuit proceeds.
16:38So a lot more opposition swirling around the prediction market space.
16:42But one thing that is constant is there's still uncertainty.
16:45There's still not clarity.
16:46Maybe the Supreme Court will figure this out.
16:48We'll have to wait and see.
16:49But, you know, certainly more opposition against them right now.
16:52All right, Sam, let's wrap it up with the state of California
16:54that does not have legalized sports betting,
16:56but they do have prediction markets.
16:58It feels like, not that they're accepting prediction markets in California,
17:02but it feels like the state is sort of getting ahead of this thing by saying,
17:05hey, look, if you're going to operate here,
17:08we're going to put some side penalties in
17:10if you end up doing things that we don't like,
17:12very specifically ads targeting kids who may be susceptible to betting or predicting.
17:20Yeah, it's the Protecting Kids from Online Gambling Act in California,
17:23which, as you mentioned, does not have any sports betting or legal prediction markets.
17:27But this bill would make sure that those platforms are not able to advertise them
17:30to them in the state.
17:32If they do, there'd be a lot of penalties,
17:34about $25,000 per violation and potential criminal charges.
17:39So kind of their way of dealing with things,
17:41which, as we know right now, is very hard to do in this space.
17:44Thanks a lot, Sam. We'll see you soon.
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