Lawsuit Threatens Smooth Start for Sports Betting in AZ, ESPN Brand Sharing Worth $3 Billion?

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Aaron Goldstein

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Lawsuit Threatens Smooth Start for Sports Betting in AZ, ESPN Brand Sharing Worth $3 Billion?

Lawsuit Threatens Smooth Start for Sports Betting in Arizona - The planned Sept. 9 launch of sports betting in Arizona could hit a major roadblockas a Prescott-area tribe has sued the state, claiming the new law that allowed the gambling is unconstitutional and that rural tribes were strong-armed by the Governor's Office to agree to its terms.

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The lawsuit contends that allowing off-reservation sports betting "will result in direct, substantial and uncertain injury to (the tribe) by eliminating exclusivity it has under its existing 2003 Compact and reducing critical revenue received from such exclusivity to provide needed tribal government programs, social programs, clean water, education and other valuable resources to ... tribal members that would not otherwise be had but for such exclusive gaming."

Sports betting for now is moving along despite the lawsuit, with the department issuing licenses on Friday. Mobile sportsbooks are allowed to begin setting up player accounts and marketing in Arizona on Saturday.  18 companies have so far obtained licenses.

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ESPN Explores $3 Billion Sports Betting Deal - Walt Disney Co. ’s ESPN is seeking to license its brand to major sports-betting companies for at least $3 billion over several years.

The sports-media giant has held talks with players that own major sportsbooks, including casino operator Caesars Entertainment Inc. and online gambling company DraftKings Inc., the people said. ESPN has existing marketing partnerships with both companies.

A brand-licensing deal would allow ESPN to profit from the boom in sports gambling without taking bets and making payouts to winners, which requires licenses in individual states.

Such partnerships are not without precedent. 

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Sports Betting Officially Kicked Off in Canada Friday - Justice Minister David Lametti set Aug. 27 as the day Canada would end its long-standing requirement for wagers to be spread across multiple games and matches (known as a parlay).  That day arrived Friday.

Currently Canadians can place their bets online through a government-run lottery corporation.  Whether THAT can compete with the offshores or local bookmakers remains to be seen.

“We’re going to be first out of the gate in Ontario,” Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) spokesperson Tony Bitonti told Yahoo Finance Canada in an interview. “We’re going from a few hundred different betting options to a few thousand betting options.”

OLG announced its enhanced PROLINE+ platform launching on Friday, which now allows single-event wagers for the first time on the government website.  It will also feature live in-play wagering.

The Atlantic Lottery Corporation, which spans Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island, confirmed to Yahoo Finance Canada on Friday that single event sports betting is now available through lotto retailers, as well as its website and mobile app.

- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling91.com

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