Stadia Ventures: league and sports betting alignment

While the sports betting market in the US is really starting to take shape, there has been a lot of talk about how the various states are adopting their regulatory frameworks and the need for operators to approach each individual market on a “state by state” basis.

This point of view was reflected Sue Schneider of SBC who spoke to Bob Wallace , partner and sports law group chairman Thompson Coburn, during a recent innovation summit in the field of sports betting. She noted that while there was some consistency in the rules in each jurisdiction, the non-federal approach proved challenging for potential participants.

She stated, "For those who are trying to break into the industry, probably the most difficult part is that it's not done at the federal level, but from state to state, like all games."

Mobile betting and college sports are two pieces of legislation that she cited as inconsistent, adding: “If the state allows it, you can do it on your mobile phone. However, there are some states that have legalized sports betting without allowing mobile betting or requiring personal registration to register.”

Against the backdrop of shifting sentiment and a rapidly changing U.S. sports betting landscape, Schneider sought to highlight how the relationship between leagues and gambling has evolved. She explained: “They have been fighting this for years, especially the NFL – they have been one of the leaders in the lobbying effort to keep it from moving forward.

“I think the dividing line came up a few years ago when Adam Silver from the NBA did an editorial saying "we should all be looking at this" and it really made a difference.

“One of the controversies, and it didn't really matter in the states, is that the leagues were really trying to figure out how to get a share. At first it was the integrity fee, fee or data transfer fee - that's what was discussed in most of the State Chambers, because the leagues come and say: "You are using our product '', so there is some validity to the fact that they say ".

Providing an update on the current state of play between the leagues and the betting sector, she said: “Most of them currently get paid for their data, but again, this will vary from state to state.

“I know there have been many times they have put in an amount for the leagues and it has been reduced in more iterations of the proposed law, but there are only one or two that actually required any kind of good faith fee. But they seem to be more open to letting leagues get paid for their data.”

The Stadia Ventures post: Harmonizing leagues and sports betting first appeared on GamblingTV.com.