Spin Cycle: Markets For DraftKings, Madness For Bettors Highlight Week In Gambling

Welcome to “Spin Cycle,” Casino Reports’ weekly Friday roundup of all things impactful, intriguing, impressive, or idiotic in the gambling industry. Pull up a chair, grab a stack of chips and a glass of your beverage of choice, and take a spin with us through this week’s news cycle …

How predictable …

Of all the major regulated U.S. online gambling operators, DraftKings has traditionally been the most eager to take a leap into new territory — whether it be NFTs, monthly subscriptions, peer-to-peer poker, lottery couriers, winning wager surcharges, partnerships with airlines, or some other semi-hare-brained idea we’ve forgotten about.

So it should come as no surprise to anyone that DK is the first regulated operator to be making moves to possibly open up its own prediction markets site.

As reported Monday by The Closing Line, Jason Robins and company have registered the name “DraftKings Predict” with the National Futures Association, which has in turn listed the new business as a pending member. Interestingly, this is not all that recent a development. It flew under the radar for a while, as the application was filed last July 30 — quite a few months before Kalshi and Crypto.com, among others, started dabbling in sports event contracts.

Several media outlets reached out to DraftKings for further comment, and DK has consistently declined. Comment or not, it is clear the company is eyeing a future in which the Commodity Future Trading Commission formally approves of sports-related event prediction markets.

One shining moment, one betting bonanza

The American Gaming Association shared Thursday its annual projection for March Madness wagering, and the expectation is that this will be another record-setting year.

After Americans bet $2.7 billion across both the men’s and women’s championship tournaments in 2024, the AGA estimates an increase to $3.1 billion this year.

“March Madness is one of the most exciting times in American sports, with fans fired up for both the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments,” said Senior Vice President of Strategic Communications Joe Maloney in the AGA’s press release. “As legal wagering expands across the U.S., more fans than ever have the opportunity to bet legally and responsibly.” 

With March Madness coinciding with Problem Gambling Awareness Month, the AGA emphasized in its press release the key principles of its “Have A Game Plan. Bet Responsibly” campaign.

If indeed the legal wagering crosses the $3 billion mark, that means it will more than double the amount wagered on the Super Bowl. Of course, the Super Bowl is a single game, whereas the two tournaments comprise roughly 130 games, depending on whether you count play-ins.

Another busy week in Texas

For a state without much of a gambling industry, Texas sure does generate a lot of gambling news.

Here at Casino Reports, we covered the news that five representatives of the University of Texas, including two football players, violated NCAA rules by wagering on PrizePicks. And at our sister site Lottery Geeks, we reported on a new bill attempting to ban the practice of buying up every possible lottery combination.

But perhaps the biggest gambling-related news in the Lone Star State this week came with the release Monday of a new sports betting bill in the Senate — Joint Resolution 55, which aims to turn the topic of regulated sports wagering into a November ballot measure.

We could dive deeper into the specifics of state Sen. Juan Hinojosa’s legislation … but is it really worth it when the powers-that-be in Texas have made it so abundantly clear that they will squash all legalization efforts? Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is opposed to gambling expansion and has repeatedly said he won’t call a vote on the issue unless he knows it has majority support among Republican legislators. And the recent negative press for lottery in the state — largely driven by Patrick, it must be noted — presumably turned a “long shot” into a “no shot.”

Still, you have to say this for Texas: The state is good at giving us gaming media folks something to talk about.

House Rules: Insights from around our network

KANE ABLE: Sporttrade’s Kane to regulators, lawmakers: For the sake of US sports betting ‘something must change’ [by Eric Raskin]

ONE-WAY STREET: Players getting played and the bad friend model of sports betting [by Richard Schuetz]

GRILLED STAKES: Maryland House Ways and Means Committee does not vote (yet) on sweeps ban bill [by Chris Altruda]

LUCKY LOSER: Gambling, tilting, and winning: We need a name for this [by Jeff Edelstein]

SKIP THE COMMERCIALS: New Jersey poll shows united front against gambling ads [by John Brennan]

PAPER TRAIL: Trade war with Canada having a negative effect on Massachusetts Lottery [by Jeff Edelstein]

LOGIN ISSUES: Legalizing online casino an uphill climb in Illinois, as informational hearing makes clear [by Chris Altruda]

SOFT LANDING: Soft2Bet to enter U.S. online casino market in New Jersey this summer [by Jeff Edelstein]

THE SAFE SIDE: SAFE Bet Act ‘reintroduced’ at DC press conference, addictive nature of sports betting emphasized [by Eric Raskin]

PLAY BALL?: MLB asks CFTC to create ‘integrity framework’ for prediction markets [by Chris Altruda]

Small stakes and hot takes

This week on the Casino Reports podcast Low Rollers, my co-host Jeff Edelstein and I welcomed CBS Sportsline college hoops expert Thomas Casale to talk March Madness odds, the college player prop debate, and training future long snappers. Here’s a taste:

We also covered sweepstakes ban efforts in Maryland and New Jersey, the Fairleigh-Dickinson University poll on limiting gambling ads, good and bad elements of the SAFE Bet Act, and why Paul George played one game too many this NBA season. Full episode:

The Shuffle: Other news and views

MY DINNER WITH ROXY: The Bookmakers dinner: Inside one of Las Vegas’ most exclusive Super Bowl traditions [ESPN.com]

HUSKER DON’T: Many more testify against Nebraska digital sports betting than for it [iGaming Business]

RISE OF THE MACHINES: Missouri House Bill looks to change framework for the legal use of gaming machines outside casinos [KFVS12]

CITI HAUL: City Council votes overwhelmingly in favor of $8B Metropolitan Park casino zoning changes [QNS]

IT’S ELECTRIC: DraftKings launches Electric Poker to New Jersey online customers [Press of Atlantic City]

FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY: Survey says Las Vegas visitors wealthier, spend more on amenities, bring kids [CDC Gaming Reports]

CHAT SMARTER: FanDuel launches first A.I. sports betting chat experience [Forbes]

POLY WANT A WAGER?: Shayne Coplan’s big bet is paying off [New York Magazine]

LIGHT LAYOFFS: Farmington Hills casino gaming company announces layoffs [MLive]

MOVING ON: Longtime Nevada gaming regulator hanging up the calculator after 4 decades in industry [The Nevada Independent]

MISS THE MARK: Mississippi House makes digital sports betting a political football, punts issue back to Senate [iGaming Business]

The Bonus Round

Completing the Spin Cycle with some odds and ends and our favorite social media posts of the week:

• Interesting iGaming Business reporting out of the Netherlands, a country that introduced deposit limits last year in its regulated gambling market: Traffic to illegal gambling sites has spiked since the limits came into effect, now more than five times higher per month than it was before the limits started in October. Something to think about for U.S. regulators toying with the idea of deposit limits (or mandatory affordability checks, for that matter).

• Vanderpump does indeed rule, apparently. The Cromwell, a boutique hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip, is getting a renovation and a rebrand, and will be known by early 2026 as the Vanderpump Hotel — named for reality TV star Lisa Vanderpump. Sources tell Casino Reports that future properties in the works for the Strip include The Snooki Resort & Casino, William Hung Las Vegas, and The Omarosa. (And of course, Harry Reid International Airport will soon be renamed for The Real World’s Sean Duffy.)

• It’s always nice to mix in some purely positive news in the Bonus Round — such as a hefty jackpot win at a casino. At the California Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas on Saturday, one lucky lady from Hawaii (otherwise remaining anonymous) hit a progressive on Face Up Pai Gow Poker for a massive $510,855 score. She hit a seven-card diamond straight flush betting $25 a hand with a $1 progressive side bet — while in town to visit her grandchildren. A bit of advice for those kids: Request more expensive birthday presents than usual from your grandma this year. She’s good for it.

• Shout-out to The Press Box podcast from The Ringer for featuring Casino Reports in this week’s “strained pun headline” game. Listen here, starting around the 58-minute mark.