Fanatics Surges Back to the Front of the News Cycle

"Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast!"

True enough, Ron Burgundy.

2023 is a little more than five days old and the chaos is all around us. Great for newsletter writers...bad for people who hoped to take a deep breath after the holidays. Oxygen, as it was in 2022, is in short supply.

In the email today:

1) Fanatics never stays quiet for long, and they are on one right now. 💰

2) Speaking of on one, the Ohio Casino Control Commission is drawing a line in the sand as it seeks to levy fines against multiple sportsbooks. ⚖️

3) As Damar Hamlin makes miraculous progress (🙏), the National Football League tentatively considers how its schedule should look going forward. 🏈

No quip needed here. LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOO.

1) FANATICS STORIES COULD POPULATE HALF OF THIS NEWSLETTER 💵

Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin and his company have been conspicuously out of the news cycle in recent days. That changed abruptly as this week hurtled to the finish line.

A. Fanatics is no longer bullish on non-fungible tokens.

From the story by Joanna Ossinger and Olga Kharif, "The sports merchandiser was once Candy Digital's largest holder but has now sold most, but not all, of its stake to a group that included existing investor Mike Novogratz's Galaxy Digital Holdings, Ltd., and Consensus, which was started by Ethereal co-founder Joseph Lubin."

The story also notes that "Candy Digital didn't disclose terms." Our take? Candy Digital had more to lose announcing how little those rights are worth now than Fanatics did.

B. Fanatics will use Amelco's source code as the underpinning of its sportsbook.

Daniel O'Boyle's story for igbnorthamerica.com had the details here:

• Amelco’s source code will power the Fanatics sports betting product, as announced in a Massachusetts licensing meeting.

• Rumors that Fanatics would acquire Tipico, a German sportsbook operator, for the purpose of using its platform did not come to fruition.

• Scot McClintic, the chief product officer for Fanatics, indicated that Fanatics would modify Amelco's source code: "We are 'fanaticizing' it, we are making it work with some specific use-cases that we have."

We are going to assume that "fanaticizing" the code means making it much more effective than the code has been for the likes of Fubo Sportsbook (RIP) and Fox Bet.

C. Fanatics is facing pushback from Massachusetts regulators over its proposed sportsbook strategy.

Geoff Zochodne for covers.com reported that the Massachusetts Gaming Commission voiced some potential objections to how Fanatics plans to draw new and existing customers to its sportsbook once it launches.

The body's commissioner, Eileen O'Brien, noted "concerns about the model of how you're going to get your database and pull them in...it's pretty aggressive in the pitch."

Michael Rubin? Aggressive? Who knew?

Anyway, Fanatics' Vice President for regulatory affairs, Alex Smith, responded by saying that "customers that don't want to see the gaming ads can opt-out easily" and that "anyone that we know is under 21 years of age, we will suppress marketing to those individuals."

This feels like so much saber-rattling to us. Massachusetts is already in bed with the likes of Barstool Sportsbook. Exactly how much more uncertain could things get letting Fanatics operate as it sees fit?

Especially when Rubin does something as magnanimous as donating all profits from the sales of Hamlin jerseys to Hamlin's charitable foundation.

2) THE OHIO CASINO CONTROL COMMISSION IS MAD AS HELL, AND IT'S NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANY MORE ⚖️

Online sports gambling has been legal in Ohio for less than a week. It didn't even take a week for the Ohio Casino Control Commission to announce that some of the sportsbooks that were granted licenses are already in hot water.

You will recall that even before the first legal wagers were placed, the Commission was looking to fine Barstool Sportsbook's parent company, Penn Entertainment, $250k for violating the Commission's rules.

That was fair warning to the likes of BetMGM Sportsbook, Caesars Sportsbook and DraftKings Sportsbook to toe the line. Apparently, the warning didn't take.

As Sean McDonnell reported for cleveland.com:

• The three companies in line for $150,000 fines are accused of insufficient messaging surrounding problem gambling and pushing "free" or "risk-free" wagers as inducements.

• The Commission had reminded (warned) these companies on December 30, 2022 that these advertising rules were to be followed strictly.

• Combined with the prior Barstool Sportsbook $250,000 fine and a separate $350,000 fine the Commission wants to hit DraftKings with for a different violation, the fines the Commission is seeking to collect now exceed $1 million.

• All of these fines are subject to appeal.

Growing up, we used to hear that if something happens once it's a fluke, twice it's a shame, three times it's a message.

It's possible the books knew the rules, were reminded of them, and faced with relatively small fines, decided to break them anyway. A lousy $150,000 isn't enough to cede market share at launch.

3) THE NFL'S PLAYOFF SCHEDULE IS STILL IN FLUX 🏈

As reported by numerous outlets including ESPN, the NFL has decided that the Monday Night Football game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals will be not be resumed and ultimately will not be played.

That game had significant playoff ramifications. Now that it won't be played after all, the league is scrambling to decide the fairest, most reasonable manner by which to select and seed playoff teams in the American Football Conference.

The NFL announced three factors that convinced the league to abandon the game:

• While the game was crucial for seeding purposes, its result was not going to impact which teams made the playoffs in the AFC.

• If the game was played after the regular season ended, the playoff schedule for the other qualifying teams would be thrown into even more uncertainty than exists now.

• By scrapping Bills/Bengals now, the teams still fighting for the playoffs in Week 18 know their playoff qualifying scenarios and won't have to essentially play and wait.

The league made an announcement late yesterday that sets out various potential resolutions to this situation. We trust you to read it for yourself:

The league is convening the 32 team owners via videoconference for a special meeting to determine if the proposals already approved by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league's Competition Committee will be ratified by an as-yet-determined number of owners.

The various scenarios and permutations being floated on Twitter — the potential for an eighth playoff team to be added in both conferences, home playoff games being decided by coin toss, etc. — are too speculative to report on with any certainty today.

The only real certainty is that some fan base(s) whose team(s) come out of this process on the short end are going to be dissatisfied. On balance, a very fair trade for what we are hopeful is Hamlin's eventual full recovery.

JOB LEAD OF THE DAY 💰

George Costanza's "Human Fund" set a standard that few if any will ever match in terms of non-specificity. Give it up for Jomboy Media, though — they're trying with this job posting.

"Director of People" is so much more fun to say than anything including trite phrases like "Human Resources" or "Personnel Department." Fear not, though, it's basically a Human Resources job with a salary range of between $100,000 and $200,000 annually.

Job responsibilities include the usual HR stuff like "manage talent acquisition process" and "foster a culture that is transparent, collaborative and action oriented." Zzzzzzzzz.

Still, this seems like it would be a great job to get if only for the cocktail party interactions.

Jack: "What do you do, Steve?"

Steve: "I just started as the Director of People at Jomboy Media."

Jack: (unsure of what the next question should be)

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON? 😎

• Jake Paul signed a deal with the Professional Fighters League which will put him in a mixed martial arts cage, where (unlike with boxing) there won't be anywhere to hide. 🥊

• Dana White's Power Slap League is unsurprisingly on hiatus (maybe permanent, really) after White's recent despicable conduct. 😪

• University of Georgia football fans are going to have to pay a lot of money if they want to see their heavily favored Bulldogs win the national championship game. 🏈

• Until the NCAA expands the college football playoff field, former institutions like the Rose Bowl will likely continue to post their lowest-ever ratings. 📺

• Manchester City Football Club, owned by a man whose net worth is about $17 billion, just signed a deal with India's Jio Platforms Ltd, which is owned by the tenth-richest man in the world. The ultra-rich...they're not like us. ⚽️

WHAT TO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR BEFORE THE NEXT SEND 👁️

• No one knows how the ugly scandal currently rocking the United States Men's National Team will play out, but with the United States set to be co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup, the United States Soccer Federation had better sort this out fast. ⚽️

• The NCAA is considering expanding the March Madness field to 90(!) teams. Even Kyle's beloved Villanova Wildcats might get into a field that big. 🏀

• Vince McMahon is stepping out from under his rock to oversee the potential sale of WWE. 🤼‍♀️

• Missouri is one of the latest states to once again strike up the band and look to start dancing with the idea of legalizing sports gambling. 💵

This email was compiled today by the Raising Stake staff. Jason and Kyle contributed. Images from Getty.