⚖️ Mess With The Ohio Casino Control Commission At Your Own Risk

We have good news and bad news.

The good news is that (for our money) the best NFL weekend of the season is on tap.

Super Wild Card Weekend was fun and all, but no one needed to see any more of Skylar Thompson and Tyler Huntley playing quarterback in playoff games.

The bad news is that there are only seven NFL games left in the 2022 season. 

We hope you like regular season NBA and NHL games, because after the Super Bowl, that's what you have.

In the email today:

1) The Ohio Casino Control Commission is in All-Madden mode. ⚖️

2) New Jersey's 2022 gambling revenue highest since 2006 🍆

3) DraftKings may be profitable sooner than expected. 💰

It really is setting up to be a great weekend of NFL playoff football.

1) O-HI-O! BUCKEYE STATE'S CASINO CONTROL COMMISSION HAS ITS HANDS FULL ⚖️

We reported previously about the Ohio Casino Control Commission's agitation and aggravation with online sportsbooks and their refusal to play by the rules.

The OCCC has been handing out $150,000 fines like penny candy. One of the fines' recipients decided to just pay up.

From Sarah Donaldson's story for nbc4i.com:

• The Ohio Casino Control Commission voted unanimously to fine American Wagering Inc. (affiliated with Caesars Sportsbook) $150,000 for online advertising that breached state law and commission regulations.

• The commission sent a violation notice to American Wagering Inc. on Jan. 5 for advertisements across several platforms that did not include necessary problem gambling messaging and improperly offered viewers “free” or “risk-free” bonuses.

• Twitter ads by an affiliate marketer pledged $100 in promotional “free bets” — if the bettor registered for Caesars Sportsbook and loaded $20 onto their account.

• Caesars waived its right to a trial and settled directly with the commission at its Wednesday meeting.

The OCCC comes off like a stern, disgusted parent of a teenager any time it comments on such transgressions.

 Per an abc6onyourside report, OCCC members "told sports betting interests a couple of weeks ago they were 'deeply disappointed with the very rocky start.'"

And go clean your room dammit!

Snarky sarcasm aside, the OCCC probably has it right when it comes to online harassment of NCAA athletes around losing bets.

Anyone who bets on college basketball, loses, and then goes full keyboard warrior against a college kid for not making his free throws should be banned from the market. 

If OCCC has its way, they will be. OCCC Director Matt Schuler had direct, strong words on this subject. "We don't have control over people's behavior, but we do have control over the venues in how they participate."

Losing online sports betting privileges is an insufficient punishment for these low-lifes. But it's a start.

2) NEW JERSEY'S GAMBLING REVENUE HITS HIGHEST MARK SINCE 2006 💵

The young people don't remember this, but there was a time where casino gambling had two main safe havens. Out west, it was Las Vegas. On the East Coast, it was Atlantic City.

As states across the nation introduced legal casino gambling, Las Vegas took a small hit but Atlantic City (and New Jersey by extension) got crushed.

Atlantic City might never come all the way back, but New Jersey's overall gambling revenue picture is brightening perceptibly. 

From the Fortune story by Wayne Parry (with a h/t to the Associated Press): 

• New Jersey's gambling revenue reached an all-time high of $5.2 billion in 2022, with the majority of the revenue coming from internet gambling and sports betting.

• This revenue stream is heavily shared with third parties such as sports books and tech platforms. 

• The legalization of internet gambling in 2013 and the introduction of sports betting in 2018, following a United States Supreme Court ruling, helped the New Jersey gaming industry to compete with increased competition from neighboring states.

• In-person winnings from gamblers finally surpassed pre-pandemic levels, and the casinos, sportsbooks and internet gambling operations paid more than $526M in taxes in 2022.

We can safely project that these numbers are going to go up from here.

In-person wagering will continue to increase as more players deem it safe to wager in person in casinos. 

And if the New Jersey online sports betting trend holds, well, a billion dollars a month in online sports betting handle is a powerful base to build from.

3) DON'T COUNT DRAFTKINGS OUT YET 👁

Reports of DraftKings' inability to turn a profit may be premature.

Clark Schultz for seekingalpha.com has the details:

• Morgan Stanley has set DraftKings as a top pick in the gaming and lodging sector due to the company's focus on improving the bottom line.

• Analyst Stephen Grambling and team believe that the acceleration of new states like Massachusetts and Maryland and existing states like New York and Louisiana could provide a path to profitability as early as Q2, which would be a major surprise as consensus forecasts show unprofitable quarters until Q4 of 2024.

• Grambling thinks that top operators by market share like DraftKings, Fanduel, and BetMGM have solidified their share in more mature states like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan and expects a similar trend to play out with future state launches.

• Morgan Stanley has an Overweight rating on DKNG and a price target of $20, which implies almost 30% upside potential.

We're big fans of 30% upside potential. We'd settle for 20%. We're pigs, not hogs.

Looking at where the DraftKings stock price was and where it is now, this report may signal an inflection point and a chance to quite literally buy low.

JOB LEAD OF THE DAY 💰

Full disclosure: We never quite got the whole deal with The Athletic.

We can say that when The New York Times acquired The Athletic, we wondered if it was a drowning man being pulled out of the water onto a sinking ship.

We might have had that wrong! Check out this job lead.

Managing Editor is a serious job for serious journalists. The salary band is a little weird ($64,000-$130,000 to start), but with the gravitas of the Times behind the position, it feels like a safer bet than it was two years ago.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON? 😎

• NIL has taken some of the juice from this action, but the NCAA is still defending a lawsuit filed by athletes past and present who want to be deemed employees. ⚖️

• Francis Ngannou's departure from UFC was ugly, including Ngannou hyperbolically stating that he felt he was "getting slapped in the face by money." 🤼‍♂️

• The PGA Tour is fighting fire with fire, or rather cash with cash, by infusing $153M in new money into the 2023 schedule. 💰

• The Royal & Ancient is launching a streaming platform.🏌️‍♂️

• FIFA says that 1.5B global viewers watched the World Cup final. ⚽️

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

• Golf broadcasts may follow the pandemic-originated cost-cutting trend of broadcasters calling the shots from the studio, not on the course. ⛳️

• A former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice thinks the Peach State can approve online sports betting without an amendment to the state's constitution. ⚖️

• Instagram and Twitter thirst trap (and former professional golfer) Paige Spiranac launched OnlyPaige, which per her Twitter account will remain an essentially PG-13 enterprise (for now, at least). 👀

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