The Closing Line Podcast

I am not a lawyer, but I like to talk to lawyers to get smarter and so they can say stuff that I don’t want to. So with me this week on the podcast is Peter Hammon, who is Senior Of Counsel at Vela Wood, and is uniquely positioned in today’s world of gambling and prediction markets.(Our conversation happened before Kalshi’s loss in the Sixth Circuit.)Fun fact: Peter wrote something at Legal Sports Report a decade ago when I was at the site!Sponsor’s message...Trusted Voices: Conversations About Betting is designed to equip adults, including parents and coaches, with tools and resources to talk to young people about gambling, including information on warning signs, risks and proxy betting. The program is led by retired professional basketball player Randy Livingston and his wife, basketball agent Anita Smith, who share their personal stories related to problem gambling, with the hope of preventing others from experiencing similar harms. Learn more and join the conversation here.Some things rattling around in my brain this week about the gambling industry after recent news and developments:1. Responsible and problem gambling are having a moment, for better or worseLet’s start here…having more discussion about responsible gambling is good, no matter the circumstances. It is after all, Responsible Gaming Education Month.DraftKings had two pretty negative stories about how it deals with RG, one in the New York Times, and the other by Pro Publica (see below). The head of the National Council on Problem Gambling resigned after blowback from its stance on prediction markets and relationship with Kalshi.The American Gaming Association commissioned a study about the financial literacy and math skills of gamblers and non-gamblers.Even if it’s painful and negative for the industry, discussion and data related to RG is badly needed, alongside more funding and better policies.2. What will September look like for sportsbooks?I don’t want to read too much into the data from the weekly New York reports. But, I think we’d be silly to ignore them.Handle for the first two full weeks of football (NFL weeks 1 and 2), is up significantly from last year. This year, the first two weeks generated about $1.2 billion in handle vs. about $1.06 billion last year.If you are looking for evidence of prediction markets taking share away from sportsbooks, you are not going to find any in the early September New York numbers.Will that continue in other states, and into the fall? Stay tuned!3. Here comes G2EI will be at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas this week, and it’s undoubtedly a weird time in the gambling industry. Prediction markets are disrupting everything, after all. Some people will be at SBC Lisbon going on at the same time, but a lot of the industry will get together and talk it out in Vegas. I will be fascinated to see what the conversations are like with everything going on right now. Get full access to The Closing Line at closingline.substack.com/subscribe

Bloomberg Reporter Kit Chellel joined the podcast to discuss his recent book, Lucky Devils: The True Story of Three Rebel Gamblers Who Beat the Odds and Changed the Game. Plus my thoughts on recent news in gambling in The Wrap. Get full access to The Closing Line at closingline.substack.com/subscribe

The former head of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States has no shortage of opinions on prediction markets and online gambling. I sat down with West Virginia Delegate Shawn Fluharty to hear them!I also talk about the big issues in gambling right now at the end of this week’s podcast. Get full access to The Closing Line at closingline.substack.com/subscribe

Joshua Kirschner — a partner at Holland & Knight — stops by The Closing Line podcast to talk about legal issues in prediction markets, including how it intersects with the gaming industry.Plus a rundown of recent news and trends in the US gambling industry from Dustin Gouker. Get full access to The Closing Line at closingline.substack.com/subscribe

What if you rooted for fumbles and bad defense instead of touchdowns and yards? Loserball is fantasy football reimagined; I talked with founder Jonathan Gruber about his startup on this week’s Closing Line podcast.You can find the company on social media as @PlayLoserball, including on Twitter. Get full access to The Closing Line at closingline.substack.com/subscribe