Category Archives: NBA

Will Warriors beat Lakers’s 33-game win streak?

The Golden State Warriors has crossed out the “best start in NBA history” off their to-do list, next goal: the Los Angeles Lakers’ 33-game win streak.

The Warriors began the 2015-16 NBA regular season with an unprecedented 16 straight wins, surpassing Houston Rockets and Washington Capitals’ 15-0 record. That is just after the fact that they just won the franchise’s first NBA title in 40 seasons.

On Sunday, the team’s 112-109 victory over the Toronto Raptors broke another record for the best start to a season by a professional sports team. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Warriors’ 21-0 record moved the team past the St. Louis Maroons of Union Association, a league in Major League Baseball.

The Warriors undefeated run continued as it beat Indiana Pacers 131-123 on Tuesday, pushing its winning streak to 23-0 this season.

Report says DOJ to declare DFS gambling; DraftKings lawyers up, cuts NBA spending

The US Department of Justice is planning to declare daily fantasy sports to be a gambling activity, according to media reports.

Late Thursday, the New York Post quoted a Washington, DC source saying that the DOJ, which reportedly launched an investigation of the DFS industry last month, would “move to declare daily fantasy site activity gambling.” The source claimed the DOJ was “expected to take some action” on the DFS issue before year’s end.

Preet Bharara, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York who led the 2011 Black Friday online poker indictments, was said to have opened an investigation into the DFS industry last month.

The Post report came shortly after DFS operator DraftKings announced it had hired high-priced attorneys David Boies and Johnathan Schiller, who founded the firm of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, to fight the cease & desist order issued to DraftKings and rival FanDuel this week by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who formally accused the companies of being illegal gambling operators.

Report says DOJ to declare DFS gambling; DraftKings lawyers up, cuts NBA spending

The US Department of Justice is planning to declare daily fantasy sports to be a gambling activity, according to media reports.

Late Thursday, the New York Post quoted a Washington, DC source saying that the DOJ, which reportedly launched an investigation of the DFS industry last month, would “move to declare daily fantasy site activity gambling.” The source claimed the DOJ was “expected to take some action” on the DFS issue before year’s end.

Preet Bharara, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York who led the 2011 Black Friday online poker indictments, was said to have opened an investigation into the DFS industry last month.

The Post report came shortly after DFS operator DraftKings announced it had hired high-priced attorneys David Boies and Johnathan Schiller, who founded the firm of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, to fight the cease & desist order issued to DraftKings and rival FanDuel this week by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who formally accused the companies of being illegal gambling operators.

Commissioners: fantasy sports not gambling but needs regulation

Three US major sports league commissioners all agreed to one thing: daily fantasy sports is not gambling.

In an interview on ESPN’s Mike and Mike, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has maintained his position on fantasy sports as not gambling but suggested the fantasy organizations should have an appropriate safeguards in place “to ensure that things are fair and that fans who engage on these platforms have an opportunity to win.”

Manfred also added that he is comfortable with the legality of the games that are being offered by DraftKings as the federal law has created a certain landscape for fantasy sports.

DraftKings has become the official daily fantasy game of MLB and has extended its sponsorship with the league’s 27 team and according to Manfred fantasy sports has given the league the fan engagement that it needed.

Commissioners: fantasy sports not gambling but needs regulation

Three US major sports league commissioners all agreed to one thing: daily fantasy sports is not gambling.

In an interview on ESPN’s Mike and Mike, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has maintained his position on fantasy sports as not gambling but suggested the fantasy organizations should have an appropriate safeguards in place “to ensure that things are fair and that fans who engage on these platforms have an opportunity to win.”

Manfred also added that he is comfortable with the legality of the games that are being offered by DraftKings as the federal law has created a certain landscape for fantasy sports.

DraftKings has become the official daily fantasy game of MLB and has extended its sponsorship with the league’s 27 team and according to Manfred fantasy sports has given the league the fan engagement that it needed.

Michael Jordan, Mark Cuban, Ted Leonsis bet $45M on sports data venture

NBA owners Michael Jordan, Mark Cuban and Ted Leonsis are gambling $45 million on a future where there is legalized sports betting.

The trio of sports team owners invested their millions into Swiss sports data company Sportradar AG, which counts international bookmakers among its top clients, Bloomberg reported.

Leonsis, whose private equity firm Revolution Growth led the full investment round, told the news agency he was attracted to Sportradar’s deep experience in sports betting in Europe, where he believes “gaming and fraud detection have been perfected.”

“Now that they’ve come to the U.S., I just felt they were just so well-positioned,” Leonsis said, referring to Sportradar, which has its U.S. office in Minneapolis.

Michael Jordan, Mark Cuban, Ted Leonsis bet $45M on sports data venture

NBA owners Michael Jordan, Mark Cuban and Ted Leonsis are gambling $45 million on a future where there is legalized sports betting.

The trio of sports team owners invested their millions into Swiss sports data company Sportradar AG, which counts international bookmakers among its top clients, Bloomberg reported.

Leonsis, whose private equity firm Revolution Growth led the full investment round, told the news agency he was attracted to Sportradar’s deep experience in sports betting in Europe, where he believes “gaming and fraud detection have been perfected.”

“Now that they’ve come to the U.S., I just felt they were just so well-positioned,” Leonsis said, referring to Sportradar, which has its U.S. office in Minneapolis.

PartyPoker, Philadelphia 76ers sponsorship deal comes to premature conclusion

Online gambling operator Bwin.party digital entertainment‘s PartyPoker division has unceremoniously concluded its landmark sponsorship deal with the Philadelphia 76ers just one week before the start of the new National Basketball Association season.

Bwin.party made headlines in January 2014 when it announced that PartyPoker had inked a multiyear sponsorship deal with the NBA franchise, the National Hockey League’s New Jersey Devils and the Prudential Center in Newark, all of which are owned by hedge fund boss John Harris.

But the basketball portion of the deal was pronounced dead on Wednesday by 76ers CEO Scott O’Neil, who offered no explanation for the premature termination except to tell the Inquirer that the deal contained “triggers” that permitted “adjustments based on market opportunity.”

PartyPoker will continue its relationship with the Devils in New Jersey, where online gambling is legal, while curtailing its presence in neighboring Pennsylvania, where legislators have yet to authorize online gambling (although they’re getting closer).

PartyPoker, Philadelphia 76ers sponsorship deal comes to premature conclusion

Online gambling operator Bwin.party digital entertainment‘s PartyPoker division has unceremoniously concluded its landmark sponsorship deal with the Philadelphia 76ers just one week before the start of the new National Basketball Association season.

Bwin.party made headlines in January 2014 when it announced that PartyPoker had inked a multiyear sponsorship deal with the NBA franchise, the National Hockey League’s New Jersey Devils and the Prudential Center in Newark, all of which are owned by hedge fund boss John Harris.

But the basketball portion of the deal was pronounced dead on Wednesday by 76ers CEO Scott O’Neil, who offered no explanation for the premature termination except to tell the Inquirer that the deal contained “triggers” that permitted “adjustments based on market opportunity.”

PartyPoker will continue its relationship with the Devils in New Jersey, where online gambling is legal, while curtailing its presence in neighboring Pennsylvania, where legislators have yet to authorize online gambling (although they’re getting closer).

Shaquille O’Neal to unveil hybrid slot in Parx Casino

Former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal has partnered with Dynamic Gaming Systems to release a new gaming system exclusively found at Parx Casino.

Parx announced ShaqBLACKJack, a hybrid table-slot machine featuring 24 separate live slot-like blackjack games that will be linked to a live blackjack game and dealer within a basketball-themed area on the casino’s floor.

The game, which will be unveiled on October 4, was developed over a four-year period by O’Neal and New Jersey-based Dynamic Gaming Systems.

Dynamic Gaming CEO Charlie Barksdale said the game was to make a casino game fun for everyone bringing Shaq’s brand of humor to the gaming floor

DraftKings ventures into world of fantasy eSports

DraftKings is expanding the fantasy horizon. The popular daily fantasy sports site announced it will add eSports in its lineup, alongside NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL.

The Boston-based website will begin offering fantasy eSports contests on Oct. 1, with the League of Legends World Championships. This means players can draft a team of professional gamers and compete against others online for real money, much like the traditional fantasy sports like football and basketball.

Participants can play for free or pay a minimal $3 entry fee to win $25,000, among other cash prize contests.

“eSports is one of the world’s most popular spectator sports,” DraftKings CRO and co-founder Matt Kalish said in a statement.

Pallone: Major leagues start singing new tune following calls for DFS probe

New Jersey’s tireless advocate for sports betting legalization wants the industry “out of the shadows.”

During a forum hosted by the International Centre for Sport Security, Rep. Frank Pallone said he believes the Congress would’ve already passed a law that will legalize such form of gambling, if not for “the sports leagues opposing sports betting.”

“This is a billion-dollar industry run by organized crime, and instead we’d like to see money generated through tax revenues that could go to state education, for instance,” Pallone said during the forum, according to NewJersey.com.

Online sports gambling are outlawed under the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), but Pallone has been working diligently to end PASPA’s despotic rule in his home state. Last January, the lawmaker reintroduced a bill that would have New Jersey offer full-fledged sports betting, just like Nevada.

Launch of European Multi-Sport Daily Fantasy Site

6th August, 2015 – Millions of sports fans are to be offered the chance to win money on multi-sport daily fantasy for the first time with the launch of Fanaments.

The new platform, which goes live in Europe on 6th August, will offer players a host of football competition-based games including the English Premier League, La Liga, and UEFA Champions League.

But unlike the majority of fantasy sites outside the United States, it will also go live with sports including NBA basketball, Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts and PGA golf.

The Maltese-licensed platform, which is the brainchild of Icelandic co-founders Bragi Ægisson (CEO), Arnor Davidsson (CPO) and Gudmundur Sveinsson (CTO), allows users to choose a different team each game day.

The Double Standard in Sports and Gambling

By Terry Lyons @terrylyons, Contributing columnist @TheDailyPayoff

The landscape is riddled with double standards, hypocrisy, deceit and public posturing. No, we’re not calling out the politicians and law-makers, we’re talking about sports and sports gambling.
The North American sports industry has a lot of different policies on gambling. Let’s list a few.
There’s a policy for sports gambling in Nevada.
There are federal policies for Delaware, Montana and Oregon that allow for lottery-type games and parlay tickets. There was a similar policy for New Jersey, but state legislators failed to move on that loophole back in 1992 and are now trying to carve out an entire new approach for sports wagering while they continue to offer other forms of gambling and poker-play online to Jersey residents and in-the-flesh in Atlantic City.
There are policies for horse racing. There are policies for Off Track Betting parlors affiliated with horse racing.
There are policies for Native American tribal casinos.
There are different policies for many of the Canadian provinces, some of which have NBA or NHL teams and many which offer parlay wagering similar to offerings in Delaware.
There are policies for international games played, ever so frequently, in London, Mexico and other global destinations by the major North American sports leagues.
There are policies for international play where the Man United’s, Real Madrid’s and FC Barcelona’s along with the FIFA’s and FIBA’s of the world all have top-level bookmaker sponsorships with fully established and, in many cases, public companies like William Hill or BWIN.
There are policies for players.
There are policies for coaches and managers.
There are policies for front office and league personnel.
Some of those very policies drift over to the fantasy sports world where the leagues, their teams and broadcast outlets are making bold and strategic moves to cash in on the craze. The message conveyed is that it’s quite all right to take equity positions, rake in tons of sponsorship dollars, create fantasy gaming lounges and signage, but it’s hands-off for the players, coaches and office-workers.
I’m okay with that. In many cases, contest rules call for employees and their immediate families to refrain from entering the contests to allow the paying customers every possible chance of winning the big prizes without so much as a doubt that an “insider” would have access to the same jackpot.
But here is where the hypocrisy train leaves the station.
For one New York minute, don’t you think the owners, trainers, grooms and jockeys, roaming the back-stretch, have a few bucks on the races?
And, it’s not just horse racing we’re focusing on, here.
It’s perfectly acceptable for professional and amateur golfers to put down a few bucks on practice rounds or trick shots and nobody thinks twice. All in fun, and usually for stakes as low as $1 or maybe as high as $20, Phil Mickelson will have the gallery roaring with laughter on a missed “up and down,” as he did last August at the Barclays Championship in New Jersey.
While Mickelson’s antics with the fans, surely done all in fun, are no different than what takes place on nearly every weekend, on every hole of every golf course in the land, his more – shall we say – aggressive gambling on the NFL and other sports, done legally in Las Vegas, might be of more concern.
Why is Pete Rose vilified for his gambling on baseball and other sports, but Mickelson and Floyd Mayweather are beloved for their frequently boasts about a big hauls in Vegas on specific games or a successful futures bet?
Why can Maurice Jones-Drew be the voice of Fantasy Radio on Sirius XM satellite radio one day but Tony Romo and a group of NFL players were not able to attend a fantasy sports convention organized by a Vegas hotel promoter? Meanwhile, by the way, the NBA Summer League, USA Basketball training camp and the league meetings were putting up the tents at the Wynn Resort.
When basketball’s World Cup or the Olympics roll around, FIBA’s official sponsor BWIN will be taking action on the game in all corners of the earth, sans the almighty U.S.of A.Come this September 20th, BWIN will be taking wagers on the European Championship (qualifier for the 2016 Rio Summer Games) where pros and amateurs roam the courts, but should  someone mention wagering on college basketball-aged players in North America and ghosts of Henry Hill will surely hunt you down and haunt your Uncle Paulie.
At least, the NBA’s progressive Commissioner Adam Silver has come out to publicly state his long-range viewpoint and his desire to properly prepare for and regulate gaming, preferably on a Federal level rather than going State-by-State or Province-by-Province (in Canada) with different laws on the books. Silver’s NBA made a strategic equity play to back DFS provider Fan Duel and many sports Venture Capital funds – some of the coffers backed by team owners in all of the sports – are lining up for strategic plays in gaming, igaming and tech.
Isn’t it time for the hypocrisy to end? Isn’t it time for the commissioners of the four major pro sports of North America to come to terms with the issue, following Silver’s giant-step lead from his self-penned article in the New York Times? Isn’t the facade of DFS gaming just the taxiway to the promised land of full-scale sports wagering worldwide?
In a truly global economy, shouldn’t the gaming laws of the United States and Canada reflect the laws of Europe, Asia, South America and Australia?
Don’t bet on it happening anytime real soon.

Barclay’s Center Doubles Down With Fantasy Partners

Barclay’s Center Doubles Down With Fantasy Partners

by @joefav Joe Favorito

While other arenas like Madison Square Garden and The Staples center have sought exclusive deals with one daily fantasy provider for the building and for their newly created fantasy lounges, the Barclay’s Center has tried to split the both, and interestingly they have done it not between rivals Fan Duel and DraftKings, they have gone outside with their incoming Islanders deal to announce a deal with yet another provider in the space; Draft Ops.

A three year deal between the team and Draft Opts, their first partnership in any of the four sports, was announced this week. It includes the entitlement of an ice-level premium seating area and an activation space on the main concourse level. The Club will extend from the glass through the first five rows on the rink’s west side and will expose fans to the Draft Ops platform on touchscreen displays and HDTVs.

Then you have the Nets, the building’s principal tenant, who has signed a deal with NBA partner FanDuel. While all the signage will switch, the new lounge will remain branded and active with Draft Opts, giving the upstart some additional space even with FanDuel gaining the signage while the Nets are home.

It is perhaps the most unique partnership for a building to date, and will create an interesting case study for other single buildings with multiple tenants going forward, especially with the concept of a “fantasy lounge” being relatively new, and casinos, who have long rumored to be going into the pay fantasy space already well invested with most professional teams from a marketing standpoint.

Welcome Draft Ops, the pay fantasy pool has gotten a little more crowded.

Vegas Everyone? NBA Team Could Join NHL in Desert

By Joe Favorito @JoeFav @TheDailyPayoff

Later this week the basketball world will converge on Las Vegas for the annual NBA Simmer League, the annual showcase for unsigned and recently drafted talent.

Hundreds of media, agents and players will descend for two weeks of competition.

However according to a report in the Milwaukee Business Journal this week, The Summer League might not be the only time the NBA goes into the desert before too long. With a new arena on the horizon and millions of dollars on the line, the Milwaukee Bucks have mentioned getting into the Vegas mix should the state of Wisconsin continue to drag its heels on a new arena for the team.

Speaking to state lawmakers on Monday, Bucks president Peter Feigin had a pretty ominous warning should the team not get the desired arena it has been seeking for some time now:

Per the report: “Milwaukee Bucks president Peter Feigin told Wisconsin lawmakers Monday that time was of the essence in approving $250 million in public funding for the proposed arena in downtown Milwaukee or the NBA will move the team to another city. At an informational hearing held by the state Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee, Feigin said the Bucks owners’ purchase agreement for the team includes a provision that construction of a new arena start in 2015. If that does not occur, he said the NBA will buy back the team for a $25 million profit and move them to “Las Vegas or Seattle.”

The Bucks, suddenly one of the NBA’s hottest teams, have been searching for new solutions for the aging BMO Harris Bradley Center for some time, and Feigin, a former Knicks executive, said the team needed to start construction by October or November to avoid the NBA starting a process of seeking buyers for the team. The team’s lease at the BMO Harris Bradley Center expires in 2017.

The demands come at an interesting time for Las Vegas. With talk constant that the city will either receive an NHL expansion franchise or have a team like the Phoenix Coyotes relocate, Vegas as a professional sports destination may actually becoming more real than just the home of the AFL Las Vegas Outlaws before long.

In the mix for teams is how legal sports wagering will be handled in the state. In past years when games were played in the state, the traditional sports books suspended lines on those games. The Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz each played home games at the Thomas and Mack Center for years, and when they did, no line was posted as part of the agreement. Similarly, lines for home University of Nevada Las Vegas basketball and football games have been pulled over the years when the teams were in state.

However this past year the AFL Outlaws not only had lines on their games, but they welcomed live online gambling into the mix as part of their fan experience.

With pay fantasy expanding and both the NHL and the NBA supporting both pay fantasy and the eventual nationwide legalization of sports betting, having franchises in Las Vegas could provide even bigger revenue stream as the process continues to evolve. Those franchises could become models for how legal sports betting could work once Federal law changes.

“Control of all forms of content, whether it is broadcast, digital or actual games is more vital to success than ever before, and with Las Vegas it seems more and more like the distribution of content, combined with a new state of the art building is becoming more than attractive to teams in at least two leagues,” said Dan Cohen, SVP, Americas at MP & Silva, one of the world’s leading sports media companies. “It used to be Las Vegas was a city that had all kinds of negative baggage for sports, now because of the changing landscape in the digital sports and fantasy space, it has become not just attractive but a hub of real conversation when expansion or relocation comes up. Nevada is no longer some fairy tale for professional sports, it is becoming a reality.”

Whether that reality happens in a year or five years remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure; “Sin City” appears to be an open and willing partner for professional sports teams, and now once one comes, others may follow.

Lebron James to become a free agent, again

The NBA Draft is over and what’s next? The NBA Free agency!

The four-time NBA MVP LeBron James will decline the player’s option on his contract with Cleveland Cavaliers for next season and will become a free agent on July 1, as expected.

The strategic move, marking the third time in the past six years that James will be a free agent, does not mean leaving the Cavaliers. this time it will it’ll e all about the money, allowing him to ink a more lucrative deal and possibly rake in more money.

In July 2014, rather than signing a four-year deal worth $94.5 million guaranteed with the Cleveland, LeBron agreed to a two-year, $42.2 million deal with an opt-out clause after this 2014-2015 season.

No DraftKings stake for Disney, ESPN deal confirmed; Draft Ops ink Barclays Center

The Walt Disney Co. has abandoned plans to take a $250m stake in daily fantasy sports (DFS) operator DraftKings, but DraftKings’ exclusive advertising deal with Disney’s sports broadcaster subsidiary ESPN is going ahead.

In April, word spread that Disney was in talks to acquire a significant piece of DraftKings. On Tuesday, tech blog re/code reported that Disney had decided to walk away. No explanation has been provided for Disney getting cold feet, but the company’s traditional anti-gaming stance may have left itself open to accusations of hypocrisy, given the DFS parallels with sports betting.

While DraftKings will have to look elsewhere for sugar daddies, its plan to become ESPN’s exclusive DFS partner was confirmed on Wednesday. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but previous reports said DraftKings would be required to spend $500m on advertising with ESPN properties over a three-year span.

FANDUEL DEEPENS NBA TIES

FanDuel Grows NBA Platform

By @TheDailyPayoff

While DraftKings relationship with MLB and their enhancements in golf have given them great buzz this early summer, FanDuel continues its focus on the winter and its two core sports, says its chief executive.
CEO Nigel Eccles said football and basketball remain its focus, taking the opportunity with the NBA Draft Thursday to announced an expansion of its NBA partnerships for the fall at Tuesday’s FSTA Conference in New York,

FanDuel locked in exclusive multi-year partnerships with 13 league franchises – the Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Orlando Magic and Utah Jazz.
The deal hands FanDuel marketing assets from in-arena digital signage and in-game promotions to digital, TV and radio advertising, among other branding initiatives. FanDuel will also collaborate with the individual organizations to continue to bring unique experiences to fans, including exclusive player meet-and-greets and VIP road trips to events.
“Partnering with these NBA organizations has been an incredible asset to FanDuel’s growth and business. NBA fans comprise a younger, mobile-centric demographic, looking for new ways to engage with their favorite sport, teams and athletes throughout the duration of the season, which is exactly what they get on FanDuel,” said Nigel Eccles, CEO and co-founder, in a release. “We’re going to keep partnering with franchises that recognize FanDuel’s ability to keep fans in their seat with their eyes glued to every game because they have a player on their fantasy team that night.”

During the conference the value of pay fantasy was again backed up by NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum in an interview with Eric Fisher of The Sports Business Journal.
“We have made our stance clear that we do not see pay fantasy as gambling, and it is a prime way for us to engage deeper with our fans,” Tatum said. “Our fans and our teams have made it clear that this is a growing engagement platform and we are excited about continuing to work to enhance our relationship.”

While not exclusive with the NBA, FanDuel has made it clear that their key business objectives and their growth strategy is revolving around the activation and engagement with the NBA, as well as their recently announced partnerships with a majority of the NFL teams. The NFL remains the least engaged league in an official capacity in pay fantasy, with MLB having taken up an equity position with DraftKings and Fan Duel with the NBA. Several NBA teams, including the New York Knicks, have chosen to partner with DraftKings as part of a wider cross-promotional strategy, but Eccles remains bullish on the overall basketball relationship as the core of Fan Duel’s platform in 2015 and beyond.