Weekend Preview & NBA Finals Insights | News Wire Highlights
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00:00We got your cover and give you a preview of the weekend.
00:02We'll also recap the Western Conference Finals in the NBA.
00:06It has come to a completion.
00:08We'll discuss that coming up.
00:09Also, Coach Young will be with us
00:10coming up a little bit later at the end of the show.
00:12We'll go through the NBA and also the latest on the WNBA
00:15and the fever, so to speak, that Kaitlyn Clark must have.
00:18My gosh, joining the NBA or WNBA,
00:20getting off to such a tough start.
00:22Jim Gazzale is with us from Legal Sports Report.
00:24We'll talk some baseball with Matt Lutovsky
00:26and cover it all for you on this edition of Newswire.
00:29So let's get started.
00:31Bit of a surprise, probably would say last night,
00:33as the Dallas Mavericks are moving on to the NBA Finals.
00:37Not many had them at the beginning of the season
00:39getting there, and I don't think many thought
00:41that they would win in this nature last night.
00:4369 to 40 at the end of the first half.
00:45Did you bet that one?
00:47Because you would have won by a lot.
00:4829-point lead at the first half.
00:50Luka was just on fire.
00:52He had 20 in the first quarter.
00:53Luka Doncic, 36 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists.
00:56Kyrie Irving playing his best basketball right now.
01:0036 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists.
01:02And P.J. Washington chipped in 12.
01:04But the bottom line is,
01:06Dallas is back in the NBA Finals again.
01:09Of course, they will face off with the Boston Celtics.
01:11The first game is coming up next Thursday.
01:14And for the first time in seven years,
01:16Kyrie Irving is back in the NBA Finals
01:19and says it's a long time coming.
01:23It feels great, man.
01:24Definitely don't take this moment for granted
01:26because of how hard we had to work to get here.
01:28And we had to earn our spot into the NBA Finals.
01:31And we had to go against some great opponents,
01:34OKC, Clippers, Wolves.
01:37And I feel like they got us better as a team.
01:40They really challenged us on the defensive end,
01:42made us focus in.
01:43And, you know, I thank every single one of them
01:45like I did the previous two series for making me better.
01:49You know, and it has been seven long years,
01:50but it's also felt like the right amount of time,
01:53you know, in order to reward myself,
01:56be in the locker room with my teammates
01:59and enjoying it.
02:00Long time coming.
02:01So we are going to enjoy this,
02:02but we obviously know this is just a pit stop in the journey
02:04and we got to get ready for, you know,
02:07that court turning gold, as I like to say.
02:09You know, the shoes turn gold, the jerseys turn gold.
02:12And, you know, as a kid,
02:14that's what you dream of getting to is the Finals
02:17and being able to play against the best of the best
02:19with the whole world watching.
02:21Man, I was enjoying it just like everyone else was.
02:24And he had 20 points, I think,
02:25in like six minutes or seven minutes
02:27and you're just watching a special performance take place.
02:29But, you know, as a teammate,
02:31you just want to continue to do the little things
02:34to bring the lead a little bit further along
02:37and just continue to play well.
02:39We were happy where we were,
02:40but we weren't satisfied because we knew it was a long game.
02:42But when Lucas starts off the game like that,
02:44I mean, we're a tough team to beat.
02:45So, you know, kudos to him having a great series,
02:48a great playoff run in general,
02:49but just leading us that way
02:51and being able to kind of ease the tension a little bit
02:55and the emotions, you know, starting off the game.
02:56We see our guy, Lucas, scoring 20 like that.
03:01I mean, it eases everybody's pressure a little bit.
03:03Yeah, great job by the Mavericks getting to the Finals.
03:05We'll see how they do.
03:06Boston, of course, favored to win the NBA championship.
03:09Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves,
03:11great season for them as well.
03:13Some speculation on the future for a lot of their players.
03:15One of them, of course, Carly Anthony Towns,
03:18talked about getting this far,
03:19but how tough it is to get to the end of the line.
03:23I mean, nothing's easy.
03:25Nothing's easy in the playoffs, let alone NBA basketball.
03:31I think that, I mean, I said early in the playoffs,
03:35you know, we've always done it the Minnesota way,
03:37the toughest way possible.
03:39And I don't think mentally we were out or checked out
03:43or anything like that.
03:44You know, we've been used to having adversity.
03:46We always find ourselves putting ourselves
03:49in a bad position and finding a way to get out of it.
03:51So just it didn't work out, you know,
03:57played with fire maybe a little too many times
03:59and played a great team who played amazing
04:03and then hit shots when they had to hit shots.
04:06So I'm not going to come out here at all and say,
04:10you know, just it was just all us against ourselves
04:13that cost us, you know, they had to make shots and play well
04:16and they did that.
04:17That team is well coached.
04:18They got great players, you know,
04:20got to give credit where credit's due.
04:22Yeah, and credit to the Timberwolves,
04:23great season for them.
04:25And hopefully their coach doesn't get fired
04:26like everybody else, including Cleveland.
04:28But it looks like they're zoning in on a new head coach.
04:31As we get to that, they're going to interview
04:32Kenny Atkinson and James Borrego.
04:35Those are the two names the Cavs are zoning in on right now.
04:38Potentially could hire one of the two.
04:40They're securing permission, by the way,
04:41to talk to more assistant coaches.
04:43But as of right now, we know Atkinson, Borrego,
04:45those are the two names involved.
04:47Meanwhile, the Kings are trying to lock down
04:49Mike Brown on a contract extension.
04:52The reported numbers are three years and $21 million.
04:55Brown is seeking $10 million annually.
04:59He's done a great job coaching the Sacramento Kings.
05:02I think everybody would agree on that.
05:04Meanwhile, I think everybody would agree
05:05the biggest surprise right now in basketball in general
05:09is the fact that Kaitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever
05:12are off to a one and eight start.
05:14I mean, this was the best basketball player
05:17in the history of college basketball.
05:19Even had 20 points last night, but truly one player.
05:23Not enough to get it done in this league.
05:24103 to 88, a loss against the Seattle Storm.
05:27They're one and eight on the season.
05:29Meanwhile, Jackson Robinson has withdrawn from BYU.
05:33He was in the transfer portal.
05:34He is now committed to Kentucky.
05:37And right now, the Wildcats are considered
05:40a top 25 team as their new head coach, Mark Pope,
05:45taking over for John Calipari.
05:47The New York Mets saga continues.
05:49Today, ESPN reports they made some roster changes,
05:53sending down a couple of players,
05:54including infielder Brett Beatty.
05:56Their former player, Jorge Lopez,
05:58who threw his glove into the stands,
06:00apologized for doing so,
06:02saying that he had no intention
06:04of disparaging the Mets organization.
06:06In a quote, he said he apologizes to his teammates,
06:09his coaches, his fans.
06:11And certainly, he said he spoke candidly
06:13about his frustrations.
06:14Lopez was designated for assignment.
06:17Also, some scary news for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
06:19Their ace, Zach Gallin, left last night's start
06:22against the Mets after six innings
06:24due to a right hamstring strain.
06:25They have not announced yet as to whether or not
06:28he's headed to the IL.
06:29Usually, in this situation, the pitcher does.
06:32And how about another home run,
06:34capping off an incredible month of May for Aaron Judge?
06:37He hit his 18th home run of the season in Los Angeles.
06:40In case you were sleeping, 8-3 the finals.
06:43The Yankees beat the Angels.
06:44Also, one game this afternoon
06:45at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field,
06:47Reds and Chicago Cubs.
06:50In the National Hockey League,
06:51a major upset last night.
06:53The Florida Panthers are on the brink now
06:56of heading to the Cup Finals.
06:58They defeat the New York Rangers
07:00in Madison Square Garden by a final of 3-2.
07:02They didn't even need overtime for this one.
07:04As they head back to sunrise,
07:06they can close it out on Saturday
07:08and head to the Finals.
07:10Western Conference Finals, meanwhile, continue tonight.
07:12We'll see if the pivotal Game 5 is indeed the case.
07:15Oilers and Stars Joe Maddon will have a preview of that
07:18in about 10 minutes.
07:20Hard Knocks official announcement.
07:22The new season will begin on August 6th.
07:24The team that will be featured, the Chicago Bears.
07:27Of course, Chicago Bears with Caleb Williams
07:29in the number one pick.
07:30A lot of discussion as to the interest level
07:32of the Bears going into the season.
07:34So it does indeed make some sense.
07:35And Darius Slayton joins the Giants OTAs
07:38after finally getting the new deal that he was expecting.
07:43And that is the latest news notes and headlines
07:45for you here on Newswire.
07:46Now also keep in mind throughout the show,
07:49we got you covered on everything happening
07:50in not just the NBA and National Hockey League,
07:53but tons going on in Major League Baseball as well.
07:56And for that, Matt Lutovsky is gonna join us
07:58coming up next in the show.
08:00We'll dive into everything happening
08:01and take a look at the close odds there are
08:04for the home run champion in 2024.
08:07Kind of syncs up with the most valuable player award.
08:10Tends to be sometimes the player
08:12that ends up leading the league in home runs.
08:14Right now, it is Aaron Judge with 18.
08:17And for those of you who are in the midst
08:19of a hot fantasy baseball season,
08:21don't forget that tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. Eastern,
08:24myself and Davis Mattock have you covered
08:26with Fantasy Sports Today.
08:28That's followed by Joe Pizzapia and Matt Stryker
08:31on Sunday morning with the same show,
08:33but a different flavor, covering some baseball
08:35and fantasy football as well.
08:38So those are some of the things
08:39that we're following for you here on the show today.
08:42Make sure you stay tuned for the entire hour
08:44because as soon as we are done,
08:46we've got the early line coming up at noon
08:48and we'll go through the entire schedule
08:50and you can watch us all the way through the evening time
08:54with game time decisions and sports rage.
08:57Lots of great programming this weekend,
08:58keeping you caught up on all of the playoff action.
09:01Welcome back to News Bar here on Sports Grid.
09:03You know, we have Matt Lutovsky on the show today.
09:05We're going to kick around some baseball talk.
09:07We were, you know, me and Michael Cohen, our producer,
09:09were talking about what we're going to discuss with Matt.
09:11I'm like, yeah, let's do the home run leaders.
09:13Let's talk about that.
09:14Now, we did this before the Yankees-Angels game last night,
09:17keep in mind, and the timing is great
09:19because Matt, Aaron Judge, hit another home run last night.
09:22So he's got 18 and on FanDuel,
09:25he's the favorite to lead the league in home runs.
09:27So Matt, once again, thanks for coming on the show.
09:29Isn't it sort of incredible how,
09:32if we would have done this back in April,
09:34there's no chance Judge would have been favored
09:36to win the home run title?
09:38And baseball's such a long season
09:40that it almost feels like until you get to August
09:42or September, nothing is definite.
09:46Yeah, things could change in a hurry, definitely,
09:48because not only do you have guys get on these hot streaks
09:51and catch fire and move up these leaderboards,
09:55but you also have guys get hurt.
09:57You have guys obviously go on cold streets as well.
10:01It just happens.
10:02Some of it's a function of who you're playing,
10:04where you're playing games and other.
10:06It's just a function of guys who get locked in,
10:08guys who get in the zone.
10:09And we all know Aaron Judge is one of those guys
10:12who gets locked in and gets in the zone.
10:13So there's, you know, in the long run,
10:16there's no surprise.
10:17You're right, a month ago,
10:18he wouldn't have been nearly this high,
10:19but I'm not surprised he's here right now.
10:22Yeah, it's plus 165 over on the FanDuel Sportsbook.
10:26Maybe it's even more surprising that Gunnar Henderson,
10:28who's been fantastic, is number two at plus 550.
10:31Matt, do you think that there's anyone here
10:33that could potentially dethrone Judge?
10:35And I guess it's kind of fair to say,
10:37I know that Yankee fans don't want to hear this,
10:39it's fair to say that Judge has had some injury issues
10:41in the past, and if he was to miss any time,
10:43somebody else could easily surpass him.
10:45Do you like anybody else on this list here?
10:48Yeah, I mean, I think Henderson has a real shot.
10:50The problem is where he is right now.
10:53I don't know if he provides a lot of value,
10:55but the thing I really like about him,
10:57when you look inside of his splits a little bit,
10:59he's hitting righties for homers,
11:01he's hitting homers against lefties,
11:03he's hitting them at home, he's hitting them on the road.
11:05Like, he's kind of doing it everywhere.
11:07He's not really, you know,
11:09reliant might not be the right word,
11:11but he doesn't just do it one place
11:13or against just one type of pitcher.
11:15I do think Soto's interesting, and I think Kyle Tucker,
11:20I mean, he's right there right now.
11:22I like the park he plays in.
11:24You know, he's not quite as good against lefties, of course,
11:27but he can still hit home runs against anyone, too.
11:30And I think he's sort of interesting, again,
11:32not great value.
11:33I think if you really want to go for that value,
11:35Soto offers the most of the guys
11:37you have on the board right now,
11:39or just maybe in general.
11:41I think there's probably a lot of bets
11:43still coming in on Shohei Otani, of course,
11:45and we know he can catch fire in a hurry,
11:47and he's not too far off the leaders,
11:50but he's got a little bit of an uphill climb,
11:52and I do think you got to worry about him
11:54a little bit with injuries as well.
11:56So I'm not sure he's a great value bet,
11:58but of those guys that were on that board,
12:00I think Soto provides the most value for sure
12:03because he's another guy who can get hot in a hurry,
12:05another guy who's at a park tailor-made
12:07for him to hit homers,
12:08and I think he can do it in a heartbeat.
12:12You know, he's got to stay healthy, too,
12:14but I think there'll be opportunities there for him
12:16to move up that board in a hurry.
12:18Yeah, contract season, as everybody knows,
12:20for Juan Soto as well.
12:22So this Mets story, here we go again,
12:25Matt with some stuff with the Mets.
12:27This, you know, Jorge Lopez is looking for a new team.
12:31He, everybody knows by now,
12:33if you haven't heard the story before,
12:34he threw his glove into the stands,
12:35he made some disparaging comments,
12:37which have since been corrected,
12:40some translation issues without a doubt.
12:43Matt, I think that this story
12:46is probably an opinion story at this point
12:49because we just don't really have a lot of factual evidence
12:53as to what was said privately with him
12:56and the manager and the general manager, et cetera,
12:59how his teammates feel about him.
13:02We just don't know.
13:03So Matt, I'm not going to ask you for facts.
13:05I'm going to ask you your opinion.
13:06What do you make of this entire situation?
13:09Do you think that they were right to dismiss Lopez?
13:12Do you think Lopez made a huge mistake,
13:14which should have cost him his gig with the Mets?
13:15Do you think that other players, had they done this,
13:18would have received the same fate?
13:19The floor is yours.
13:20What do you make of it?
13:22Well, obviously there's some players
13:24who would not have received the same fate.
13:26I don't think there's any question about that.
13:28But yeah, the whole situation,
13:30because I was watching the videos
13:32as they were coming out in real time.
13:34And the first one that started it all,
13:36you went, oh, I don't think he said I'm on the worst team.
13:39I think he was talking, and then he was asked point blank.
13:42And again, was there a translation?
13:45Did he fully understand?
13:46Like you said, it's really tough to say at this point.
13:49But even if you take away the comments aside,
13:52when you throw your glove in the stands,
13:54when you act the way he did,
13:56and who knows what had been leading up to that too,
13:59it's just, I think, really tough to come back from that.
14:02And it's unfortunate if he truly didn't understand at all
14:08what was being asked of him.
14:10That's unfortunate for obvious reasons,
14:12but it still wasn't a good look at all preceding that,
14:17during that, after that.
14:19And yeah, did he deserve to get DFA'd?
14:22Yeah, I don't know.
14:23I think after you do that,
14:24it's really tough to come back from.
14:26I think you gotta DFA him.
14:28But you're right in that
14:30it would not have happened to everyone.
14:31I think that goes without saying.
14:33But I also don't think everyone
14:36would have spoken the way he did.
14:38Again, possible translation issues aside.
14:41So very tough.
14:42I think the frustrations of the whole season
14:44and the whole team are boiling over,
14:46and it's sort of getting dumped on one guy,
14:48which isn't fair.
14:49But it's just one of those situations
14:51where you go, who else would this happen to?
14:53The New York Mets.
14:54I don't know how many teams this would happen to.
14:57Right.
14:58Yeah, they always find their way into some controversy.
15:01All right, let's move ahead from Major League Baseball
15:03to the National Football League.
15:04And let's talk about all these wide receiver extensions
15:07that have happened in the off season.
15:08You know, when Ahmad Rasan Brown got paid,
15:10I thought, okay, that's it.
15:12And then all of a sudden,
15:13everybody else started getting paid too.
15:15Nico Collins, Devonta Smith, Jerry Doody,
15:19Jalen Waddell just got $84 million.
15:22And look, I think people right now, Matt,
15:24unfortunately are talking about the players
15:25who have not gotten paid.
15:27And I think that's kind of the next focus
15:29as we go into the summer.
15:31Yeah, I think so, because there's some big names.
15:33I mean, the biggest names.
15:35And they're the ones who are going to command the most.
15:37And then the other guy too, who hasn't gotten paid,
15:39who's extremely intriguing, is Brandon Aiyu,
15:42because that's a team that obviously
15:44has Super Bowl aspirations, just playing in a Super Bowl.
15:47And he wants a lot.
15:49He hasn't been quiet or shy about that.
15:51And he's a real important one too.
15:53But Justin Jefferson, he's going to, I think, set the record.
15:57I think C.D. Lamb will be very close behind.
15:59And then I don't know if Jamar Chase
16:01will get paid this year, but he'll be looking for it.
16:03So these are some big, big dominoes to fall.
16:06And the fate of the league, to a little bit,
16:10rests in their hands.
16:11Yeah, I mean, Jefferson, a very intriguing player
16:14going into the season.
16:15Thanks again, Matt.
16:17We'll be right back.
16:19And if you've been paying any attention to the Kansas City
16:22Chiefs and their kicker, Harrison Butker,
16:24and some of the comments that he's made over the last week
16:27or so, this is not the show that we're
16:29going to talk about them on.
16:30Because I don't do that.
16:31But I will talk about the National Football League.
16:34And indeed, Harrison Butker may not
16:36be involved in kickoffs in the National Football League.
16:40The reason why is the rules have changed.
16:43And they may actually have to have
16:45kickers who can make tackles.
16:47His special teams coordinator is discussing that,
16:51Dave Taub, saying we may have to have
16:53somebody else on the field.
16:55I'd like to have somebody that can go back,
16:57is able to make a tackle.
16:58I mean, Bucker's able to make a tackle,
16:59but I really don't want him making tackles all year long.
17:03If you watch the XFL, we watched every play.
17:06I bet kickers were involved in probably at least 25
17:10to 40% of the tackles, either trying to make a guy bounce
17:14back, or making the tackle itself,
17:16or just missing the tackle.
17:17So we don't want Bucker in that situation.
17:21But he will be a kicker.
17:22He'll be a guy that we will use in certain situations.
17:25He's got a lot of ability to move the ball,
17:28whereas those other guys may not be as apt to do that.
17:32And we'll use him.
17:33He can still kick a touchback if we need it.
17:36You're just giving up the ball.
17:37If we do kick a touchback out of the back of the end zone,
17:39now they're getting out the 30 instead of the 25.
17:41So that five yards makes a big difference.
17:43I mean, that's another 3% chance that you're giving the
17:46offense against you to score.
17:49So...
17:52I wonder if other teams are going to do this.
17:54I mean, they only have, I think,
17:55less than 99 days to get this figured out,
17:58whether or not kickers are going to be on the field for this.
18:00But Chiefs already taking evasive action.
18:02Pretty smart by them.
18:03Now, also pretty smart by the Miami Heat to explore options
18:07if indeed Jimmy Butler doesn't want to play
18:08with them next season.
18:09Now, I have not heard that yet.
18:11So I'm very curious to hear the comments of our very own
18:14Kevin Walsh to explore some possibilities
18:16if indeed the Heat moves on from Jimmy Buckets.
18:20NBA Twitter always has plenty of rumors
18:23and we have a few around Jimmy Butler
18:25because he is looking to get paid this offseason,
18:28understandably so.
18:30And he hopes the money comes from the Miami Heat
18:32who could offer him a max extension.
18:34And if it does, then Jimmy's fine.
18:37He'll retire in South Beach,
18:39just like he wants as one of the best players
18:42in the history of the organization.
18:44But if Miami thinks that that contract won't be worth it,
18:48there will be other suitors,
18:49most notably the Philadelphia 76ers,
18:52who probably wish they didn't choose Tobias Harris over him
18:56some years ago, can now fix that with max money available
19:00as Tobias Harris walks out of Philadelphia.
19:03But a new team entering the chat,
19:05that's the Golden State Warriors,
19:07perhaps considering a win-now move
19:10to pair Jimmy Butler alongside Steph Curry.
19:13Now that has some juice.
19:15Craig, back to you.
19:17Well, I'm sure that a lot of South Florida fans
19:19do not appreciate that from Kevin Walsh
19:22to hear that Jimmy Butler may be gone.
19:24But here's something South Florida fans can appreciate,
19:28the fact that our studios in SportsGrid,
19:30at least in New York, are right across the street
19:32from Madison Square Garden,
19:34where the Florida Panthers defeated
19:35the New York Rangers yesterday.
19:37But I digress.
19:38Let's get a preview of game five
19:40of the Western Conference Finals with Jo Madden.
19:44We have a pivotal game in the Western Conference tonight,
19:46game five with the series tied two to a beast.
19:49The Dallas Stars are the favorite at home
19:50in a total of five and a half.
19:52Looking at this matchup here,
19:53the Dallas Stars coming off a heartbreaking loss,
19:56with the Edmonton Oilers just dominating,
19:58hitting Jake Oettinger hard.
20:00I'm expecting that bounce back
20:02out of Jake Oettinger here at home.
20:03I'm taking him over 26 and a half safe shots on goal.
20:07And I do think you could fire this one up
20:09to 28-plus safe shots on goal to get some plus money.
20:13Edmonton is gonna be able to get those shots tonight.
20:15Chris Tannev went out in that last game,
20:17and I expect that blue line to be weak
20:19for the Dallas Stars without him.
20:22Connor McDavid, for his four-plus shots on goal
20:25at plus 140, you hold so much value
20:27with that weaker blue line as well.
20:29So I will be riding that.
20:31But also give me Jamie Benn for one-plus points.
20:34He's riding a five-game point streak
20:35that's coming in at minus 113.
20:37All the best in all your bets, and back to you, Craig.
20:41Thanks very much, Jo.
20:42We'll check back in with Jo on Monday
20:43on our next edition of Newswire.
20:45Okay, coming up next here on the show,
20:46we've got Jim Ghazali.
20:48And I don't know if it's fair yet to call Louisiana
20:51the parlay capital of the country,
20:54but based on the latest data figures,
20:56it does appear that more people like playing parlays
21:00in Louisiana than maybe anywhere else in the United States.
21:03What does the data show?
21:05If you stay tuned, coming up next,
21:06Jim Ghazali joins us from Legal Sports Report.
21:08We'll go over those latest numbers in Louisiana
21:11and also touch on the revenue growth in Michigan.
21:14This is Newswire on Sports Grid.
21:16We'll take a quick timeout.
21:18We'll come back and join our guest contributor
21:20from Legal Sports Report right after these brief messages.
21:24Great to have Jim Ghazali from Legal Sports Report
21:26here with us to discuss the business of sports betting.
21:28We've got some numbers coming in financially from Louisiana.
21:31We'll start with Michigan.
21:32Jim, great to have you back here on Newswire.
21:35Good to see you.
21:35I know you're getting ready for the Belmont Stakes.
21:37I know you are.
21:38You know, we haven't had a chance to discuss.
21:40Have I seen you since the Derby or the Preakness?
21:43I don't know that I have.
21:45No, I think it's been about a month
21:48since we've gotten together, Craig.
21:51So plenty to catch up on.
21:53And I guess we can just roll into those Michigan numbers
21:58right off the top here.
21:59And, you know, I think for me, I'm usually most interested
22:03in seeing kind of how these sports betting handle
22:08and revenue figures start to trend as we get into,
22:12you know, the April, May, June,
22:15where, you know, there's no NFL betting available.
22:19And we kind of get into the dog days of summer.
22:22And for Michigan, it was a positive April,
22:24year-over-year increases in handle and revenue.
22:29Handle was $414.4 million in April,
22:3423% boost over last April,
22:38$43.4 million in revenue for the sportsbooks,
22:41which was a 20% increase.
22:43And, you know, as we've seen, really,
22:45since the adoption of sports betting in Michigan,
22:51they are a mainstay in that top 10 sort of leaderboard,
22:56if you will, in U.S. sports betting markets.
23:00FanDuel DraftKings,
23:01really the two dominant players in that space.
23:07BetMGM, 15% market share for BetMGM.
23:11You know, a lot of that having to do with that
23:13brick-and-mortar casino that they have there.
23:17And they're the only other,
23:18those three, FanDuel DraftKings,
23:20BetMGM are the only three that have a double-digit market share
23:25in terms of handle.
23:26Just a couple of other notables from Michigan in April.
23:31ESPN Bet, about a 6% share of handle for the month.
23:36And Fanatics, a little less than 4% share of handle in April.
23:43Yeah, and I think that right now,
23:44with the way I look at Michigan,
23:46is very similar to how I look at states like Minnesota,
23:50potentially in the future, how they could look like.
23:52And I think that, Jim, that is sort of the benchmark
23:54for how some of these states that don't have legalized sports betting
23:57can look at a state like that and say,
23:58hey, we could be one of those.
23:59Why they can't get it done, I have no idea.
24:02Okay, now this is a fascinating one,
24:04and it does tell a little bit of a story.
24:06I don't know how much it tells for you,
24:08but we're going to talk about the numbers here in Louisiana.
24:11Jim, you may have heard what I alluded to before the break,
24:13that Louisiana is the parlay capital of the country.
24:16I was being a little facetious because I don't know that,
24:17and I don't have, I don't know the numbers.
24:19I think we're all the parlay capital of the country, to be honest,
24:22based on all these same-game parlays that these companies are offering.
24:25But you have data that shows that a lot of the revenue
24:29that's coming in specifically on parlays.
24:31Tell us more.
24:33Yeah, and they, the Louisiana bettors might be, in fact,
24:38the parlay betting capital of the U.S.
24:43You know, they're certainly losing a lot of them
24:46and, you know, padding the bottom line for the sportsbooks there.
24:50$27 million the sportsbooks won off of those combo parlay bets in April.
25:00The sportsbooks posting, you know, a win rate, you know,
25:04overall hold north of 13% for the month through those online wagers.
25:10And it's really been two months in a row
25:14that we've seen those parlays really accounting
25:18for more than half of the revenue earned by sportsbooks
25:23in Louisiana over those last, the last two months.
25:25So certainly big numbers for the sportsbooks down there.
25:31And, you know, like we've talked about over really the last,
25:34you know, six or eight months where we've just seen the parlay handle
25:41kind of exploding and the technology behind these parlay bets
25:47kind of exploding too.
25:48You know, we've talked in recent months, Craig,
25:51about FanDuel really investing in the technology around pricing
25:58and putting together these bets for people in their sportsbook app.
26:02DraftKings, very similar.
26:05Caesars, very similar.
26:07So we're seeing a lot of these major operators continue to invest the time
26:13and resources into these parlays for their customers.
26:17They're popular for the customers.
26:18They're popular for the sportsbooks, evidently, because of, you know,
26:22just how much revenue they drive.
26:25And I was speaking to some executives from Caesars earlier this week,
26:30and they told me that that trend is going to continue.
26:33They don't really see that sort of, you know, coming to an end anytime soon.
26:40And, you know, I think Louisiana is a pretty good example of just how profitable
26:46these parlays can be for operators.
26:50Yeah, and I think that as it continues, there's no stopping it.
26:53And it'll be interesting to see if other states provide specific data on parlay bets,
27:00because I think that will tell a bigger story here at the end of 24 and into 25.
27:04Okay, we're coming to the end of the Triple Crown Challenge here.
27:06We've had the Derby, the Preakness, we've got the Belmont coming up here in June.
27:11Jim, let's talk a little bit about what's at stake here with this next race,
27:16and also a change a little bit in terms of customer acquisition for horse racing,
27:21specifically VIP customers, and a little technology in the mix as well.
27:27Yeah, there's plenty of, you know, talk going around this Triple Crown season with the Derby,
27:33the Preakness, and now we have the Belmont Stakes coming up next weekend.
27:37And the conversations that I've been having have been focused on really the sports books
27:43getting involved in the horse betting market.
27:47We see, you know, FanDuel has that shared wallet between sports and horses that we've talked about plenty, Craig.
27:55We have DraftKings, who has launched their DK Horse app last year.
28:03The Caesars Racebook, they have a partnership with the New York Racing Association.
28:07So a lot of these sports books have entered the horse betting market in, you know,
28:13the last 12 or 16 months, and they're using it as a way to cater a lot to these VIP customers.
28:23You see a lot of these partnership deals with racetracks.
28:27You know, DraftKings has a lot of marketing and branding logos around the track at Saratoga they had last summer.
28:34They're continuing that partnership with the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival coming up next weekend.
28:39And this is allowing them not only to get their brand out there, certainly,
28:44but it also provides them the opportunity to offer some hospitality and experiences to those VIP high-dollar bettors
28:54to introduce them to the sport of horse racing and, you know, find a way to, you know,
29:00bring them across from sports to horses.
29:03NIRA, the New York Racing Association, told me that that is certainly in play with their DraftKings marketing deal.
29:11Some representatives from Caesars, when I spoke to them earlier this week, said that idea is very similar.
29:17That strategy is very similar for them.
29:18They have a suite at Del Mar, which is a racetrack out in San Diego,
29:24where they cater to a lot of those high-dollar bettors.
29:28On the technology side, a lot of the talk recently has been about making things easier for horse players
29:35or casual sports bettors to get introduced to horse betting, making the data for horse racing,
29:42which, you know, admittedly can be quite complex if you're not familiar with it.
29:47So a lot of the conversations have been around how do we sort of distill that information,
29:53make it easier to digest for the novice player, and help them make educated bets.
29:58So sort of those two main talking points, you know, catering to a high-dollar bettor through the VIP experiences on the horse racing side,
30:09and then also sort of, you know, distilling this information down,
30:13making it a lot simpler to understand for the novice bettor so that, you know,
30:17hopefully these sportsbooks can, you know, help grow that horse betting market.
30:23Great analysis there, Jim.
30:24And certainly we here at SportsGrid definitely want to see the growth of horse racing,
30:29or at the very least, continue to maintain its popularity.
30:32Thanks again for coming on Newswire.
30:33I really appreciate it.
30:36Thanks to Newswire.
30:36We don't really have to have Coach on for his prediction on who's going to win the NBA Finals
30:41because he made it already with us last week.
30:43He came on, and he said that whoever plays against Boston is going to win.
30:46So now we know who it is.
30:48It's going to be the Dallas Mavericks, right, Coach?
30:50Dallas last night, they took care of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
30:53Now being a little bit strong on that, Coach said that the Celtics have to play a lot better
30:59if they're going to beat the team from the West.
31:02But I would ask you, Coach, now that you have seen the Celtics close it out
31:07and you've seen the Mavericks close it out, have you changed your opinion at all?
31:11Do you think that the Mavericks in the end, who are a dog, can beat the Celtics in a seven-game series?
31:20Craig, good to be on with you as always.
31:22I'm actually not changing it.
31:24I went on with Donnie and Ben and I shocked Ben and I said, Dallas in six.
31:31And here's why.
31:33I've had concerns with the way Boston has played during the playoffs.
31:38People have gotten mad at me on social media because I've talked about how they haven't been challenged.
31:42What I mean is that they haven't played against a team that has been at their full strength.
31:49Now you're going to tell me Chris Przingis missed basically the last series.
31:53That's true, but this is a Boston team that at that time takes off possessions,
31:58takes off quarters, takes off games.
32:01And I look at a team like Dallas that's really good defensively
32:06and they've got two players that at any point can lock this game up and put it away.
32:13Look at last night.
32:14Luka Doncic, 20 points, first quarter.
32:17Outscored Minnesota 2019.
32:20Kyrie, second quarter, 15 points.
32:23They have guys, Craig, that they play what we call first and second side of the ball action.
32:31Meaning you can put Kyrie on the first side, let him bring the ball, get him into some kind of ball screen action,
32:38throw it to Luka and now Luka's on the second side.
32:41What does that mean?
32:42It's hard to load up.
32:44You can't just load up on Kyrie off the wing ball screen
32:47because now you throw it to Luka, Luka's got one on one.
32:50And I look at Luka as someone that is playing, was not playing the best offensively wise,
32:56but has really shown up the last couple of games.
32:58I thought those four big threes early on knocked that crowd out right away.
33:03And I just look at a team that is playing well.
33:06All their parts seem to fit.
33:08And I do like Dallas to win NBA Finals in six games.
33:12Now, I think that as we get closer to the game, next Thursday is game one.
33:19So we'll have a lot of different options to discuss with you.
33:21But the initial option, at least on the FanDuel Sportsbook, is the length of the series.
33:25The odds makers, Coach, have determined that this is going to be a lengthy one.
33:29At least from what I'm looking at here.
33:31Because you have plus 210 at five, plus 210 at six.
33:34So that means flip your coin on one of those two.
33:37And even a seven-game series, you don't generally see this.
33:40Usually in a series like this, you see three-to-one or three-and-a-half-to-one.
33:43It's plus 230.
33:45So you've already put the gauntlet down and said it's going to be six games.
33:48But naturally, I like to see this from a sportsbook, where they're a little cautious
33:53as to predict whether or not it would be a quick series.
33:56It does not appear that they believe it will be one, at least on FanDuel.
34:00No, I think they think this is going to be a long series.
34:04If you even think about the series spread right now on FanDuel,
34:07over five-and-a-half games is minus 165.
34:10They're telling you right then and there, they think it's six.
34:13But they don't want to put it at six-and-a-half.
34:16Because people may take the other and get plus money.
34:19So to me, when you look at this, it's a series that is lined up like this.
34:26Boston is going to give you one stinker, generally speaking.
34:30The question is, can Luka and Kyrie steal you another game?
34:36I think they can.
34:38So now we're looking at six games right now.
34:40So if you'd rather play it to over five-and-a-half games and minus 165,
34:44I have nothing against that.
34:47I just think the better play I'm going to try and do is,
34:49I just may take Dallas Mavericks plus 184 to win this series.
34:52It doesn't matter how many games they close it out in.
34:55People can look at the fact that maybe you take, if Dallas wins a series,
34:58Luka's going to be Finals MVP, he's plus 210 on Fandle.
35:02I wouldn't be so sure of that.
35:04Because Kyrie is capable, and we've seen Craig during his postseason,
35:09of taking the game over.
35:11So if you like Dallas, and you don't want to go Dallas and six,
35:13because you think that's a wild prediction, I think it's like five-and-a-half to one.
35:16Maybe the way to look at it is, take Dallas plus 184.
35:20Take a small sprinkle in Kyrie at 20-1 to win the MVP.
35:26Because it's going to be interesting having him go back to Boston.
35:30Remember, when he was at the Nets, he came,
35:32he burned Sage in the TD Bank Garden.
35:35Now I'm just thinking of the movie Celtic Pride,
35:37with Daniel Stern and Dan Aykroyd,
35:41when he hijacked, you know, Damon Wayans,
35:43when he gets off the plane from Utah.
35:46I think this is going to be a fascinating series.
35:50Porzingis going against a team that he was supposed to be the quarter-stern of Dallas.
35:54A lot of storylines here.
35:56But I like Dallas to win a series in six games,
35:59but it better off maybe to take it at plus 184 overall.
36:03All right. Coach, I want to close out with this.
36:05I think it's an important conversation to have.
36:07And you're very educated on this, obviously,
36:09being a coach of women's basketball, and I am not.
36:11I'm on the outside looking in.
36:13I don't want to go back to Patrick Ewing,
36:15but I'm going to go back to like Yao Ming,
36:17Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan.
36:19First overall picks in the draft.
36:21They go into the NBA.
36:24I'm not saying they win the championship by any stretch coach,
36:26but they immediately, as generational-type players,
36:29make the team better.
36:31Why has Kaitlyn Clark not made the Indiana Fever better?
36:33It's unequivocal. They're 1-8.
36:35They are not a good team. What has happened here?
36:38I would blame some of it on the coaching.
36:40And I would blame it on the fact that
36:42the players from last year aren't playing as well as they have.
36:46You know, this is Smith.
36:48You know, you can look at Aaliyah Boston, right?
36:51They have not played as well as they have,
36:53and it's put a lot of pressure on Kaitlyn Clark,
36:55whose usage rate is the same as Indiana.
36:57Now, when people bring up a guy like Shaq,
36:59whose team won 20 more games this year,
37:01I'm going to say this, folks.
37:03She is one of the best,
37:05if not the best player,
37:07to ever come out of college.
37:09Do I think she's Tarazi good?
37:11No.
37:13Do I think she's Candace Parker good?
37:15No.
37:17I'm talking about their game as it translates to the next level.
37:19Kaitlyn Clark will be better.
37:21She is one of the 20 best players in the WNBA,
37:23but she's not the best player in the sport.
37:25And I will say this,
37:27her teammates and her coach
37:29have to do a better job of helping her
37:31make that team a better team.
37:33Yeah, I think this should be talked about a lot more, coach.
37:35Thanks for bringing this to the table.
37:37Really appreciate it.
37:39Have a great weekend.
37:41We'll catch up again and preview the finals next week.
37:43My man. Thanks, Craig.
37:45All right, Coach James Young with us
37:47does a great job here throughout the Sports Big Network.
37:49Next, we're on this Friday.
37:51Some players fate for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
37:53What happens in the interim
37:55is they get inducted
37:57into the Clubs Hall of Fame.
37:59That's a great place to start.
38:01We've got a lot of topics to cover,
38:03so let's get started.
38:05It's time for some last licks.
38:11All right, we flip over card number one
38:13and it is Drew Brees.
38:15Yes, congrats to Drew Brees.
38:17Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints
38:19Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
38:21In fact, Brees played 20 years
38:23in the league, 13-time pro bowler,
38:25of course, won a Super Bowl,
38:27won the MVP.
38:29I think it's fair to say
38:31that he revitalized a team
38:33and an organization and even a city
38:35during Hurricane Katrina
38:37that sort of transcends football.
38:39I think that's fair to say.
38:41What's really interesting about Brees' career
38:43is that most people
38:45thought that when all the accolades
38:47were done and when he gets into
38:49the Pro Football Hall of Fame as soon as he's eligible,
38:51I think it's 25 if I'm not mistaken on that,
38:53that he would have a great post-playing career.
38:55Similar to Tony Romo
38:57or Tom Brady
38:59or Greg Olson or some of these others,
39:01he went immediately into broadcasting
39:03and it doesn't appear that that
39:05is his future. Now, there have been some
39:07in the industry that think he should get another
39:09opportunity to do that.
39:11I hope that Brees is sort of able to figure it out.
39:13What I would wonder is why he's just not
39:15simply a member of the Saints' front office
39:17or doing something as an executive
39:19because it would seem to me with
39:21the amount of knowledge that he has of the game
39:23and his ability to just find different
39:25players all over the field, never the biggest guy,
39:27never the strongest guy, but seemed like one of the smartest
39:29guys on the field of all time. I wonder why he doesn't
39:31go that route. Hopefully he will.
39:33We'll get that figured out for him.
39:35Now, for Larry Bird, the news is in.
39:37Indiana State and the Boston Celtics
39:39had a public ceremony Thursday. It's the official
39:41opening of the Larry Bird Museum
39:43in the Terre Haute Convention Center
39:45from French Lick.
39:47Larry Bird gets his own memorabilia
39:49from high school, college,
39:51and the NBA, interactive exhibits,
39:53interview with coaches, teammates, rivals,
39:55and Bird said, quote,
39:57I think they got enough in there to keep everyone's
39:59interest. Bird also said there's so many
40:01items that bring back memories
40:03of his career and truthfully
40:05told with Magic Johnson
40:07and Larry Bird and
40:09the documentaries that they've had back and forth
40:11and some of the stuff. I mean, that's really my
40:13first foray
40:15into the National Basketball Association
40:17growing up. You know, I remember
40:19some stuff from the late 70s, not
40:21a lot, but really when I started
40:23watching basketball, it was that battle
40:25between those two teams, Larry Bird
40:27and Magic Johnson, and then
40:29enter Michael Jordan, enter
40:31Detroit Pistons, all that stuff. But great time for
40:33the NBA, no question. Very well
40:35deserved for Larry Bird coming from
40:37this obscure school in Indiana
40:39State all the way to
40:41being one of the greatest basketball players
40:43of all time, which nobody would doubt.
40:45All right, finally, speaking of Indiana,
40:47how about the Indiana Fever? Let's end with this.
40:49Katelyn Clark, as we talked with Coach Young about
40:51this, Katelyn Clark is definitely doing
40:53one thing well this season, and that's
40:55racking up the technical fouls. Has
40:57anybody been paying any attention to this? I saw this
40:59last night. Katelyn Clark now has
41:01three technical fouls on the season.
41:03Folks, they have only played nine games.
41:06What is going on here?
41:08Now, Clark is known for some trash-talking,
41:10and some of the greatest basketball
41:12players of all time have also been known for
41:14some trash-talking. That would include Michael Jordan,
41:16arguably the greatest college basketball player of all
41:18time, or NBA player of all
41:20time, Kobe Bryant, rest in peace,
41:22another one of those as well. But just
41:24nine games into her rookie season,
41:26and Katelyn Clark is
41:28getting teched up once every
41:30two games? This was not
41:32something that I saw coming at the beginning
41:34of the season.
41:36I think we're all rooting for
41:38success for Katelyn
41:40Clark. I gotta say, it
41:42is pretty stunning to me, and Coach
41:44made some great points about it, how
41:46the coaching maybe hasn't been great, and some of the
41:48players around her haven't been great,
41:50but all of this hype about being
41:52the best player ever in the history of
41:54college basketball, statistically
41:56speaking, getting all these
41:58NIL deals and everything, and then you go to the next level,
42:00and your team is the worst team
42:02in the league? I
42:04don't know. It definitely invokes more conversation
42:06just about this,
42:08I think, and I'm glad we were able to bring it to the table
42:10on the show today. All right, that'll do it for our
42:12show today, and our week of shows. Thanks to
42:14Jim Ghazali from Legal Sports Report, and thanks to Coach
42:16Young, as well as Matt Lutovsky, those who
42:18are our three guests on the show today. Also, great job
42:20by our guest contributors for our SportsGrid SoundOff,
42:22including Kevin Walsh and
42:24Ben Stevens, and Joe Madden doing
42:26a great job previewing all these hockey games
42:28for us as well. Let's give you an idea as to
42:30what you can expect the rest of the day here on
42:32SportsGrid as soon as I am out of here.
42:34Coming up, at the top
42:36of the hour, we've got
42:38the Early Line, followed by Pharrell Coast-to-Coast,
42:40Game Time Decisions, In-Game Live,
42:42and Prime Time, and then
42:44Gabe and Sports Raid Tonight.
42:46You can see me tomorrow morning on
42:48Fantasy Sports Today, or
42:50on Monday morning for our next
42:52edition of Newswire, thanks to our associate
42:54producer, Frank, and for my producer
42:56Michael Cohen, I'm Craig Misch. Have a great
42:58weekend. I'll see you back here for our next
43:00edition of Newswire on Monday.