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SportsTranscript
00:00I think that this is a story that probably hits home for people.
00:06There's probably some people, by the way, Sam, watching us discuss this saying, what
00:09are they?
00:10These guys don't know.
00:11Of course I know what a bookie is.
00:12We thought we would educate you a little bit.
00:13Okay.
00:14So now you have that education.
00:15So then after the bookies came in, let's say about 20 years ago, I'm going to throw a number
00:19out there.
00:20All of a sudden you were able to bet online for people when the internet started on several
00:25different websites.
00:26This was before sports betting was legalized and there are a ton of sports betting websites,
00:32but the problem is they were illegal.
00:33So they operated outside of the United States and you would pay them how you would normally
00:39pay maybe FanDuel or DraftKings, but how you would get paid was very sketchy, to say the
00:44least.
00:45I don't know.
00:46By the way, who you paid and how you got paid was very bizarre.
00:47Needless to say, one of these operators, and I'm not accusing them of anything, but they
00:51were the most popular for a long time is Bovada.
00:55Now, Sam, they are still around and they operate in, again, offshore markets and also a very
01:02important tool to operate in markets where sports betting is not legal.
01:06Because again, if you live in a state where you can't bet on sports, you may find yourself
01:09to one of these.
01:11But sports betting now legal in Michigan and they're trying to turn the tables on an offshore
01:16sports betting operator.
01:17What is the outcome going to be of this?
01:19Yeah, Craig, Bovada has been around for as long as I can remember and is still going
01:23strong today and really benefits from the proliferation of legal sports betting, all
01:28the advertising around that.
01:29A lot of people probably don't even know it's fully illegal in some legal states, but Michigan
01:34is leading the charge here, sending a cease and desist to Bovada.
01:37A couple of states have cracked down on it in the past, so they actually had until yesterday
01:42to leave the state.
01:44I haven't gotten any word on whether Bovada is actually complied.
01:47It's sort of tricky here because there's not much states can do when it's a company based
01:52in Curacao like Bovada is, but they have less states like New York, Maryland, New
01:58Jersey, Nevada in the past once they've gotten the threat.
02:01But now once states are seeing, okay, Michigan's doing this, Connecticut just saw their example
02:06and is going to do the same thing next week, I'm told, send a cease and desist to Bovada.
02:11So some regulators, it's tough for them out trying to ensnare this whole, you've got illegal
02:17bookies, you've got offshore websites, it's a lot to handle.
02:20But Massachusetts as well is preparing action.
02:24I'm told that they actually got the idea at a gaming conference this week where they caught
02:28up with Connecticut regulators, caught up with Michigan regulators, and were kind of
02:32inspired by the charge they took.
02:33So it's really interesting to see everyone coalesce around this.
02:37Whether or not Bovada will actually pull out could have big ramifications for the offshore
02:41market like you alluded to.
02:43It's one of the biggest ones.
02:44It often gets confused as a legal one just because they're so present online and get
02:49picked up by a lot of legacy news outlets, quite frankly.
02:52So if Bovada were to all of a sudden leave three new states, it's like, where does the
02:57buck stop?
02:58Are more states going to make it leave?
02:59And eventually, what does that do to the offshore market?
03:01Do more states get emboldened?
03:03Does the Department of Justice get involved?
03:06The legal market's been asking forever.
03:08So it's an interesting development.
03:09We'll see what happens next in this whole Bovada scenario.