Latest News
UFC Partners with U.S. Integrity
UFC, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization, and U.S. Integrity, a leading technology-driven sports wagering monitoring company, announced an agreement in which U.S. Integrity will become the official integrity service for UFC, capable of identifying and analyzing unusual wagering activity as indicative of possible integrity concerns. The agreement takes effect immediately and establishes services for the entirety of 2023 and will encompass all UFC events, including Dana White’s Contender Series.
Riché T. McKnight, Executive VP & General Counsel of UFC, said: Throughout this process, we have had productive discussions with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) to address the concerns AGCO expressed to their operators. We have made enhancements to our UFC Athlete Conduct Policy to more clearly express the prohibition against any UFC athlete from placing any wagers directly or through a third party on any UFC match, including placing wagers on themselves. We have also expanded our discussion of so-called ‘UFC Insiders’ to make clear that these same prohibitions against wagering apply to an athlete’s coaches, managers, handlers, athletic trainers, and other individuals affiliated with the athletes or UFC, and that violations by these Insiders may result in disciplinary action against related contract athletes. Finally, we have reiterated our expectation that our contract athletes will come to us to report any matters that might raise integrity concerns. We thank the AGCO for their cooperation, and we look forward to continuing to work with them to ensure the integrity of our sport for the benefit of our athletes and our fans.”
Through U.S. Integrity, UFC will strengthen its current integrity controls by adding expertise in data intelligence and fraud prevention.
“There is no greater responsibility we have to our athletes, fans, and business partners than to ensure the integrity of our sport. U.S. Integrity will help us strengthen our existing best practices by applying their expertise in data intelligence to proactively identify irregular bout-level wagering patterns. This information can inform UFC’s response and can be preemptively shared with sports books, who can make informed decisions as to whether or not halt betting on a particular bout,” McKnight said.
“U.S. Integrity is proud to partner with UFC and assist as wagering on their events continues to rapidly grow across the regulated sports betting market. U.S. Integrity’s mission is to provide best-in-class insights and compliance solutions to our clients. We are looking forward to working with the exceptional team at UFC as they work to improve their integrity policies and procedures,” Matthew Holt, CEO & co-founder of U.S. Integrity, said.
Industry News
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission Releases February 2024 Casino and Sports Wagering Revenue
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission reported that the month of February 2024 at Plainridge Park Casino (PPC), MGM Springfield (MGM) and Encore Boston Harbor (EBH) generated approximately $100.57 million in Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR).
Additionally, approximately $52.55 million in taxable sports wagering revenue (TSWR) was generated across the eight mobile/online sports wagering licensees and the three in-person licensees for the month of February.
Gross Gaming Revenue (Casino Gaming)
PPC, a category 2 slots facility, is taxed on 49% of GGR. Of that total taxed amount, 82% is paid to Local Aid and 18% is allotted to the Race Horse Development Fund. MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor, category 1 resort-casinos, are taxed on 25% of GGR; those monies are allocated to several specific state funds as determined by the gaming statute.
To date, the Commonwealth has collected approximately $1.677 billion in total taxes and assessments from the casino operations of PPC, MGM and Encore since the respective openings of each gaming facility.
Sports Wagering Revenue
EBH, MGM, and PPC are licensed as Category 1 Sports Wagering Operators, which allows them to operate a retail sportsbook at their respective property. Category 1 operators are taxed on 15% of TSWR.
BetMGM, Betr, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, Fanatics Betting & Gaming, FanDuel, Penn Sports Interactive, and WynnBet are licensed as Category 3 Sports Wagering Operators, which allows them to operate a mobile or online sportsbook. Category 3 operators are taxed on 20% of TWSR.
Of the total taxed amount for all operators, 45% is allotted to the General Fund, 17.5% to the Workforce Investment Trust Fund, 27.5% to the Gaming Local Aid Fund, 1% to the Youth Development and Achievement Fund, and 9% to the Public Health Trust Fund.
To date, the Commonwealth has collected approximately $118.56 million in total taxes and assessments from the sports wagering operations of licensed operators since sports wagering began in person on January 31, 2023 and online on March 10, 2023.
When an operator’s adjusted gross sports wagering receipts for a month is a negative number because the winnings paid to wagerers and excise taxes paid pursuant to federal law exceed the operator’s total gross receipts from sports wagering, the Sports Wagering Law allows the operator to carry over the negative amount in tax liability to returns filed for subsequent months.
Compliance Updates
Arizona Department of Gaming Announces Allocation for Event Wagering License for Fanatics
The Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) announced that it has allocated an event wagering operator license to Fanatics Betting and Gaming as the designee for Tonto Apache Sports Betting, an organization of the Tonto Apache Tribe, pursuant to A.R.S. § 5-1304 and A.A.C. R19-4-105 and 106.
On January 16, 2024, ADG announced that it would begin accepting applications for available event wagering licenses, which included one event wagering license reserved for Arizona Tribes and no less than one event wagering license reserved for Arizona Sports Franchises, as defined in A.R.S. § 5-1301(7).
The application window for event wagering licenses opened on February 16, 2024, and closed on March 4, 2024. Applicants were required to submit their completed applications within this timeframe in order to have been considered for an event wagering license.
Latest News
The most comprehensive racing app announces US Racing coverage roll-out
Continuing its promise to offer racing fans the most extensive, user-friendly and unrestricted racing coverage unlike anything else on the market, The Racing App – created by Quantum Leap Solutions in partnership with premium UK bookmaker Fitzdares – has bolstered its product offering with a best-in-class roll-out of US racing coverage.
US racing fans can now enjoy a premium level of content and insights to provide them with a large suite of information including full form details with past performance ratings, in-house horse-by-horse comments, market charts, value prices, form visualisers and tips. Another exciting feature is Compute, a simple-to-use unique tool offering punters a meaningful way of solving the puzzle of horse racing by quantifying at-a-glance the key factors likely to determine the outcome of a race to generate a set of “true” prices based on the data.
All this alongside some of the finest expert insight in the US racing sphere including access to The Nick Luck Daily Podcast, to which The Racing App is a proud sponsor of its US Racing segment in its quest to help UK punters make more informed decisions ahead of key US meetings. Regular analysis from respected broadcaster Cornelius Lysaght is also included.
Unlike any other known content provider in the UK and in the US, The Racing App also offers a video form guide for each upcoming US race, as well as access to live US race streams and replays.
Users can also take advantage of the app’s innovative interactive analysis tools including Speedform and unique visual Draw Charts. Through cutting-edge race simulation graphics, Speedform allows users to gain a greater understanding of how horses are expected to run not just in general but at specific sections of each race, based on speed ratings adapted from par times and conditions allowances.
In development for release later this year, users will also soon be able to select specific previous runs to feature in Speedform visuals and delve deeper into Draw Charts to see how different riding tactics affect the impact of the draw – with The Racing App showing no signs of pulling up.
Ian Heaney, CEO of Quantum Leap Solutions, said: “We’ve crammed top quality content and unique insight into one best-in-class app, something that shows how The Racing App really is the pinnacle of products for racing fans. There’s more to come too, including some even better upgrades to Speedform we’re excited to launch later this year.”
“Our benchmark for making a race interesting is the level of content and insight we offer for
British and Irish racing and we have now delivered that and more for US racing fans.”
Will Woodhams, Fitzdares CEO, said: “The concept that US racing is complicated to follow is now a myth with what The Racing App is capable of providing. Many racing fans feel they’ve never had enough data – now they have a full suite of it. In fact, with the insight and new interactive elements combined with the conformity of US racing, it’s actually a simpler puzzle to solve than UK racing and you could not ask for a more complete tool to aid your racing experience.
“To racing fans I say enjoy – and take advantage of the best racing service at your fingertips to back US winner after US winner.”
Relaunched in November 2023, The Racing App already gives racing fans a free, unrivalled one-stop-shop for their racing needs including live race streaming and all UK and Irish replays, cutting-edge data analytics, unique predictor algorithms, and world-class integrated race cards to provide racing fans with the latest and greatest data in seconds. The app also provides access to an integrated betting platform through Fitzdares.
The Racing App is available to download for free in the iOS and Android App Store. Search ‘The Racing App’ to download now.
US Racing content is available to all users with the exception of those based in the US due to local data rights.
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