Section
Sportsbooks, handle, odds and the betting business worldwide.
36 articles
Shane Hennen, the central figure in three basketball gambling scandals, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy on July 28. Legal experts say potential cooperation could expose far more defendants.
Dr. Laila Mintas is building a vertically integrated prediction market exchange called 365Prediction, seeking CFTC approval as both operator and clearinghouse. Meanwhile legal experts are warning operators that market manipulation, insider trading and influencer compliance risks are piling up alongside the main CFTC-versus-states court fight.
Research shows 70% of new sports bettors keep wagering three months after a World Cup ends, but fewer than half stay in sports betting. Here is what the data says and what operators can do.
US legal sportsbooks generated an estimated $4.3 billion in handle across the 2026 FIFA World Cup, roughly nine times the legal total from Qatar 2022, with DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars and FanDuel all reporting their largest soccer events on record.
ESPN host Pat McAfee admitted betting on LeBron James to join the Philadelphia 76ers at +700 odds before the news was public, using advance signals from NBA insider Shams Charania. The incident has drawn comparisons to a federal case that resulted in a two-year prison sentence in early 2026.
Italy's FIGC rejected Andrea Pirlo as national coach on 27 July 2026 after his ambassadorial contract with Fonbet, Russia's oldest sportsbook, made the appointment politically untenable. Antonio Conte and Roberto Mancini are now the frontrunners.
bet365 Scores has been named Juventus's Official Sport Infotainment Partner in Italy, extending the infotainment model the operator pioneered with SSC Napoli in 2025 across Serie A's two most globally recognised clubs.
Kaizen Gaming has secured a Spanish gambling license from the DGOJ and is hiring a Managing Director to lead Betano's entry into its 11th European market, where gross gaming revenue reached €454.1 million in Q1 2026.
Samuel Silverman, a former DraftKings sportsbook trader who once managed the Fresno State basketball team, faces two Nevada felony counts following his May 2026 arrest. Prosecutors allege he helped coordinate a prop-bet scheme in which player Mykell Robinson deliberately underperformed in a January 2025 game, turning $2,200 into $15,950. A preliminary hearing is set for August 4.
The Premier League's voluntary front-of-shirt betting sponsorship ban has taken effect for the 2026/27 season, removing gambling logos from the front of all 20 top-flight jerseys for the first time in two decades. Betano is the case study in how sportsbooks are responding: securing sleeve rights at Aston Villa while adding a Tottenham training kit deal.
Netflix releases Instadocs: The Prediction Games today, putting the $27 billion prediction markets industry in front of a global mainstream audience at the exact moment state courts and Congress are moving to restrict its biggest players.
China's state sports lottery recorded RMB 83.3 billion ($11.6 billion) in World Cup 2026 single-match football betting sales across the six-week tournament, with volumes peaking during the group stage despite China's absence from the competition.