Official betting involves placing a bet on a sporting event, whether that be football, basketball, soccer, hockey or horse racing. The odds in these bets are determined by a bookmaker, who may or may not receive a cut of the wager.
In many countries, sports betting is regulated and legal but is not criminalized. However, a number of states are considering legislation to ban sports gambling.
Currently, the majority of US states with legal sports betting have opted to prohibit betting on certain college teams through mobile devices. These prohibitions have been imposed by Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, New York, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
Some states have also enacted legislation that prohibits the use of “college player props.” These types of bets are a form of inside information and may be used to tip sports bettors on games.
This prohibition stems from the 1919 Black Sox scandal, in which professional gambler Joseph Sullivan paid eight players on the Chicago White Sox around 10,000 dollars to fix a game. In response, Major League Baseball banned a number of players from the game for life.
While this is a long-standing restriction on betting, the issue has become more pronounced with the proliferation of legal sports betting in the United States. State legislatures are now considering laws that require the use of official league data, with or without an integrity fee.
The question is whether these mandates can deliver the integrity and efficiencies lawmakers claim they seek in sports betting. If they do, they will require private operators to enter into commercial agreements with the leagues while granting one party what amounts to a monopoly on data.