After years of skepticism of gambling, sports leagues have entered the policy conversation about legal sports betting. The discussion has largely revolved around official data and integrity fees, with the latter a proxy for leagues’ desire to monetize their intellectual property.

Since the Supreme Court’s decision overturned PASPA, several states have passed laws allowing sportsbooks to operate legally in the US. In many cases, those states include a clause requiring the use of official league data in regulated sports betting. While the American Gaming Association supports private commercial agreements for official data, it opposes legislative mandates.

Official data mandates impose artificial restrictions on the marketplace, limiting available sources and potentially driving up prices for consumers. Moreover, a qualifier such as “commercially reasonable” – as used in West Virginia and Connecticut law – is problematic. It offers no concrete definition of what is a fair price for official data and gives one source a virtual monopoly on its supply.

Football betting rules

If you attempt to fix a match or breach FA betting rules, you may be charged with an offence and face a lengthy ban. The FA, Gambling Commission and betting companies use sophisticated systems to monitor the cash, telephone and online betting markets for signs of match-fixing or passing on inside information.

In outright and tournament winner markets, bets are paid based on the official result as announced by the governing body for each event. Any appeals or amendments to the initial results will not affect these bets. Similarly, any non-runners in horse racing or boxing markets (i.e. a withdrawn horse or event that does not run) will be classed as losing bets.