North America

A period of suspicious betting activity led to the release of an athlete from the UFC and a round of refunds issued by a major sports betting operator.

According to a report from MMA veteran journalist Ariel Helwani, the UFC released Isaac Dulgarian after his loss on Saturday during UFC Vegas 110. Dulgarian entered the bout as a heavy favorite but was submitted in the first round at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas by Yadier del Valle. Less than two hours before the bout, heavy line movement was reported with Dulgarian moving from a -240 favorite to -160 at various sportsbooks. There was also significant line movement on first-round finish markets as a result of heavy wagering.

The line went from as high as +850 to +475 moments before the fight. As a result of the suspicious line movement, DraftKings reportedly pulled all markets for the fight.

DraftKings attributed the decision to “integrity concerns” surrounding the bout. The UFC has yet to release a statement on the matter and the organ..

The NCAA is postponing a rule change to allow gambling on professional sports as the matter receives pushback from key stakeholders across college sports.

The national governing body of college sports is delaying a rule change to allow pro sports gambling from Nov. 1 to Nov. 22, allowing DI membership institutions to vote on the issue.

NCAA recession period kicks in

The NCAA allows Division I institutions to vote whether to rescind an approved rule change within 30 days if a rule proposal doesn’t receive at least 75% of votes from the DI Board. The board voted to adopt the proposal, but with less than 75% of the votes.

Nov. 22 is one day after the NCAA closes a membership rescission period. At least two-thirds or more of the institutions need to vote against the rule change for it to be rescinded. In order for a rule change to be implemented, councils from DII and DIII must also approve a rule proposal. The proposal was initially approved by DII and DIII councils.

Potential rule c..

The Canadian Senate has given fast-track approval to a senator’s latest attempt to establish national regulatory guidelines for online sports betting advertising.

Sen. Marty Deacon’s S-211 was expedited at the committee stage earlier this month and approved without opposition via voice vote on the full chamber floor on Tuesday. It will now head before the House of Commons, where the same effort under a different bill (S-269) hit a roadblock last year amid upheaval in the legislature and the ultimate resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The National Framework on Sports Betting Advertising Bill would mandate that Canada’s Minister of Canadian Heritage must consult and collaborate with various stakeholders to establish a national framework on sports betting advertising.

The framework would focus on identifying ways to regulate betting ads in Canada, with a view to restricting their use, number, scope or location. It would also compel the Canadian government to identify measure..

Prominent NBA players and coaches are embroiled in perhaps the biggest gambling-related controversy ever to involve the league.

The FBI announced Thursday it has arrested dozens of people as a result of years-long investigations into alleged illegal sports betting and rigged poker games, leading to the arrests of Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former Cleveland Cavaliers guard Damon Jones.

The three NBA personnel were among over 30 people arrested in the two separate investigations, which had some overlap between them. U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. noted at a press conference on Thursday that all charges are currently unproven.

Billups allegedly involved in Mafia-run illegal poker games

Billups, a five-time NBA All-Star, was arrested for his alleged involvement in an illegal poker operation allegedly backed by the Italian Mafia.

Nocella told reporters that the bureau believes the operat..

The NCAA is just days away from allowing student-athletes and staff to bet on pro sports.

The organization’s Division III Management Council voted to adopt a proposal that lifts the NCAA’s ban on professional sports wagering. The council was the last step for the ban lift after the proposal was approved by committees from DI and DII earlier this month.

The NCAA previously prohibited sports wagering by all student-athletes, coaches and team officials on all events sponsored by the organization, including pro competition.

Starting Nov. 1, the NCAA will allow pro sports betting but will maintain its ban on college sports wagering and sharing gambling-related information with third parties. The NCAA will continue to provide gambling education and enforce its ban on college-related wagering.

“Our focus remains on education and harm reduction,” said Jason Verdugo, Chair of the Division III Management Council and Athletics Director at Wisconsin-Eau Claire. “We want to make sure student-at..

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says the league has asked its sportsbook partners to pull back on the range of prop bets they offer, suggesting that it is “too easy” to manipulate certain markets at the cost of sporting integrity.

Speaking on an episode of The Pat McAfee Show released Tuesday, Silver said that “the worst case scenario” for the league and everyone involved is a player trying to impact their own performance for the purposes of a bet.

NBA have asked operators for fewer prop bets

Silver confirmed that the NBA has asked some of its betting partners to pare down their prop betting menu.

“I’s too easy to manipulate something which seems otherwise small and inconsequential to the overall score,” Silver opined. “Maybe it’s the couple rebounds that some player gets or whatever. We’re trying to put in place, working with the betting companies, some additional controls to prevent some of that manipulation.”

“There’s nothing more important than the integrity of the competition.”
..

Just days after tackling the subject of limiting bettors, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) held a discussion on another hot-button issue.

On Thursday the group of five commissioners listened to a presentation from MGC Chief of Sports Wagering Carrie Torrisi and MGC Director of Research and Responsible Gambling Mark Vander Linden.

The two offered an overview of how the VIP industry works in sports betting based on information they requested from operators and obtained via the commission’s own research and offered recommendations for potential regulatory changes as it pertains to them going forward.

Sportsbook VIPs are generally men age 35-45

The presentation offered some insights into a facet of the business that lacks a lot of open information and clarity.

Torrisi and Vander Linden confirmed that the most common demo for VIP customers is men in their late 30s to early 40s and, on average, participated as a VIP for 10 months. The data varied substantially by operators, but..

An ESPN College GameDay segment that aired in 2024 led to a $15,000 fine levied against PENN Sports Interactive by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC).

ESPN host Rece Davis made on-air comments in March 2024 during an ESPN Bet segment on College GameDay. Davis and another ESPN analyst, Erin Dolan, discussed NCAA men’s basketball betting picks with Davis describing a wager as a “risk-free investment.”

“You know what? Some would call this wagering, gambling, I think the way you sold this, I think what it is, is a risk-free investment. That’s the way to look at it,” said Davis when discussing a second-round March Madness matchup between UConn and Northwestern.

MGC holds an adjudicatory proceeding on the incident

An adjudicatory hearing conducted by the MGC in April determined that PENN, which operates ESPN Bet, violated compliance standards required by Massachusetts gaming law.

The MGC’s authority under state gaming law requires it to ban “advertisements, marketing and branding..