Hartley Henderson

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Sports Betting Fuels Rise in Poor Fan Behavior

1 week ago | osga.com | Hartley Henderson

Prior to 2017 all the U.S. leagues opposed gambling and their main stated concern was that they believed sports betting would affect the integrity of the games and fan behavior. Match fixing is nothing new and was a concern as far back as the early 1900s. In 1919 the famous Chicago Black Sox scandal revealed that eight Chicago White Sox players threw the World Series in exchange for payments from a gambling syndicate and to this day is seen as one of the big black marks on the game of baseball.
With other markets saturated, gambling operators are looking at South America

3 weeks ago | osga.com | Hartley Henderson

While online gambling continues to grow throughout the United States, Canada and much of Europe, operators are searching for new opportunities to launch their brands as those other markets start becoming saturated. For quite some time Asia was seen as the biggest opportunity for growth but it has become evidently clear that the entire continent is shunning online gambling and only focusing on growing land-based gaming, where legal. Where to expand?
With other markets saturated, operators are looking at South America

3 weeks ago | osga.com | Hartley Henderson

While online gambling continues to grow throughout the United States, Canada and much of Europe, operators are searching for new opportunities to launch their brands as those other markets start becoming saturated. For quite some time Asia was seen as the biggest opportunity for growth but it has become evidently clear that the entire continent is shunning online gambling and only focusing on growing land-based gaming, where legal. Where to expand?
Sports betting legislation continues to be introduced as the problem gambling aspect of betting rears its ugly head

1 month ago | osga.com | Hartley Henderson

Lawmakers are paying attention to not just the revenue being generated from sports betting, but the rise in the number of problem gamblers. Two federal gambling bills have arisen in 2025 and several states are also looking at what is becoming a billion dollar gambling problem in America. At the end of 2024 there were 38 states offering licensed and regulated sports betting either at a physical location, online, or both and that number could expand to 40 by the end of 2025.
As the Kentucky Derby approaches questions still arise on the traditional method of parimutuel wagering

1 month ago | osga.com | Hartley Henderson

While horse racing awareness and interest piques during the Triple Crown races and at the Breeders Cup, the industry struggles for attention and interest the rest of the year.
Alberta takes first step to an open online gambling market and one operator issues some advice to the province

2 months ago | osga.com | Hartley Henderson

The province of Ontario just celebrated the three-year anniversary of its open market for gambling, and it has been a rousing success. And Alberta has taken notice, introducing a bill this year to open the iGaming market in the province. Ontario currently has 50 operators running 83 websites for sports betting, casinos and/or poker, and the profits for both the province’s coffers and the gambling companies have been enormous.
It's not just sweepstakes casinos, only seven states have any regulated casino gambling

Mar 28, 2025 | osga.com | Hartley Henderson

In the last few weeks several states have introduced legislation or passed bills to ban Sweepstakes Casinos, the latest being Connecticut. In a 22-0 vote Connecticut’s Senate passed a bill introduced in February that makes operating a sweepstakes casino a class D felony in the state and punishable with a jail sentence up to five years and a $5,000 fine.
Predictions for the 97th Oscars from a bettor’s perspective

Feb 28, 2025 | osga.com | Hartley Henderson

Conan O’Brien returns to host this year’s Oscars which is unfortunate. The last time O’Brien hosted it was a dull broadcast and Kimmel killed it the last two years. Nevertheless, the night is about the awards and not the host. I had another good year last year with a couple of upsets, although the main categories all went to who they were supposed to, with Oppenheimer dominating. This year it’s not so crystal clear. Two movies have a real shot to win best picture and one movie has an upset chance.
Affordability Check for Dutch Gamblers Won't Fly in the U.S.

Feb 12, 2025 | osga.com | Hartley Henderson

Several years back my wife and I went to the Magnificent Mile in Chicago while on vacation to browse the different stores and do some shopping. The area had many upscale stores like Nieman Marcus, Nordstrom and Gucci which chained merchandise like purses and high-end shoes to the table to ensure that it would be almost impossible to shoplift them. This was reasonable, but there was a very elite store that I won’t name (mostly because I can’t recall the name) that threw us for a shock.
Ensuring Fairness in NFL Betting - When Will They Get All the Calls Right?

Jan 28, 2025 | osga.com | Hartley Henderson

With billions bet on sports each year, leagues need to do more to ensure accurate officiating, particularly with NFL footballThere is probably no job less thankful in the world than being a league official. If the official gets the call right then everyone just ignores it, understanding they just did their job. But if the official makes a bad call or a questionable judgment call, they they more often than not are blamed for the game’s outcome.