It’s information overload everywhere, and there’s not time enough to sleep and eat and stay fully apprised of what’s happening on this crazy blue dot of ours. So here’s the Friday Sports Handle column, “Get a Grip,” highlighting some fresh news and recapping the week’s top U.S. sports betting stories. 

A Minnesota state senator is hoping to find consensus among the state’s tribes, professional sports teams, and horse tracks and file sports betting legislation when the state’s session opens Feb. 12. 

Jeremy Miller told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that he thinks he can gather bipartisan support for an issue that has stalled in the Senate multiple times over the last several years. Minnesota’s 11 Indian tribes currently have a monopoly on gaming and aim to keep that intact. State Rep. Zach Stephenson has brought and passed tribal-only wagering through the House several times, only to watch the Senate add horse tracks to the mix and the tribes withdraw support. 

Miller said his proposal would give the tribes exclusivity for digital and in-person sports betting at casinos, but would also allow them to partner with the state’s two horse racetracks for in-person wagering. Miller said he’ll propose a 15% tax rate and projects $60 million in annual revenue to the state. 

Fanatics Sportsbook allowed one $50 bet on a Boston College football game, and the entity is now headed to an adjudicatory hearing in front of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. 

The MGC has held multiple adjudicatory hearings following violations of its local-college sports betting policy since digital wagering went live last March 10. BetMGM, PENN Entertainment, and WynnBet have all been fined. The state only allows for betting on local college teams when they are playing in a tournament of four teams or more. 

Fanatics executives told the MGC that a trader mistakenly “turned on” the market on Dec. 5, and 12 hours after realizing the violation, Fanatics self-reported to the Investigations Enforcement Bureau after betting on the Wasabi Fenway Bowl between Boston College and Southern Methodist was available for 15 ½ hours. The bet was canceled, and no date for the hearing has been set.

Following a near two-month dispute over a series of hockey props, Hard Rock Bet agreed to pay more than $127,000 to a Chicago derivatives trader, according to the Washington Post.

The trader, Christopher Kozak, won three NHL same-game parlays on Hard Rock’s Tennessee betting app, including one which predicted that eight players would not score in a game between the Anaheim Ducks and Florida Panthers. Citing house rules that wagers can be canceled if the lines are erroneous or “significantly differ from the general market,” Hard Rock initially balked at the payout.

New Jersey sports betting regulators are taking a hard-line stance against operators that invoke obscure house rules in voiding large bets retroactively. Danny Moses, a bond trader featured in the 2010 book The Big Short, had a $50 Super Bowl wager on the Ravens to defeat the Lions (500/1) voided by Hard Rock. As of Wednesday, an identical bet made by someone else in the Garden State had not been canceled, the Post reported. 

Irked by the practice, Moses told the Post that such errors are not condoned by regulators in the financial services industry, adding, “If sports gambling wants to be a regulated business, operators have to own their mistakes.”

After seven years at the helm of Barstool Sports, CEO Erika Ayers Badan stepped down this week. Her announcement comes months after PENN Entertainment abandoned Barstool Sportsbook — selling its parent company back to founder Dave Portnoy for a pittance of what it purchased it for — in favor of ESPN BET.

“The last two years was all PENN, all the time,” Ayers Badan wrote in a farewell message to Barstool staffers, according to Variety. “It was a balancing act and kind of an exercise in futility — trying to generate bets at the same time as protecting a pirate ship while also subtly contorting it to be something more predictable, pacifiable and projectable to match with a casino company. In the last year we sold the company twice – first to PENN for $550 million, and then to Dave for $1. It seems insane and it was.”

The surfeit of culinary options on Super Bowl Sunday can provide gastric angst to even those with a cast-iron stomach.

Ahead of the Super Bowl, DraftKings is partnering with a leading antacid company to offer a series of food-focused prop bets for the big game. On Wednesday, DraftKings announced the launch of Tums Prop Bites, a free-to-play contest that allows fans to wager on certain culinary trends during the event. DraftKings, which will award $10,000 in various prizes, plans to offer props on total pizzas delivered across the country before halftime and the number of guacamole gallons consumed by Americans.

“With Tums Prop Bites, we’re able to celebrate the love for food alongside football, while reminding fans that Tums fast heartburn relief allows them to enjoy their Big Game spreads without the risk of heartburn,” said Jissan Cherian, senior director of digestive health at Tums. 

Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky, and Vince Vaughn are set to star in BetMGM’s first-ever television spot on Super Bowl Sunday, with two of the three teasing what’s to come this week. 

In a 15-second teaser circulated on social media and YouTube, Vaughn and Brady briefly share the frame until Vaughn asks Brady if he can “be an angel and slide over” until he’s out of the camera’s view. After following these instructions, Brady says, “This feels personal,” to which Vaughn replies, “I love the memories we’re making.”

— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) January 18, 2024

BetMGM has big plans for Las Vegas’ first stint as Super Bowl host, including its “Big Game Bash,” featuring a performance by country star Luke Combs, at the Cosmopolitan on Feb. 10.

The Ohio Casino Control Commission is considering a rule that would make multi-factor authentication mandatory across the state’s sportsbooks. Currently, Ohio sports betting regulations require operators to offer multi-factor authentication, but bettors aren’t required to use the feature. 

Most major operators offer multi-factor authentication options in an effort to keep each user’s account as secure as possible. Making it mandatory would add a layer of security for sports bettors in the state, although the process of approving and implementing the proposed rule could about six months. Pennsylvania and New Jersey both require multi-factor authentication. 

Post-PASPA Nationwide Handle Surpasses $300 Billion With Illinois Report

Washington D.C. Council Looks For Alternatives To GambetDC

Twist And Tout: The Pick-Selling Paradox

FanDuel Ends 2023 With Top Sports Betting Market Share As Flutter’s U.S. Listing Nears

Virginia Bill Would Legalize Betting On In-State College Teams

Federal Gambling Addiction Legislation Draws Staunch Opposition

At Least Two Arizona Wagering Licenses To Go Up For Grabs In February

Massachusetts Bumps Handle Record To $658.7 Million

New Jersey Becomes Third State To Surpass $1 Billion In 2023 Sports Betting Revenue

Pennsylvania Ends Historic Year With Record Monthly Sports Wagering Revenue

New York Sportsbooks Set Weekly Revenue Record At $67 Million

Michigan Mobile Books Hammer Public In December