RealResponse and US Integrity have joined forces to unveil a revolutionary service exclusively designed for intercollegiate athletics, aimed at countering the rising tide of illegal gambling-linked activities. 

RealResponse and US Integrity Unite to Protect College Athletics Integrity

The collaboration between RealResponse and US Integrity has resulted in a seamlessly integrated service that offers a vital shield for not only the 100,000-plus student-athletes presently utilizing the RealResponse platform but also for the colleges and universities themselves. The service allows individuals to anonymously report incidents of insider information abuse, potential game manipulation, and even physical threats, thereby maintaining the fairness and integrity of competitions.

When a concern emerges related to sports betting, RealResponse’s clientele in the college athletics sphere will now have direct access to US Integrity’s investigative expertise through the RealResponse platform. Upon receipt of a report via the RealResponse platform, campus administrators can swiftly engage US Integrity’s collegiate response team, consisting of seasoned professionals skilled in monitoring wagers. These experts will assess, verify, and expedite the report’s submission to the appropriate authorities within minutes.

A Holistic Approach to Athlete Well-Being

What sets this service apart is its accessibility – existing RealResponse collegiate clients can avail themselves of this service without any additional cost, accessible through their internal portals. For institutions seeking a more personalized touch, there is an option to establish a branded external portal, enabling anyone from parents to friends and even competitors to flag gambling-related concerns.

David Chadwick, RealResponse’s founder and CEO, stated: “Gambling is a major concern on college campuses—not just for student-athletes—and the potential harm to a student’s mental health and physical well-being is great. This expanded partnership with US Integrity delivers instant support to student-athletes through a channel they already trust with sharing their most pressing needs and concerns.” 

US Integrity’s co-founder and CEO, Matthew Holt, echoed these sentiments, highlighting the paramount importance of safeguarding the well-being of student-athletes who are committed to both their athletic endeavors and educational pursuits. 

This initiative follows the launch of “Athlete Alert Powered by RealResponse” in May 2023, a national tip line enabling anonymous reporting of gambling-related issues. These efforts also follow recent gambling scandals at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University’s football program, while in June, the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) revised its rules on the scope of punishments related to gambling violations.  

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The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) has taken decisive action against three commercial casinos in the state for engaging in unauthorized sports betting activities. Encore Boston Harbor, MGM Springfield, and Plainridge Park Casino have been slapped with penalties amounting to $50,000 for accepting wagers on college games, which is strictly prohibited under state law.

The swift intervention by the MGC came after it was discovered that each of the casinos allowed bets on regular season games involving Massachusetts college sports teams, a clear violation of the state’s regulations. These bets managed to slip through the cracks due to various backend errors and system glitches, leading to the imposition of fines to maintain the integrity of the sports betting market.

One such incident occurred at Encore Boston Harbor, where a single sports bet was accepted on a women’s regular season basketball game between Boston College and Notre Dame. This wager was inadvertently allowed as the team was listed under two different names, with only one name appearing on the prohibited list. To prevent future occurrences, Encore’s vendor, WynnBet, has undertaken to conduct two daily audits, ensuring that no regular season games involving Massachusetts college teams are available for betting.

Similarly, MGM Springfield faced penalties for accepting wagers on two Harvard men’s basketball games. The casino‘s sports betting vendor, BetMGM, had erroneously designated the location of Harvard as Connecticut instead of Massachusetts, leading to the unauthorized bets. To rectify the situation, BetMGM swiftly corrected the error and committed to thoroughly reviewing all past sports wagers to ensure compliance with the rules.

Plainridge Park Casino also faced compliance issues, allowing 33 bets across 27 tickets on a men’s regular season basketball game between Merrimack College and Long Island University. A backend data entry error was responsible for this discrepancy, and the casino’s sports wagering vendor, Kambi, promptly rectified the mistake by correcting Merrimack College’s location listing from Florida to Massachusetts.

While the fines may seem relatively small considering the robust legal sports betting market in Massachusetts, the MGC is sending a clear message to all operators that adherence to betting rules is non-negotiable. As the state’s sports betting industry continues to thrive, the importance of stringent oversight and enforcement cannot be understated.

The MGC’s actions demonstrate its commitment to upholding the integrity of sports betting in Massachusetts, regardless of the scale of the violations. As the market continues to evolve, it is vital for all stakeholders to work together to maintain the highest standards of legality and transparency.

As operators adapt to the MGC’s strict compliance measures, the fines serve as a reminder that the regulator will leave no stone unturned to ensure the continued integrity and success of the state’s legal sports betting landscape. Cooperation from all parties involved will be crucial in shaping the future of sports betting in Massachusetts.
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March Madness is one of the hottest events in professional sports. Needless to say, it attracts millions of bettors each year. While many enjoy wagering regardless of the outcome, others are so focused on winning that they end up abusing athletes on the web.

ESPN addressed this relevant issue, highlighting how online bullying can affect professional players. It noted that abusers would sometimes go as far as threatening the players’ well-being. An FBI agent spoke with ESPN on the matter, saying that this is an issue that seems to be growing proportionally to the expansion of sports betting in the United States.

Meanwhile, Epic Risk Management’s head of delivery, Mark Potter, told the news outlet that colleges are aware of the issue and are stressing over it.

According to ESPN, losses affect players. Damion Baugh, a Horned Frogs player, was one of the many college athletes bombarded with abusive messages from angry bettors.

Baugh’s team was recently losing to Gongaza by six points. However, Baugh was able to score three additional points for his team right before the end of the game. While the young player failed to change the fact that his team lost, he jeopardized certain bettors’ wagers, prompting an assault of abusive messages.

Baugh had not been abused on social media before. He was let down by the sports fans who only care about the bets.

Everybody playing sports growing up, we play until the whistle, play until the end of the game. People just forgot about that. Saying I shouldn’t have taken the shot is saying, ‘We don’t care about the game. We just wanted to win our money.

Damion Baugh, Horned Frogs player

Baugh slammed the people who think that abusing college athletes is okay.

Abusers Will Use Whatever They Can to Hurt the Players

ESPN attributed the issues to the rapid growth of sports betting in the US. Five years ago when the PAPSA was repealed, around 1% of players had access to legal betting. Now, this number has skyrocketed to 56%.

Right now, online abuse primarily affects male athletes but ESPN predicts that, in the future, it may become commonplace in women’s sports too.

Anthony Grant, Dayton men’s basketball coach, previously proposed introducing rules that prevent abuse in sports. He said that people who attack kids on social media sicken him.

Luckily, at least some of the people who send death threats on social media get punished for their misbehavior. In 2019, Benjamin Patz, a young bettor told a Pepperdine basketball player that his “throat will be severed open” and that his family “will be beheaded and burned alive.” Patz was eventually sentenced to 36 months of probation after pleading guilty to transmitting threats.

Patz is but one of many people who send similar threats to players. While some get used to it, others never do. Abusive messages oftentimes include racial slurs, death threats and angry remarks.

The Issue Unites Leagues, Operators and Regulators

On March 7, 125 collegiate sports officials, regulatory specialists and executives of gambling companies gathered to discuss harassment in professional sports. They determined that this is one of the issues that unite them all.

Not only does such abuse hurt the integrity of sports but it is oftentimes indicative of a gambling problem. This, on the other hand, may be related to substance abuse or mental health disorder, Keith Whyte, the executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, said.

Matt Schuler, the executive director of the Ohio Casino Commission, was angrier with the abusers and called them “lowlifes who are under the impression that athletes are there to make money for them.”

Such issues have forced the NCAA to try and stay away from the sports betting industry. Jim Brown, a former NCAA official noted that, curiously, the issue is much more prevalent in North America than in other markets where sports betting is legal.

Some analysts fear that the problem is only going to get worse.

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Native media is reporting that Bally’s Corp has secured a mini-casino license in Pennsylvania making it quantity 17 of 18 casinos with 15 working properties thus far.

The Class 4 license will enable the Rhode Island operator to put 750 slot machines and an preliminary tranche of 30 tables within the former Macy’s house on the Nittany Mall at 2901 E. School Ave. on the intersections of Route 150 and Route 26 in State School, Pennsylvania. Macy’s was one of many final anchor retailers on the mall.

The former Macy’s house is owned by Philadelphia’s 2901 ECA Associates LLC, not by the mall’s homeowners. Bally’s will be part of about 40 different retailers on the enclosed regional Centre County purchasing heart.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Management Board (PGCB) confronted a late spate of resistance together with long-standing opposition from neighborhood teams against playing usually and near-local opponents, the Cordish Group.

The on line casino shall be in a Buying Mall

A neighborhood operator, as required beneath the Class 4 license, SC Gaming OpCo LLC will flip the previous retail house right into a playing heart with Bally’s working the on line casino. The 94,000-square-foot house at Nittany Mall will reopen ground house that has been shuttered since Macy’s closed in 2020.

It’s maybe the toughest combat Bally’s has seen in its shock and awe push into the American land on line casino gaming house. The corporate struggled however prevailed to turn out to be the singular on line casino operator in America’s third largest metropolis, with a on line casino in Chicago coming quickly.

Bally’s has grown shortly after transitioning a few video lottery terminal gaming websites within the small state of Rhode Island right into a nationwide model helped by the merger of Caesars and El Dorado in Nevada – which helped it safe a few dozen properties. The corporate has been fearless however versatile in its ambitions.

Bally’s not too long ago introduced an instantaneous lower of 15% of its North American Interactive workforce. The corporate’s acquisition of the UK’s Gamesys for $2.7 Billion in 2021 didn’t allow it to seize sufficient of the present US on-line on line casino enterprise and it’s now separate North American Interactive division has failed thus far to achieve ample profitability within the sports activities betting market in America. Nonetheless, the corporate has managed to achieve 18 sports activities betting licenses within the US.

Sports activities betting in Canada has turned out to be extra of a bust relatively than the seize of $15b within the flight of capital promoted by government-associated stress teams previous to the legalization of single-event sports activities bets. The latest launch of a PlayNow on line casino model in Canada’s second richest province (by per capita revenue) has solely seen about 5% of wagers occurring in sports activities with the stability turned over to on line casino video games like slots.

Previous to awarding the license, the Pennsylvania Gaming Management Board carried out an in-depth background examine on the operator. Such reviews are hardly ever launched to the general public as they include delicate and proprietary info, commerce secrets and techniques, and the like. Feedback from residents, public officers, and neighborhood teams had been reportedly considered.

In latest months, close by opponents, that may count on to lose enterprise to a different on line casino within the space have mounted opposition to the challenge, and “grassroots” efforts joined the combat with most verbosity.

Written feedback haven’t been accepted formally since June 12, 2022, and the ultimate public listening to was held on Wednesday, January 25, 2023, earlier than the vote was taken. School Township granted conditional approval for the on line casino’s land growth plan in September 2021.

Relying on the opening date, the on line casino shall be Bally’s seventeenth or 18th together with the non permanent on line casino in Chicago which is able to shut when the principle venue opens. Bally’s Chicago grand opening is predicted in late 2025 or early 2026. A brief on line casino may open as early as this Spring.

Opening date not confirmed

No opening date for the State School on line casino has been introduced, however building is predicted to take 12 months as soon as it’s begun. It’s anticipated to help about 350 full-time building jobs all through the course of build-out.

The total value to Bally’s of opening the gaming web site with 750 slot machines, 30 gaming tables, a sportsbook, quick meals and beverage shops, and a live performance/occasions stage is predicted to be about $120 million with $35 million of that dedicated to upfront building prices.

The on line casino will even be the 18th Pennsylvania on line casino in addition to the fifth mini-casino. Parx On line casino Shippensburg, additionally a mini-casino, held a tender opening on Thursday and can rejoice its Grand Opening on February 3, 2023. Cordish additionally owns and operates Reside! On line casino Lodge Philadelphia and Reside! On line casino Pittsburgh.

It might nonetheless be doable for Cordish attorneys to enchantment the PGCB awarding a license to the Pennsylvania Supreme Courtroom, with some observers believing the license can’t be issued till any appeals have run their course. In line with PlayPennsylvania, native resident Andrew Shaffer mentioned: “Additionally it is doable that the Commonwealth Courtroom will overturn the PGCB’s granting of the license on account of the parallel court docket case that’s nonetheless ongoing.”

Supply: State gives green light for new Bally’s mini-casino near Penn State University, PennLive, January 25, 2023

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