Split Happens

How to play Split Happens

The case dates back to 2020 when Playtech allegedly engaged Black Cube to conduct an investigation into Evolution’s activities in prohibited and unlicensed markets. 

The investigation, which included secretly recorded interviews and conversations with Evolution staff members and other whistleblowers, was followed up with a damning report accusing the supplier of knowingly providing its services in sanctioned jurisdictions.

In April, court documents showed that Evolution had sought to add Playtech to the case.

How to play Split Happens

While such orders have become customary around the nation this year, Connecticut’s missive took it one step further. The department also issued nearly 30 subpoenas to licensed gaming service providers and a bevy of media outlets. Those issued subpoenas include ones served to PayPal, Sportradar Solutions and Plaid, a payment processing app that holds a gaming licence. Although those companies are not under investigation, the subpoenas appear to be the first against service providers that conduct business with prediction markets in some form.

– In the wake of a consequential ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit against Kalshi, two operators are taking separate paths in an effort to overturn the decision. On 28 August, the Ninth Circuit ruled in a 3-0 decision that sports event contracts do not qualify as federally regulated swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act. Earlier this week, Kalshi filed for an en banc re-hearing with the Ninth Circuit, this time before an 11-judge review. Robinhood, meanwhile, filed a petition of certiorari with the Supreme Court in a move to effectively bypass the Ninth Circuit. It is widely believed that a circuit split between the Ninth Circuit and a separate decision by the Third Circuit will prompt the Supreme Court to take up the case.

– Real App, a social sports app built around live play-by-play, named FanDuel as its first prediction market partner. The partnership brings FanDuel’s odds and contextual markets directly into the app’s live sports experience. Fanatics Sports & Casino is adding some upgrades to its Fair Play offering. Among the changes, Fanatics has added first-half injury protection for player props. The option proved to be valuable for fans in Wednesday’s opener when Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold left the game after the team’s fifth offensive play.

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The $10 trillion forecast also implies significant growth in just five years from what previously stood as some of the most optimistic 2030 projections. In April, Bernstein estimated prediction market volume will ascend to $1 trillion by 2030 while Bank of America said prediction markets will eventually grow to $1.1 trillion in yearly turnover. A July report from Macquarie analyst Chad Beynon included a $1.5 trillion annual volume forecast by 2030.

If Bernstein’s $10 trillion prediction market turnover forecast is realized or exceeded, it’d likely prove significant in revenue terms because the research firm previously estimated that $1 trillion in yearly activity could generate as much as $10.8 billion in revenue for operators.

As has been widely documented, sports event contracts are currently the lifeblood of the prediction market industry, but Bernstein notes that won’t be the case on a permanent basis. In fact, the research firm estimates that sports derivatives’ share of industry volume will decline to 35% in 2035, indicating that the aforementioned volume increase will be led by other categories.