NEW: A California resident has sued sweepstakes casino operator VGW in Riverside County Superior Court, alleging that "Chumba Casino" is an "illegal gambling website." Plaintiff seeks a public injunction to force VGW to discontinue operations in CA. The opening paragraph:

"Defendants are members of an offshore criminal enterprise that collectively owns and operates the website."

.@AmericanGaming has called for a crackdown on sweepstakes casinos, asking State AGs and regulators to investigate these online platforms to determine whether they violate state gambling laws. I researched this issue in-depth, starting with California. It’s not a close call. 🧵
California is the most vulnerable state for sweepstakes casinos.

1) Bad case law on consideration

2) A ban on “gambling-themed” sweepstakes

3) A constitutionally enshrined public policy against casino gambling

4) Broad reach of gambling statutes

5) Payment processor exposure

NEW: West Flagler has filed its reply brief in the Florida Supreme Court case challenging the state's online sports betting law on constitutional grounds. The brief highlights admissions made by the proponents of Amendment 3 that "casino gambling" includes sports betting. West Flagler: During oral argument in the 2018 Florida Supreme Court case challenging the ballot language used in Amendment 3, "both proponents and opponents raised sports betting as an example of what 'casino gambling' captured":

BREAKING: DC Circuit vacates the opinion of the district court in the Florida sports betting case and directs the district court to enter judgment in favor of the US Secretary of the Interior. DC Circuit: “We see the case differently. IGRA “regulate[s] gaming on Indian lands, and nowhere else.” Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Cmty., 572 U.S. 782, 795 (2014). Thus, to be sure, an IGRA gaming compact can legally authorize a tribe to conduct gaming only on its own lands. But… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Meet Tarciana C. Rodriguez, the administratrix of the Estate of Severino Garcia Santa Romana. She signed the bank drafts totaling $5.1 billion that Brian Davis (per his lawsuit) delivered to Bank of America for deposit in Urban Echo’s bank account: bit.ly/3orL3Mr


The funding source for Brian Davis’ $7.1B Commanders bid?

The Estate of Severino Garcia Santa Romana.

That’s the issuer of the $5.1B bank drafts presented to BOA.

So, who is Mr. Santa Romana?

And why is his estate so interested in football?

I tried to piece it together.🧵

If you believe that a 15-minute long chokehold on the NYC subway (that’s 900 seconds of asphyxiation) is a justified use of deadly force, you really need to read up on NY Penal Law 35.15.👇 Section 35.15 provides, in pertinent part, that a person may not use deadly physical force unless he “reasonably believes” that another person “is using or about to use deadly physical force” and that its use is “imminent.”

Bohannon could face federal criminal conspiracy charges under the Sports Bribery Act of 1964 (18 USC 2264) if he received anything of value to influence, or attempt to influence, “in any way” the outcome of any sporting contest.

https://twitter.com/davidpurdum/status/1654230011690328064

Link to Sports Bribery Act:
bit.ly/42dNtNl

A key obstacle to a settlement in the Rams relocation lawsuit: a difference of opinion over whether NFL relocation fee and increased franchise value from LA move are recoverable damages under any claim. With it, a multi-billion dollar case. Without it, barely a nine-figure case. The only cause of action under which either component might be recoverable is unjust enrichment. But wouldn’t that create a windfall for the City? Also, is the franchise value increase attributable to the LA move readily ascertainable? Or is it too speculative to be awarded?

NFL could be hit with punitive damages > $10B in Rams relocation lawsuit. The reasons: (1) pre-2020 MO law has a lower threshold ("reckless disregard"); (2) compensatory damages > $3B; (3) NFL = multi-billion $ corp.; and (4) PD/CD ratios OK'd in past MO cases > 5:1 The timing of this lawsuit couldn't be worse for the NFL. Prior to 2014, punitive damages were statutorily capped in Missouri. In 2020, the MO legislature passed a new law making it harder to recover PDs. This lawsuit was filed in 2017: no cap and less egregious conduct needed.

A loss in the St. Louis Rams relocation lawsuit could cost the NFL more than $3 billion in damages (before punitives), consisting of disgorgement of LA franchise value increase (latest Forbes valuation is $4.8B) and NFL relocation fee ($550M), plus City’s lost revenues. A key part of the City’s damages calculation is the disgorgement (return) of profits unjustly conferred upon the NFL, Rams and Kroenke due to alleged improper conduct. See claims of unjust enrichment, fraudulent misrepresentation and tortious interference from City’s complaint.

BREAKING: DC Federal Court sets hearing date and briefing schedule on legal challenge to Florida sports betting compact. Video hearing is scheduled for Nov. 5 at 10 AM EST. Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment or preliminary injunction must be filed by Sept. 21. Although the FL statute and compact provide for an Oct. 15 launch date for all sports betting, the reason for the later hearing date of Nov. 5 is based on the Tribe's representation that online sports betting will be implemented in Florida on November 15th (one month later).

The 1st in-stadium sports book in the Northeast will be at Hartford's XL Center, the home of the New York Rangers minor-league affiliate. The 1st sports book in a sports bar in the NE will be Bobby V's, co-owned by former NY Mets manager @BobbyValentine. theday.com/business/20210… Connecticut immediately leapfrogs New York as an early online sports betting revenue opportunity for NY’s pro sports team owners. The customer database of Madison Square Garden (the owner of the Hartford Wolf Pack) becomes an attractive target for CT operators.

The worst sports naming rights deal of all time? It would be hard to beat the deal that Syracuse University struck with Carrier Corp. (an air conditioning company), which contributed $2.75M towards the construction of the Carrier Dome and received naming rights in perpetuity. To add insult to (negotiating) injury, Carrier is now headquartered in Palm Beach County, Florida. And it’s not like it’s going to be easy to buy them out of the deal. Carrier’s annual revenues topped $17 billion in 2020.

Who’s up for a thread on the IRS Memo regarding daily fantasy sports contests and whether #DFS entry fees should be treated as “wagers” subject to a federal excise tax? Or should I save it for the next episode of @ConDetrimental? Either way, I’ll explain why the IRS got it wrong. Thread on IRS Memo re: daily fantasy sports

The XFL's unsecured creditors are objecting to the proposed $15M sale to The Rock because it includes the assignment of all claims belonging to the XFL. There are over $61M in potentially voidable transfers, such as payments made to insiders (including $1.2M to Vince McMahon). Other potentially voidable transfers include a $5M payment to Raine Advisors LLC during the preference period (90-day period prior to bankruptcy) to satisfy an obligation on which Vince McMahon was jointly liable. If the sale is approved, McMahon would be released from this debt.

BREAKING: In new federal court filing, Zion Williamson pushes back against Gina Ford’s claim that he was paid to play at Duke. Calls accusation “baseless” and “irrelevant,” and points to her prior admissions that he was a “student-athlete” until declaring for the NBA Draft. Zion Williamson has now denied the pay-to-pay allegations, although he was not required to do so at this stage of the case.

“Rather than defend their conduct, Defendants seek to shift the focus with salacious and false rumors from unreliable ‘sources’ outside the pleadings.”

BREAKING: Gina Ford ramps up claim that Zion Williamson received money to attend Duke and was “permanently ineligible” to be a student-athlete; in new court filing, she opposes granting judgment to Zion, and says discovery is needed from Duke and Coach K on ‘pay-to-play’ issue. On why testimony from Coach K is warranted:

BREAKING: Zion Williamson files emergency motion with Third District Court of Appeal seeking to stay the entire Florida court action against him, citing prior lawsuit in North Carolina involving same parties and claims. If granted, would stop all discovery in the Florida case. “Here, a stay pending appeal is warranted to prevent the Circuit Court from exercising jurisdiction over Williamson while this appeal is pending as to whether there is jurisdiction over Williamson & where there is a first-filed action pending in federal court in North Carolina.”

NEW: Zion Williamson’s former marketing agent has served requests for admission in their lawsuit asking him to admit that he received “money, benefits, favors or other things of value” to attend Duke University and to wear and/or use Nike and Adidas.

Wow. That escalated quickly. 5. Admit that you knew that Sharonda Sampson demanded and received gifts and economic benefits from persons acting on behalf of Duke University (directly and/or indirectly) to influence you to attend Duke University to play basketball.

Hidden detail about new CBA:

For NFL players accused of violating the personal conduct policy, the “credible evidence” standard will apply. Thus, a suspension will be upheld if there is ANY credible evidence to support it, even if outweighed by other evidence.

- See #Zeke case

https://twitter.com/WALLACHLEGAL/status/1237498119966928897

Think about this for a second – even in a case where the overwhelming weight of the evidence supports the player’s version of the facts, he will still lose so long as the league can point to a single strand of evidence that would support the accusation.