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00:00Let's get started with the trade that looks like it's going to happen in the National Football League sooner than later, and this could affect the upcoming season, so we'll give it to you right at the top.
00:08George Pickens, great wide receiver of the Pittsburgh Steelers, looks to be potentially on the move. ESPN is reporting that he's going to be traded to the Dallas Cowboys, and in return, the Steelers potentially get a third-round pick and a fifth-round pick.
00:21By the way, the Cowboys will get a sixth-round pick in the swap. Pickens had 900 receiving yards last season. He also had three touchdowns, 59 catches. They did make a key trade this offseason to acquire another fantastic wide receiver in DK Metcalf, but still the question is for Pittsburgh, who's going to be the quarterback? Still don't know. Aaron Rodgers still unsigned. Here we are in May. Will he make a decision soon? I guess that'll be our lead once he does.
00:47Meanwhile, the big lead in the NBA last night is good and bad news, fair to say. Golden State Warriors go up 1-0, but would they rather have lost the game than lose Steph Curry?
00:57Because it would appear that Steph Curry, who's going for an MRI, could miss some time. The Warriors upset the Timberwolves last night. 99-88, they go up 1-0, but he only played 13 minutes, did Curry. None in the second half.
01:08Jimmy Butler stepped up. He had 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists. Minnesota just had a horrible shooting game. Anthony Edwards, horrible shooting game. 5-9 from three-point range.
01:19And so the Timberwolves are one of several teams, by the way, folks. The home team in the NBA playoffs thus far has lost every single game in this next round.
01:26How about that? Every single game, outright losses and underdogs coming through. Right now, Minnesota's still favored to win the series. In fact, just as much as they were before, at minus 178.
01:37That's where it started, down to 148. It's pretty much the same. I mean, not a huge, huge change there. And if Curry is deemed to be out longer, then I would guess it'll go back to 160, 170 as well.
01:48Here's Steve Kerr with the latest on Curry's injury, which at this point, we don't have full clarity. We will get later today.
01:56On Steph, any prognosis at all?
01:58Just day to day, you'll get an MRI tomorrow.
02:01Did you talk to him? Just what was it?
02:03Yeah, I talked to him at halftime. Just, you know, he's obviously crushed, but, you know, the guys picked him up and played a great game.
02:11And obviously, we're all, you know, concerned about Steph, but it's part of the game. You just, you guys get hurt and you move on.
02:21Our guys did a great job of moving on and getting a great win, you know, 48 hours after a game seven road win.
02:28It's an amazing group of guys. These guys are, they compete and they're together.
02:33We've been the best defense in the league since the Jimmy trade. And that's what's keeping us afloat right now.
02:39I mean, just, you know, poor spacing, terrible rhythm, didn't make the next pass a lot of times, really poor in transition.
02:47I think that's where we kind of cost ourselves the chance to stay in the game early.
02:51We had opportunities to run out and just our transition decision-making was diabolical.
02:58You know, obviously then we couldn't hit a shot, but, you know, I didn't like the fact that we couldn't repeatedly generate good shots.
03:05And then, you know, we should have been able to, really.
03:14Summary from Chris Finch just could have been, we didn't hit a shot. That was the key for Minnesota last night.
03:19Meanwhile, exciting game again between the Pacers and Cavaliers.
03:23Folks, the Indiana Pacers, who were heavily underdog in the series against Cleveland Cavaliers, have a 2-0 lead in the series.
03:29They went again last night, 1-21-19, Tyrese Halliburton with the difference maker.
03:34Pacers were down 1-19 to 1-12 with 48 seconds left in this game and somehow blew it.
03:41Donovan Mitchell had 48 points, 9 assists, and already down Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Deontre Hunter.
03:48I mean, right now Cleveland is just up against it.
03:51They're down 0-2. They also have injured players.
03:53And right now the odds have shifted. The Pacers are favored to win the series as they should be.
03:59They're up 2-0. And they will play this weekend back at home in Indianapolis.
04:06And Tyrese Halliburton says it's the NBA. Expect the unexpected.
04:11It's the NBA. Crazier things have happened.
04:15And, you know, it's just what basketball is.
04:20And especially the end of our season has looked a lot like this.
04:23We've had many games where you could take a screenshot at any moment and be like, how did they win this game?
04:29You know, but we just have a resilient group, man.
04:31We just figure out ways to win. We don't give up.
04:33And we're battle tested.
04:35We've, as a group, we've basically been together for about two years now.
04:40And that continuity has been really good for us.
04:43We've had to figure out so many different ways to win.
04:45When some guys got it going, when some guys don't got it going, we just find a way.
04:49And today that was what it was all about.
04:53Yeah, we got to get guys back.
04:55That's first.
04:57Hopefully if we can, you know, we can get guys back.
05:01I've been down 2-0 before at home.
05:05And, you know, we have enough talent.
05:08We have enough talent in there to go get, you know, game three.
05:12That's it.
05:12That's all that counts.
05:13Not game four.
05:14Not game, you know, we've just got to focus on getting game three.
05:17But, you know, that's a tough blow.
05:21No doubt about it.
05:23And in the National Hockey League, same could be said.
05:26Of course, yesterday for the Washington Capitals, they lose in overtime to the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1.
05:32They go 1-0 in the series.
05:34Jacob Slavin scored the overtime goal.
05:36Carolina allowed Washington to get 14 shots on goal.
05:39That's the second fewest in Hurricanes history.
05:42And a comeback for the Edmonton Oilers yesterday as well against the Las Vegas Golden Knights.
05:46They went 4-2.
05:47They go up in the series.
05:48Knights were up 2-1 going into the third.
05:51The Oilers scored with a minute in.
05:53And then all Edmonton from there.
05:55Zach Hyman scored the goal to put the Oilers up 3-2 with 16 minutes left.
05:58And Hyman after the game said, man, it is nice to steal one.
06:02I mean, it gives you a great opportunity, obviously.
06:07You steal one in their rink and now you have a chance to take both.
06:11So we haven't been in that spot a lot.
06:14We've always kind of had to fight from behind in the series.
06:17And it's nice to get the first one out of the way early.
06:20A confidence building first when, you know, you get down to nothing.
06:24And then you really kind of took control of the game for a large part of the last, say, 50 minutes.
06:29Yeah.
06:30I think from Picks out, I think we reset.
06:34You know, I thought, like I said, Picks made some big saves.
06:37He lets in the next one and it's 3-0.
06:39It's a lot harder.
06:40So we made all the saves he needed to make to just keep it at 2 and give us a chance to fight back.
06:45And then I think just our depth has been really good.
06:49Like we're scoring three different lines scored.
06:52So it's good.
06:54Stanley Cup action back tonight.
06:56One team not playing, but with a new name.
06:59It's been announced that the Utah Hockey Club is now becoming the Utah Mammoth that was announced this morning.
07:05The fans have spoken.
07:07And the Mammoth is now the new mascot and the new name of the Utah Hockey Club in the National Hockey League.
07:14Congratulations, fans.
07:15Great job, I guess.
07:17After going down 3-2, the Yankees score a wild 10 runs in the seventh inning to beat the San Diego Padres 12-3.
07:24Padres have been playing great baseball.
07:26They've had a great bullpen, but they imploded in this one.
07:28Yankees, seven hits, three walks in the seventh inning.
07:30Here is Austin Wells on his grand slam and the offensive outburst.
07:36Just how long that inning was and how everyone in front of me just was working great at bats.
07:42That was a lot of fun to watch and a lot of fun to be a part of.
07:46What would you attribute the success that all the lefties had against lefty pitchers that frame?
07:54We got some really good hitters.
07:56And I don't know if it's one thing that made it great, but I think swinging at strikes and being ready to go.
08:04Meanwhile, the San Francisco Giants score nine runs in the 11th inning to beat the Cubs 14-5.
08:12My buddy Zach Gallin is pitching well again.
08:14This time he beats the Mets once again.
08:165-1 the final.
08:18Also, Nick Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber, Alec Boehm all go deep.
08:21The Phillies beat the Rays 8-4.
08:23Who is better than Zach Wheeler in the National League?
08:25Not too many folks.
08:27Seven innings pitch, two earned runs, and nine strikeouts.
08:30Welcome back to Newswire here on Sports Grid.
08:32We got Pat Evans in the house from Legal Sports Report.
08:34Everything we discuss can be also read at legalsportsreport.com.
08:39Pat is with us to talk a little sports betting, and we'll talk about sports gaming in a bit.
08:44Let's first get to online casino gaming.
08:46Pat, you have a story currently up that can be read.
08:49For those people in the state of Ohio, there's a chance that online casino gaming could be coming to a city in Ohio near you.
08:56Yeah, I mean, we'll see.
08:59We'll pump the brakes on soon because, you know, it does take a long time for things in Ohio, it seems like.
09:05But, yes, a representative, the chair of the House Finance Committee, who's very involved in the budget negotiation situation there in Ohio, has confirmed to local media.
09:14He is working on online casino legislation and will likely introduce it this year.
09:20Of course, the Ohio legislator goes all year, so they've got lots of time to kind of discuss this and figure it out.
09:27And it does just kind of build on a couple of things we've talked about at least over the last couple of months.
09:33One, of course, is the sports betting tax hike that Governor Mike DeWine proposed heading into this year.
09:40He said, you know, let's double the tax rate from 20 percent to 40 percent on online sports betting.
09:46And that, of course, was building on the 2023 doubling from 10 percent to 20 percent.
09:51So lawmakers didn't really like that because they said, you know what, that's two hikes in two years.
09:57That's a lot. Let's not do that.
10:00They also said no to a bunch of other tax hikes in the budget proposal by DeWine.
10:05And so this proposal is potentially looking to generate more tax revenue for the state.
10:10Of course, that would be a lot coming from online casino.
10:13All you have to do is look at the figures from Michigan, where I'm located, and see how much more online casino brings in for the state versus sports betting.
10:23But this also builds on two things from last year.
10:26One was a report from the Legislative Study Commission that said that kind of came back and had multiple lawmakers saying, yeah, let's go ahead and look at legalizing this.
10:37Let's do it the right way and probably tether it to casinos.
10:39There's 11 land-based casinos in Ohio that are, you know, active and they don't want to cannibalize any sort of revenue from them.
10:50So that is likely going to be in the bill.
10:53Of course, it does, you know, have a few other concerns along with that.
10:58The lottery is concerned about it.
10:59They're worried about consumer protections and problem gambling.
11:02So, of course, the bills will probably address those kind of things as well.
11:06That also builds on a legislation that was filed in the fall by a former senator who was key in the sports betting discussion.
11:16And he was like, you know what?
11:17I'm just trying to get the discussion started.
11:20It took three years and more than 30 bill iterations to get sports betting off the ground in Ohio.
11:24So let's just start familiarizing ourselves with it now, talking about it, and getting it going.
11:29So, again, this is just kind of building on a couple of things.
11:32First, that study report from last year that said, let's start to look at this.
11:36Let's bring in more revenue for the state, but let's do it right.
11:39Then that bill from the fall that said, let's start talking about it.
11:42Let's familiarize ourselves with it and let's go check it out.
11:46And then, of course, the sports betting tax hike that did not happen.
11:49So, again, as states have been looking at trying to figure out how to bring in more revenue in budget shortfalls, so this is just another way to do it.
11:59And we've seen several other states consider it this year.
12:02Of course, there's only a few states in the country that have full online casino.
12:07Michigan, Pennsylvania, being Ohio neighbors are two of them.
12:11Indiana's been thinking about it.
12:12They've, of course, had a big hiccup a couple of years ago with some law funny business going on in there.
12:18They talked about it this year and are going to continue to be a leading runner to be one of the next states to do it.
12:29So, Ohio is at least surrounded by states that might prompt it to go ahead.
12:33But there's lots of concerns, many of which cannibalization of brick and mortar and problem gambling.
12:39So, but Ohio is at least talking about it and could be a likely candidate in the future.
12:45We're waiting for action, not discussion, Pat.
12:48It's been like a year of discussion with very little action in a lot of this stuff.
12:52All right.
12:52Kalshi, the prediction market company, is in the news again.
12:56This time, an appeal of their election bet offers.
13:00For those unfamiliar, Kalshi in the prediction business, not in the sports betting business,
13:05but initially known for being able to take predictions on the presidency, like elections and things like that.
13:12What's the latest with Kalshi?
13:14Yeah.
13:14So, first of all, talking about discussing things.
13:17Kalshi is the topic of discussion in this industry because it is available in all 50 states
13:23and is seemingly going forward and not worried too much about the challenges from certain state gaming regulators
13:30who are saying, no, you are betting, you can't do it here.
13:33But to your point, this is the CFTC.
13:36They have dropped an appeal that, you know, said that election betting is okay.
13:40They said, wait a second, we don't like that.
13:41Because, yeah, last year, at first, they said, no, you can't take election bets or prediction or trade on elections.
13:50And then, eventually, it was okayed.
13:52And then, Kalshi went ahead and did it and made quite a bit of money and saw a bunch of volume go through
13:58in just a month or a month and a half of allowing it on the platform for the 2024 election.
14:06You know, so this is just kind of, it brings a lot of questions.
14:09There's lots of concerns about it from people in the industry and watchdogs and saying, you know,
14:14this could cause integrity issues in something very foundational to the U.S.
14:19and how elections work and kind of where things can go.
14:23So we'll see.
14:24But it is the CFTC just kind of loosening up on Kalshi.
14:28There's still, you know, they've allowed them to offer sports prediction markets.
14:34You know, do you think somebody is going to win a series?
14:37Do you think somebody is going to get a hit?
14:38And those continue to be added pretty much daily, it seems like, on Kalshi.
14:44And so we'll see how much more that kind of goes through.
14:47Of course, we've had multiple state regulators say, hey, you can't do that, including Nevada
14:51and New Jersey, two of the leading gaming regulators in the nation.
14:56And, you know, there's been a couple lawsuits that have gone Kalshi's way in those states
15:01so far.
15:01So it's going to be an interesting thing to watch.
15:06I mean, does this continue to grow?
15:09It is available, again, all 50 states.
15:11So if you're in California and you don't have legal sports betting, you can legally go to
15:16Kalshi and pick a game winner or a game loser.
15:20And so, you know, that's a huge development in this industry.
15:27And, you know, we've seen some action and moves on the major platforms like DraftKings.
15:33They've thought about, you know, going towards this way in some markets.
15:38And we haven't seen anything go further than that.
15:41But, yeah, it's, you know, the election market and the CFTC's lax take on that now is interesting
15:49because they also, if you recall, canceled a roundtable that was going to look in the
15:53sports trading.
15:55And we saw lots of state regulators, platforms, the like, send letters in to be discussed in
16:01that roundtable.
16:02So, you know, is that going to be rescheduled and where that goes, again, yet to be seen
16:07and where the regulated regulator pushback on Kalshi goes, again, yet to be seen.
16:14But, again, it's available in all 50 states and you can basically bet on sports.
16:20Yeah, basically, basically is the key word there.
16:22We don't want to go that far here.
16:24We're going to get Pat in trouble.
16:25All right, let's wrap it up.
16:27We've got a couple of minutes to go.
16:28So FanDuel, not only known for sports betting, also known for casino betting, a story here
16:34I read over at Legal Sports Report about the progressive jackpots and some expansion as
16:39far as how much money you can win there.
16:41What does it all mean?
16:42Yeah, it's a pretty simple story.
16:44But, again, we talked about Ohio potentially legalizing this.
16:47This is FanDuel.
16:47They rolled out, yeah, a progressive jackpot product in three of the online casino states,
16:52Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, I believe.
16:54And it basically just allows users who are on the online casino platform to bet an additional
17:0010 cents to go into a giant jackpot and then could win it.
17:04And it's, I think, just another way to potentially generate more revenue if you're FanDuel in the
17:10long run or just general consumer engagement.
17:13I mean, they're trying their hardest to increase the casino usage.
17:17We'll learn more today in an earnings report that Sam, I'm sure, will talk to you about on
17:21Friday.
17:21But, yeah, they're trying to grow the online casino because that's a big revenue generator
17:26for this company.
17:27Get those consumers, bettors engaged and sticking around on the site longer.
17:33Great to catch up with you, Pat, this week.
17:35Enjoy the rest of your week.
17:36And we'll see you next week here on Newswire.
17:38Thanks again.
17:40Yep.
17:40Thanks as always, Craig.
17:40Thanks a lot.