Sports betting is "set to return later this fall after a 12-year hiatus in Oregon," according to Reed Andrews of Portland-based KATU-ABC. The Oregon Lottery said that it will "let people pick games in September." The state said that "early on, people will just be able to bet on the winner of each game," while setting up kiosks for in-game betting is the "eventual goal." However, the Lottery said that such a move is "impossible to do with such short notice," and it will "need more time before it can place those kiosks all over the state." Oregon sports fans will be able to "place wagers on teams on the state's 'lottery app'" and people anywhere in the state can "place bets right on their phone." However, fans "won't be able to make any bets on college sports" (KATU.com, 1/29).
EASIER SAID THAN DONE: In DC, Fenit Nirappil noted DC officials on Monday "defended efforts to award a sole-source contract to run the city's upcoming sports gambling program, insisting that the normal competitive bidding process would delay legal betting and cost the city tens of millions in lost revenue." The DC City Council was scheduled to vote earlier this month on "legislation that would allow" the city's Greece-based lottery operator, Intralot, to "set up online platforms for sports betting." However, some lawmakers "balked at bypassing standard procurement rules, and the vote was delayed until a public hearing could be held." Lawmakers late last year "approved legal sports betting" at arenas, retail businesses and on a city-run mobile app that is expected to be the "most popular way to gamble and the biggest source of revenue." DC Lottery Exec Dir Beth Bresnahan said that "soliciting competitive bids to operate online sports gambling services and then awarding a contract" could take at least 27 months. Sources said that a sole-source contract would "allow the city to launch sports betting" before the '19 NFL season starts (WASHINGTON POST, 1/29).
CHANGING POSITIONS: In Atlanta, Maya Prabhu in a front-page piece notes two prominent local lawmakers who for years have "backed what had been presented as Georgia's imminent need to have casinos" have now "shifted their approaches." State Rep. Ron Stephens is now "calling for voters to decide whether gambling should be allowed in the state at all," while state Sen. Brandon Beach is "pursuing pared down horse-racing legislation." There is "little talk of resurrecting a bill that would have regulated daily fantasy sports," and no lawmakers have "seized on the opportunity" made when SCOTUS lifted the federal ban on sports betting last year (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 1/30).
THE NEW GOLD RUSH: In N.Y., Joe Drape writes when SCOTUS lifted the federal ban, it "created -- almost overnight -- a billion-dollar market" that bookmakers, media companies and tech entrepreneurs have "rushed in to dominate." That ruling has led to sports shows that "incorporate into their coverage market-moving information like injury reports and their effect on bettors." However, it has also led to "digital subscription services that make a tsunami of sports data available, and app makers eager to help bettors slice it." On the retail front, innovations have been "more basic: how-to-bet sports camps, cable shows that explain the difference between a proposition and parlay bets, and Nevada-based tout services ... that have suddenly refashioned themselves into media companies." As sports betting and bills are "being shepherded through legislatures" in at least 15 states, early returns show there is "plenty of opportunity in what is a familiar but nascent industry" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/30).
