Lil Santa

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A new survey from U.S. News is sounding the alarm over Americans increasingly turning to high-risk endeavors, including sports betting, to help make ends meet and pay their monthly household bills.

U.S. News surveyed 1,200 Americans who placed a sports wager within the last 12 months. The media organization found that more than half of respondents (51%) placed a sports bet to help pay household bills, while 21% wagered specifically to cover their rent or mortgage payment.

Almost six in 10 (57%) of the sports betting demographic said they bet weekly, with 17% betting on a daily basis. Nearly one in five (19%) said they have outstanding sports betting debts.

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The initial batch of FSPIs launched with NHL performance gauges, triggering a wave of filings from exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers seeking to launch futures-based funds for each professional hockey team. One issuer even filed plans for leveraged ETFs tied to the NHL indexes.

A similar scenario is playing out on the back of the MLB index introduction. Both LeagueShares and RexShares filed plans for ETFs tied to the FutureSports MLB indexes.

If approved, the funds would hold baskets of the CME-traded derivatives. LeagueShares went a step further by adding a filing for 2x leveraged MLB futures funds.

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It is a philosophy that sits within a broader shift in the industry’s approach to the illegal market. Domain blocking remains important, but regulators are increasingly looking at payments, advertising, affiliate and acquisition channels and cooperation across jurisdictions.

For example, on the role of pirate sports streaming in driving traffic towards illegal gambling, while regulators in markets such as Turkey are confronting large-scale unlicensed activity. The more fragmented and technically sophisticated the illegal market becomes, the more important the intelligence behind enforcement is likely to become.

Madsen knows from experience how difficult it can be to escape gambling when access remains readily available.