One day before ESPN BET went live in 17 states in November, UNLV announced that ESPN had donated $200,000 to the school’s International Gaming Institute (IGI) for research related to responsible sports betting. On Tuesday, UNLV and ESPN revealed whom their first fellowships had been awarded to — and for which fields of study. According to a press release, each of the fellows will deliver research on “unique facets of responsible gambling messaging in sports media” as the intersection between sports and gambling continues to evolve.

The explosion of legalized gambling has set the stage for a provocative new frontier in the world of risk-taking — betting markets for everyday events, ranging from Taylor Swift streams to hurricanes hitting major U.S. cities.

When a $1.4 billion lottery ticket was sold at a Neptune liquor store last month, the news spread across the Jersey Shore and beyond with the expected celebration that a local had won the enormous prize. But what didn’t get attention, and rarely does, was the fact that calls to the Council on Compulsive Gambling hotline sharply increased as they always do when a major jackpot is on the line.

When a $1.4 billion lottery ticket was sold at a Neptune liquor store last month, the news spread across the Jersey Shore and beyond with the expected celebration that a local had won the enormous prize. But what didn’t get attention, and rarely does, was the fact that calls to the Council on Compulsive Gambling hotline sharply increased as they always do when a major jackpot is on the line.

In March, NCAA President Charlie Baker said the organization was asking state gaming regulators nationwide to ban proposition wagering, or prop bets, on college athletes because of evidence that gamblers are harassing collegiate players, both online and at games.

The Adelson family of Las Vegas purchased the Dallas Mavericks with the hopes of expanding their gambling empire beyond Nevada to the Lone Star State. Now their company, casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp., is backing a petition to legalize gambling by the Texas Destination Resort Alliance. The Texas Destination Resort Alliances was established and paid for by Sands in 2021, according to the coalition’s website.

Professor Brett Abarbanel, Executive Director of the UNLV International Gaming Institute, recaps the recent history of sports betting and forecasts its potentially problematic future. Plus, are young people even cognitively capable of making smart bets?

Amit Patel, the former midlevel finance manager for the Jacksonville Jaguars who pleaded guilty to stealing $22 million from the team, will be sentenced by a federal judge on Tuesday.

The Chickasaw Nation is forming a private capital investment firm in Dallas. The firm, Pennington Creek Capital, will be led by Dallas-based Hicks Equity Partner managing director Curt Crofford. It’s the Native American tribe’s second public investment in private equity after it launched Good Springs Capital out of New York in July 2023. 

On Feb. 23, John Richards traveled more than 100 miles to place bets on the Oscars. He took a train from Washington, D.C., to Wilmington, Del., and then hopped into an Uber car to take him to a truck stop in New Jersey.

To mark International Women’s Day, executive director Brett Abarbanel discusses how UNLV’s International Gaming Institute educational centre and programmes promote diversity, in particular, encouraging women to join the industry.

Fifth-generation Nevadan Bo Bernhard is vice president of economic development and a professor at UNLV and served as the inaugural research director at the UNLV International Gaming Institute. His great great grandfather was a card dealer in Dust Bowl-era Texas and Oklahoma who got tired of ending up on the wrong side of the law while working and moved to Las Vegas. His own family’s story, Bernhard says, is an example of how gambling and tourism have resulted in many different people deciding to live and work in Las Vegas, and these days, “the stuff attracting people is more mainstream. The NFL is something that’s beloved, and you can find it in 32 locales across the United States.”