World Series of Politics

The World Series of Politics is back after some technical hitches (blame the producer), and we've got a lot to catch up on! Brendan Bussmann and Brandt Iden wade through misery in Minnesota, dealings in D.C. and Delaware, before taking on some ill-conceived Illinois revenue raids.

Maryland is the last great hope for igaming regulation in 2024, and the World Series of Politics brings in The Analysis Group to put the question of cannibalisation to bed once and for all.  Mickey Ferri and Laura O’Laughlin join Brendan Bussmann and Brandt Iden to discuss  the recent study  showing online casino actually expands the market, rather than eating away at the land-based share. 

We're deep into legislative sessions across the US but Brandt Iden and Brendan Busssmann are here to run you through the states to watch in the World Series of Politics! Whether it's Georgia going to the voters or Minnesota taking its sweet time, we've got all the latest happenings in US regulation ready to review.

The World Series of Politics welcomes its very first Congresswoman, with Representative Dina Titus joining Brandt Iden and Brendan Bussmann.  As Representative for Nevada’s 1st congressional district and co-chair of the Congressional Gaming Caucus, she is a crucial industry advocate at federal level.  Tackling the excise tax Representative Titus is also leading the charge to repeal the 0.25% feder...

The World Series of Politics is back with Clarion Gaming managing director Stuart Hunter joining to offer a sneak peek at what the gaming industry can expect at ICE 2024. It’s the last ICE in London, but while the show is headed to Barcelona in 2025, Hunter tells Brendan Bussmann and Brandt Iden he is keen to make sure this doesn’t detract from this year’s event. It’s a case of maintaining the mom...

The World Series of Politics is back from its festive break with the low down on what sort of regulatory progress the gaming industry can expect in 2024.  Happy new year listeners! Brendan Bussmann and Brandt Iden are back to discuss a Festivus miracle in Brazil, as well as setting out their predictions for US sports betting growth, and whether 2024 will finally be the breakthrough year for US iga...

The industry was shocked when a new mobile betting ballot measure landed in California after last year’s bruising fight, but tribes are up for the next battle Pechanga.net's Victor Rocha tells the World Series of Politics. Rocha, one of the most eloquent and influential voices in the Indian Gaming Association, tells Brendan Bussmann and Robin Harrison how any 2024 battle will shake out.  ‘Smoke an...

The World Series of Politics is recovering from a busy G2E, and our dynamic duo reflects on the show floor conversations in episode 23. Everyone has their voice back to talk igaming, taxes and Florida.  2024: The year of US igaming? One of the biggest topics on the show floor was igaming, which made its presence felt at G2E 2023.  There’s a desire to keep building momentum around US igaming in 202...

On the 22nd episode of the World Series of Politics, Brendan Bussmann and Robin Harrison are joined by Mike Whittle, senior vice president and general counsel at professional baseball team the St. Louis Cardinals to discuss the development of sports betting in Missouri. Multiple attempts to legalise sports betting in the Show-Me state have fallen flat over the years. Two of the most recent attempt...

On the 21st episode of the World Series of Politics, hosts Brandt Iden and Brendan Bussmann are joined by Neil Montgomery, founding and managing partner at Montgomery & Associados and Hugo Baungartner, VP for global markets at Aposta Ganha to take an intercontinental deep dive into Brazil. But before heading over to LatAm, our hosts discuss the progress made in Florida since episode 20 was rel...

It’s the 20th episode of the World Series of Politics, and Brandt Iden, Brendan Bussmann and Robin Harrison are joined by two legal experts to pick through the Florida sports betting case in this special episode.  Florida’s sports betting market came to an abrupt halt just weeks after launch when a legal challenge blocked the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s updated compact with the state.  After two y...

Brendan Bussmann and Brandt Iden dive headfirst into Canada’s only open betting and gaming market with Paul Burns of the Canadian Gaming Association (CGA).  Paul shares his thoughts on the early stages of Ontario’s regulated market, pointing out a strong channelisation rate suggests the Canadian province is making a successful leap from a grey to white market.  This, he explains, has levelled the...

We're missing Brandt Iden this week, but Brendan Bussmann is joined by iGB's Robin Harrison for the conversation with the  Member of Parliament for Shipley  on  the Gambling Act review . The former chair of the  All Party Parliamentary Group on Betting and Gaming  dissects the white paper, its implications for the industry, and for the punters.

Brendan Bussmann and Brandt Iden are on the trade show circuit, but still found time to talk about the latest developments in US sports betting legislation, as well as more from Brazil.  We start by revisiting Brazil, the focus of our last episode, as the regulatory process undergoes yet more evolutions. There's also disappointments in Missouri and Minnesota sports betting to cover, as well as som...

The development of sports betting in Brazil has been happening over the last 20 years, with people waiting eagerly for just as long, says Hugo Baungartner, the special guest this week on World Series of Politics. “It’s the giant,” he says. “Everyone is talking about it. Everybody wants to come to Brazil.” He notes that law has been in place to allow sports betting in Brazil since 2018 , but that t...

Last week the World Series of Politics asked where all the regulatory wins were in the 2023 legislative session, and around a day after it went live, Kentucky sports betting was signed into law.  As Brendan Bussmann says, gaming tends to be the last issue for lawmakers to consider in the session, and this year is no different. Earlier in the session Kentucky looked like a ‘sleeper state’, Brandt I...

We’re deep into the legislative session, but it’s been slim pickings for US sports betting to date as Brendan Bussmann and Brandt Iden recount on episode 14 of the World Series of Politics.  There’s been a wave of criticism of the industry, and that has arguably ended any hopes of igaming expansion for this year, but even sports betting is coming up short so far. Massachusetts may have launched mo...

He’s a former Secretary of the Environment, and Texas’ longest-serving Governor, and now Rick Perry is joining Brandt Iden and Brendan Bussmann on the World Series of Politics. Governor Perry believes legislation from Senator Lois Kolkhorst and Representative Jeff Leach, that paves the way for a public vote on sports betting regulation, is the best way to bring legal wagering to the Lone Star Stat...

Brandt Iden is back on the World Series of Politics after his break over ICE London, rejoining Brendan Bussmann to discuss a flurry of sports betting activity across the US. The dynamic duo kick off with Missouri, where multiple attempts to regulate betting have been made over the past five years. Senator Denny Hoskins has long been a champion of the industry, but could 2023 be the year Missouri s...

The special guests keep coming on the World Series of Politics, with Geocomply’s Linsday Slader joins Brendan Bussmann and Brandt Iden to discuss Ohio’s sports betting launch.  The geolocation specialist’s senior vice president of compliance says the Buckeye State’s launch was one of the biggest marketing openings in the US for quite some time. It has seen over 1.2 million accounts set up in the f...

The World Series of Politics welcomes its second guest, Light & Wonder’s global head of government affairs Howard Glaser, to discuss the prospects for igaming in the US in 2023.  Sports betting has taken up much of legislators’ attention, but its tax contribution is dwarfed by igaming tax revenue. Glaser goes as far as calling igaming the most successful product in the history of gambling in t...

We're live from Las Vegas for episode nine, with Brendan Bussmann of B Global Advisors and Brandt Iden of Fanatics discussing the contrasting fortunes of two gambling hubs. While Las Vegas is booming, Macau has effectively been cut off from the world for the past three years. With the concession renewal process now complete, how can it recover? Back in the US, the importance of regulation has been...

In episode eight of the World Series of Politics, Brendan Bussmann of B Global Advisors is joined by Brandt Iden, now Fanatics Betting and Gaming's newly-appointed vice president of government affairs. Our dynamic duo start off by picking over the wreckage of California's sports betting ballot measures, reflecting on what went so disastrously wrong. Next they run the rule on the other states where...

Ahead of the 2022 US midterm elections, Brendan and Brandt take a look across the US, including a final examination of whether there's any hope of the people of California voting to legalise sports betting. In Texas, there may be less clarity as the industry may have to consider whether to prioritise sports betting or casinos, while Brandt is "optimistic" that sports betting legislation could be p...

The World Series of Politics welcomes Bill Miller of the American Gaming Association as first guest. American Gaming Association and G2E Miller joins Brendan Bussmann and Brandt Iden to look back on this year's Global Gaming Expo. Miller discusses this year's G2E After almost 25,000 descended on the Sands Convention Centre earlier in October. He also talks about US gaming industry's post-Covid rec...