Daniel Wallach Publishes Op-Ed on Massachusetts Sports Betting Stalemate
Hallandale Beach, Florida, June 8, 2022:
Wallach Legal founder Daniel Wallach, a nationally renowned gaming and sports attorney, published an op-ed in Forbes and Commonwealth Magazine recommending solutions to the current legislative stalemate on sports betting legalization in Massachusetts. His op-ed, titled A Solution To The Legislative Stalemate On Sports Betting Legalization In Massachusetts, urges the recently appointed legislative conference committee to consider the approaches taken in other jurisdictions to resolve similar policy disagreements on the scope and permissibility of collegiate sports wagering, the appropriate tax rate, the overall number of sports betting operator licenses, and the scope and breadth of any advertising restrictions. As Wallach stresses in his article, “[t]here are solutions to each individual issue that have tried and tested in other jurisdictions.” A copy of the op-ed, co-authored with Wallach Legal law clerk John Nucci, can be found here.
Daniel Wallach Speaks at NYU 11th Annual Sports Law Colloquium
Hallandale Beach, Florida, March 4, 2022:
Wallach Legal founder Daniel Wallach, a nationally renowned gaming and sports attorney, was invited to serve as an expert panelist at The Sports Law Association of New York University’s 11th Annual Sports Law Colloquium, held on March 4, 2022. Wallach spoke on the panel titled “The Rise of Legalized Sports Gambling,” which examined the expansion of legal sports betting in the United States in the aftermath of the Murphy v. NCAA decision. Other speakers included Stan Van Gundy and Jeffrey Kessler. For more information about this event, click here.
Daniel Wallach Recognized as “Sports Betting Power Player” by PoliticsNY
Hallandale Beach, Florida, February 21, 2022:
Daniel Wallach has been an important resource for lawmakers, regulators and stakeholders looking to launch legal sports betting in New York. As a nationally-recognized gaming and sports betting attorney, each of these important constituent groups have sought—and continue to seek—Dan’s expert advice on policy issues affecting sports betting legislation in New York and throughout the country. Dan was instrumental in the efforts to pass an online sports betting law in New York, and his Senate testimony in May 2019 helped persuade lawmakers that an amendment to the New York State Constitution was not a prerequisite to the legalization of online sports betting in New York and that the Legislature could accomplish that objective through a purely statutory enactment. In large part due to Dan’s crucial legislative testimony, online sports betting was finally approved in New York, creating the largest legal sports betting market in the United States with a record handle of nearly $2 billion in the first month alone.
In recognition of his efforts and continued influence in the nationwide sports betting industry, PoliticsNY named Dan to their first-ever “Sports Betting Power Players” list, which recognizes those “who have worked both behind the scenes and at the forefront to guarantee the industry’s early success.” To see the full list of PoliticsNY’s Sports Betting Power Players, click here.
Three Questions with Sports Betting Power Player Daniel Wallach
Hallandale Beach, Florida, February 16, 2022:
Via PoliticsNY: “When it comes to experience in sports betting, Daniel Wallach has one of the most impressive resumes around. Founder of his own legal practice? Check. Legal analyst and contributor to The Athletic and Forbes? Check. Adjunct professor of sports wagering law? Check. And don’t forget founder and co-host of Conduct Detrimental, THE podcast about sports law. In this interview, Dan explains how and why he founded the first law firm in the country to focus on sports betting, his testimony before the New York State Senate on behalf of legalization, and the kind of growth he expects to see in the industry.”
Daniel Wallach Urges State Lawmakers to Avoid Errors That Sidetracked Florida Sports Betting Compact
Austin, Texas, December 14, 2021:
“Florida is the poster child for failures around sports betting,” gaming attorney Daniel Wallach told an audience of state lawmakers before adding that it holds the distinction of being the only state to pass a law authorizing sports betting, then actually launching sports betting, only to have a court invalidate the entire arrangement as a violation of federal law. The nationally recognized gaming and sports betting attorney made the comments at a December 14th panel entitled “Sports Betting Retrospective: Expectations, Reality, And Lessons Learned,” which concluded the 2021 Winter Meeting of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS).
Wallach told the audience that he sounded the alarm last spring that the online sports betting provisions of the Seminole Tribe’s new compact with the State of Florida were “fundamentally flawed” because it violated the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) requirement that all gaming authorized pursuant to a tribal-state compact take place exclusively on Indian land. Wallach argued that lawmakers were fed erroneous information on what IGRA would allow, as well as inaccurate information on Florida’s constitutional prohibition against casino gambling.
As other states wrestle with constitutional issues surrounding sports betting, tribal compacts, and gaming activities under IGRA, it is incumbent on lawmakers to become educated on the issues, Wallach emphasized. “The lesson to be learned here is lawmakers cannot necessarily trust positions advanced by one stakeholder or the other,” Wallach said. “It would be legislative negligence to take the word of one stakeholder and not seek the opinion of an attorney general or outside counsel.” For additional reporting on Wallach’s panel remarks, click here.
Daniel Wallach to Present at NCLGS 2021 Winter Meeting in Austin, Texas
Hallandale Beach, Florida, December 9, 2021
Wallach Legal founder Daniel Wallach was invited to serve as an expert panelist on Sports Betting Retrospective: Expectations Reality and Lessons Learned, the capstone panel at the 2021 Winter Meeting of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS). Wallach will be joined on the panel by Bill Pascrell III, a partner at Princeton Public Affairs Group; Brandt Iden, a former Michigan lawmaker who is now head of government affairs at Sportradar US; Illinois state Rep. Mike Zalewski; and Colorado state Rep. Alec Garnett. Closing the conference on Wednesday, June 14, Wallach and his fellow presenters will offer their insights on the lessons learned from the first three years of sports betting legalization in the post-PASPA era.
The NCLGS winter meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Austin, Texas, from December 12-14, and offers state lawmakers a platform to discuss current gaming issues and developments with leading experts. NCLGS is the only organization of state lawmakers that meets on a regular basis to discuss issues in regard to gaming. Members of NCLGS chair or are members of the committees responsible for the regulation of gaming in their state legislative houses.
Daniel Wallach Interviewed by NBC Miami Following Seminole Tribe’s Decision to Stop Taking Online Sports Bets After Federal Court’s Denial of Stay Pending Appeal
Hallandale Beach, Florida, December 4, 2021
Wallach Legal founder Daniel Wallach was interviewed by NBC Miami after a federal appeals court denied the Seminole Tribe’s emergency request for a stay of a lower court decision invalidating its gambling compact with the State of Florida. As a result of the appellate court ruling, the Seminole Tribe ceased taking online sports bets through its Hard Rock Sportsbook mobile app. The Tribe had been accepting online sports wagers from persons located in Florida for a period of 12 days following the lower court’s ruling that such activities violated federal law. In his on-camera interview, which led off the evening news program, Dan discussed the reasons behind the Seminole Tribe’s cessation of its online sports book and the various options available for the legalization of sports betting in Florida in the wake of the federal court’s decision invalidating the compact. To watch Dan’s interview on NBC Miami, click here.
Daniel Wallach Warns Gaming Conference Attendees That ‘Aiding and Abetting’ Partners in Florida Online Sports Betting Are Risking Their Gaming Licenses in Other States
Secaucus, NJ, December 2, 2021
Third-party vendors working with Hard Rock and the Seminole Tribe in offering online sports betting in Florida are putting their gaming licenses at risk in other states, prominent gaming attorney Daniel Wallach opined at the SBC Summit North America on Wednesday. Wallach spoke about the federal lawsuit challenging the deemed approval of the Florida gaming compact during a Wednesday afternoon conference session at SBC Summit North America, a two-day sports betting and iGaming conference held at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey. Wallach said that the recent federal court decision invalidating the compact made it “crystal clear” that the continued operation of online sports betting in Florida is illegal. He added that regulators in other states that have licensed vendors and operators working with the Hard Rock app need to look into that issue as well. If he was their attorney, Wallach said he’d tell the vendors to stop doing work in Florida immediately. For additional reporting on Wallach’s panel remarks, click here and here.
Daniel Wallach Discusses the Settlement of the St. Louis Rams Relocation Lawsuit
Hallandale Beach, FL, December 1, 2021
Wallach Legal founder Daniel Wallach appeared on “Baltimore Positive” to discuss the recent settlement of the St. Louis vs. NFL lawsuit over the relocation of the St. Louis Rams to Los Angeles in 2016. Although St. Louis received $790 million as a settlement, Wallach tells “Baltimore Positive” host Nestor Aparicio that this was a missed opportunity for the City to secure a new NFL expansion franchise. To watch Dan’s interview with Nestor, click here.
In addition, Dan was interviewed by multiple media outlets throughout the course of the St. Louis Rams relocation lawsuit. Dan, who was recognized as one of the leading legal experts on the case, regularly appeared on St. Louis television and radio stations to give his take on recent case developments (see here, here, here, and here), and was quoted by the New York Times (see here), Bleacher Report (see here), Front Office Sports (see here and here), New York Daily News (see here), and was even cited by the influential NFL news site Pro Football Talk a staggering three times in one week for his exclusive reporting (see here, here, and here).
Daniel Wallach Appears on “This Week in South Florida” to Discuss the Fallout of the Federal Court Decision Invalidating the Florida Online Sports Betting Compact
Hallandale Beach, Florida, November 28, 2021
Wallach Legal founder Daniel Wallach appeared on “This Week in South Florida” to discuss the recent federal court decision invalidating the Florida gaming compact and the ramifications from the Seminole Tribe continuing to operate online sports betting in open defiance of the judge’s ruling. As the program acknowledged, Daniel “has followed the case since day one, even calling this outcome last spring, before Florida lawmakers had approved the deal.” He joined “This Week in South Florida” host Glenna Milberg to discuss, and their conversation can be seen here.
Daniel Wallach Correctly Predicts Florida Sports Betting Court Ruling, Interviewed by Multiple Media Outlets in the Aftermath of the Federal Court’s Decision
Hallandale Beach, Florida, November 22, 2021
Wallach Legal founder Daniel Wallach embarked on a statewide media blitz after he correctly predicted that the Seminole Tribe’s new gaming compact with the State of Florida would be struck down by a federal court. Dan has been warning lawmakers and stakeholders as far back as May of this year that the online sports betting provisions of the compact violated the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) because it authorized gaming activities taking place wholly or partially outside of Indian lands. Dan’s unheeded warning was validated by the decision of D.C. federal court judge Dabney Friedrich, who ruled that the compact’s authorization of online sports betting contravened IGRA’s “Indian lands” requirement and rejected as a “fiction” the Tribe’s argument that the server location dictates where the entirety of the gaming activity takes place.
As the only legal expert to have correctly predicted this outcome, Dan was in high demand by media outlets within his home state of Florida, appearing on dozens of television newscasts and radio stations to break down the court’s ruling and what it means for the future of legalized sports betting in Florida. Among the media outlets which interviewed Dan on camera or quoted him were the Tampa Bay Times (see here and here), South Florida Sun Sentinel (see here), Miami Herald (see here), NBC News Miami (see here), Politico (see here), ABC Action News (see here), News 4 Jacksonville (see here), WINK News (see here), WTSP (see here), Action News Jax (see here), SBC Americas (see here), Fox 13 News (see here) and WFTV (see here).
Daniel Wallach Gives Opening Remarks at Virtual Forum for Massachusetts Lawmakers
Boston, Massachusetts, October 26, 2021
Wallach Legal founder Daniel Wallach, a nationally renowned gaming and sports attorney, gave the opening remarks at a virtual forum on Massachusetts sports betting legalization hosted by State House News Service. The event, titled “The Play for Sports Betting: Assessing the Odds for a New Level of Gambling in Massachusetts,” featured Massachusetts state senator Eric Lesser, who co-chairs the Economic Development Committee, and fellow committee co-chair Representative Jerald Parisell. Media coverage of the event can be found here and here.
Daniel Wallach Calls Out Florida Sports Betting Compact as Blatantly Illegal
Hallandale Beach, Florida, May 10, 2021
Wallach Legal founder Daniel Wallach published a pathbreaking article in Forbes titled “Florida’s Gambling Compact Set Up to Fail? Federal Rejection of Mobile Sports Betting Likely to Trigger A Tribal Monopoly”? In that article, Dan asserted that the proposed new gambling compact between the Seminole Tribe and the State of Florida “brazenly flouts” the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act because it authorizes gaming activities such as online sports betting which originate entirely outside of Indian lands. That federal law—known as IGRA—mandates that any gaming activities authorized under a tribal-state compact can only occur “on Indian lands” and nowhere else. Analyzing the plain language of the statute and decades of federal case law, Dan concluded the location of the bettor determines where a wager takes place under IGRA.
With this article, Dan became the first attorney to question the legality of the compact. Four days later, Dan doubled-down on his contrarian view of the compact’s legality—the first and only prominent attorney to do so—by publishing a second Forbes article titled “False Fears Over Florida Sports Betting Constitutionality Created A Bigger Problem: A Federally Defective Gambling Compact.” In that follow-up article, Dan accused Florida lawmakers of falling prey to the false narrative that the legalization of online sports betting could only be accomplished through a tribal gaming compact so as to avoid Florida Amendment 3’s prohibition against non-voter-approved casino gambling. As Dan wrote, “[t]his unfounded fear—stoked in various media outlets by the proponents of Amendment 3—has led the State down a more legally treacherous path: approving a compact that flouts the federal requirement that all ‘gaming activity’ take place solely ‘on Indian lands.’” Dan’s controversial opinion (at least at the time) proved prophetic six months later when a federal court invalidated the compact for the reasons cited in Dan’s articles.
Daniel Wallach Appears on “Capital Tonight” to Discuss New York Online Sports Betting
Albany, New York, March 15, 2021
Daniel Wallach, a gaming law and sports betting attorney and the founder of Wallach Legal, appeared on the influential New York political affairs program Capital Tonight to discuss the status of online sports betting legislation in New York State. Wallach told the program’s host, Susan Arbetter, that he is “100-percent” certain that online sports betting will be approved by the New York Legislature this year. To watch Dan’s interview on Capital Tonight, click here.
Daniel Wallach Testifies Before the Connecticut Public Safety and Security Committee on Whether Sports Betting is a “Commercial Casino Game”
Hartford, Connecticut, March 3, 2020
Wallach Legal founder Daniel Wallach, a nationally recognized gaming and sports betting attorney, was invited to testify before the Connecticut Public Safety and Security Committee, which was considering several legislative proposals to legalize sports betting. Wallach was invited to testify by Committee Chairman Joe Verrengia to address the following question: is sports betting a “video facsimile or other commercial casino game”? This question was relevant because of written agreements that the Connecticut had entered into with two tribal casino operators which relieved the tribes of their obligation to pay the State a portion of their gross gaming revenues if Connecticut law was changed to permit “video facsimiles or other commercial casino games.” Based on his extensive research of federal and state law (including Connecticut law), Wallach concluded that sports betting is not a “commercial casino game” within the scope of the tribal agreements. A copy of Dan’s witness statement can be found here.
Daniel Wallach Appears on Super Bowl “Radio Row” to Discuss the Houston Astros’ Sign-Stealing Scandal and Whether Losing Bettors Can Sue Major League Baseball and the Astros
Miami, Florida, January 29, 2020
Wallach Legal founder Daniel Wallach, a nationally recognized gaming and sports law expert, made the rounds of “Radio Row” during Super Bowl LIV in Miami. Florida to discuss the leading sports law controversies of the day. Here, he joins WNST’s Nestor Aparicio to debate whether sports bettors can sue Major League Baseball and the Houston Astros over the recent Astros sign-stealing scandal. A video clip of Dan’s interview with Nestor can be seen here.
Daniel Wallach Testifies Before the California Legislature on Whether a Constitutional Amendment is Required for the Legalization of Sports Betting
Sacramento, California, January 8, 2020
Wallach Legal founder Daniel Wallach, a nationally recognized gaming and sports betting attorney, was invited to testify before a joint informational hearing of the California Senate and California Assembly Governmental Organization Committees to provide expert testimony on whether the legalization of sports wagering in California could be achieved through a statutory enactment rather than by an amendment to the California Constitution. Mr. Wallach opined that a constitutional amendment was not required because the California Constitution’s ban against the legislative authorization of “casinos of the type currently operating in Nevada and New Jersey” expressed in Article IV, Section 19(e) does not apply to sports wagering, which is a different species of gambling. For additional reporting on Wallach’s panel remarks, click here and here.
Daniel Wallach Testifies Before the Kentucky General Assembly on the Constitutionality of Sports Betting
Frankfort, Kentucky, December 16, 2019
Wallach Legal founder Daniel Wallach, a nationally recognized gaming and sports betting attorney, was invited to testify before the Kentucky General Assembly’s Interim Joint Committee on Licensing, Occupations, and Administrative Regulations, which was considering legislation to allow in-person and online sports betting in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Committee Chairman, Representative Adam Koenig, specifically invited Wallach to address the following question: Does the prohibition against “lotteries” in Section 226(3) of the Kentucky Constitution operate to prevent the General Assembly from legalizing sports wagering?
Based on his extensive research and analysis of Kentucky law, which included examining the floor debates of the Kentucky Constitutional Convention of 1890, Wallach concluded that the legislative authorization of sports wagering would not constitute the approval of a prohibited lottery, and, therefore, would not necessitate an amendment to the Kentucky Constitution.
As part of his testimony, Wallach unearthed an archival document which revealed the constitutional delegates of 1890 considered—and rejected—a proposed amendment that would have included a ban on sports betting (referred to as “betting on baseball”) within the scope of the lottery prohibition. At the conclusion of his testimony, Kentucky Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer told Wallach that his testimony was “the best testimony from a lawyer in front of this committee I’ve ever heard” and that Wallach had provided the committee with a “mic drop” moment. For additional reporting on Wallach’s panel remarks, click here, here, and here.