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Americans expected to bet record $30 billion on the 2025 NFL season legally
The college football season has kicked off, and the NFL’s regular season begins next week, which means sportsbooks are getting ready for the biggest opportunity of the year to sign up new customers and grow the wagering pot.
Americans are expected to wager a record $30 billion this NFL season through legal gambling, an 8.5% increase from last year, according to estimates by the American Gaming Association.
The biggest players in the space, Flutter-owned FanDuel and DraftKings, are facing growing competition from BetMGM and Caesars. thOer players are looking to get in the game, as online broker Robinhood teamed up with Kalshi to offer football prediction markets.
However, the largest threat these companies face are from the offshore, unlicensed sportsbooks such as Bovada, MyBookie and BetOnline.
DJ Giddens, #21 of the Indianapolis Colts, runs the ball as Bo Melton, #16 of the Green Bay Packers, reaches for the tackle during the 2025 NFL preseason game between the Green Bay Packers and Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Aug. 16, 2025.
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It’s something that prosecutors are starting to crack down on.
The Los Angeles city attorney filed a civil enforcement action on Thursday against online sweepstakes casino operator Stake.us and 20 other related companies, including publicly traded Evolution. In the landmark lawsuit, prosecutors allege the companies of running illegal gambling operations and are asking the court to shut down operations and refund player losses.
Earlier this month, 50 attorneys general wrote a letter to the Justice Department asking the federal government to crack down and step up enforcement against unlicensed gambling because states are losing an estimated $4 billion in tax revenue.
Data from geolocation tracking company GeoComply shows states that take active enforcement measures against illegal offshore sportsbooks have a 10% higher growth in active players year over year and had 38% more new player sign-ups in August.
The supply chain risk designation of the artificial intelligence firm is a first for a US company.
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UniQure needs to run another study to prove that its gene therapy “actually helps people with Huntington’s disease,” a senior U.S. Food and Drug Administration official said on a call with reporters Thursday.
The official, who requested anonymity before discussing sensitive information, confirmed the agency has asked the company to run a placebo controlled trial of its treatment, which is administered directly into the brain. UniQure has said that type of study isn’t ethical because it would require putting people under general anesthesia for hours, a characterization the official disputed.
“So what is really going on? UniQure is the latest company to make a failed therapy for Huntington’s patients,” the official said. “They likely acknowledge or understand at some deep level that their trial failed years ago, and instead of doing the right thing and running the correct clinical study, UniQure is performing a distorted or manipulated comparison in the mind of FDA.”
The comments mark the latest development in a messy public spat between UniQure and the FDA, and as the agency comes under fire for a number of recent drug approval application rejections, including some where companies have accused it of going back on previous guidance. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary in an interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick last week seemingly criticized UniQure’s gene therapy for Huntington’s disease. Makary didn’t name UniQure but described its treatment.
UniQure then accused the FDA of reversing its stance that the company’s clinical trial data would be sufficient to seek approval. UniQure’s study used an outside database to measure how patients with Huntington’s disease might decline without treatment, known as an external control. UniQure has said it wouldn’t be feasible to run a true randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study, considered the gold standard, because it wouldn’t be ethical to make people undergo a sham hours-long brain surgery.
The FDA official said the agency “never agreed to accept this distorted comparison” and the FDA “never makes such assurances.” Instead, the “FDA will always say, ‘Well, we have to see the data when we get it.'”
UniQure didn’t immediately comment.
The company’s stock rose more than 10% on Thursday and has fallen 58% this year as of Thursday afternoon.
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US mortgage rates rise to 6% after three-week slide as oil-driven bond yields climb – The Times of India
The average long-term US mortgage rate edged higher this week, ending a three-week decline as bond yields rose amid oil-price pressures linked to the war with Iran.The benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate increased to 6% from 5.98% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said on Thursday. A year ago, the average rate stood at 6.63%, AP reported.The modest uptick breaks a three-week slide in borrowing costs, with mortgage rates having hovered close to the 6% mark for most of this year. Last week’s average had marked the first time the rate dipped below 6% since September 2022, reaching its lowest level in nearly three and a half years.Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, including the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate policy, investor expectations about inflation and economic growth, and movements in the bond market.They typically track the direction of the 10-year US Treasury yield, which lenders use as a benchmark for pricing home loans.The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.14% at midday Thursday, up from around 4% a week earlier.Treasury yields have moved higher in recent days as rising oil prices added fresh inflation concerns, potentially complicating the Federal Reserve’s plans to cut interest rates.
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