Oddsshark faces NJ shutdown over illegal gaming promotion
| By iGB Editorial Team
The Office of the New Jersey Attorney General has ordered all licensed casinos and igaming operators in the state to cease working with Oddshark, citing the high-profile affiliate's promotion of illegal, offshore gaming sites.
The Office of the New Jersey Attorney General has ordered all licensed casinos and igaming operators in the state to cease working with Oddsshark, citing the high-profile affiliate’s promotion of illegal, offshore gaming sites, iGamingBusiness.com has learned.
In a letter provided to iGamingBusiness.com by AmericanCasinos.com, available to read here, New Jersey Deputy Attorney General Anthony Strangia notes that Oddsshark currently promotes illegal igaming sites including Bovada, Betonline and 5Dimes alongside sites licensed in the state. The report has been confirmed by multiple sources.
Citing Division of Gaming Enforcement director David Rebuck’s June 2015 advisory note in which he warns that the regulator will not license or register any company promoting illegal gaming sites, Strangia then informs the affiliate that all New Jersey licensees have been ordered to cease doing business with Oddsshark.
He also warns that by promoting offshore sites, Oddshark may be violating New Jersey laws relating to racketeering and the promotion of gambling. The state’s Division of Criminal Justice has been copied into the letter, so that it may consider taking legal action.
Strangia also orders Oddsshark to cease promoting all sites not permitted under federal or state law, warning that it will pursue federal or criminal sanctions should it fail to do so.
A recent report into gambling-related search in the US, conducted by Pi Datametrics, ranked Oddsshark as having the largest share of voice, with the site returned by 7.7% of all gambling-related searches carried out via Google between December 2015 and January 2019. A number of high-profile news and sports sites, including Bleacher Report, The New York Times and Forbes, have also cited Oddsshark in stories on the odds offered on major US sporting events.
Oddsshark is yet to respond to two requests for comment on the matter from iGamingBusiness.com. At the time of writing it was publishing odds on the National Basketball Association (NBA), offered by Bovada, on social media.