Joe Ewens and Matt Carey kick off the GamblingCompliance Podcast by discussing Official Data in the U.S. sports betting market. When the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, or PASPA as it is more commonly known, was overturned in May of 2018 it fired the starting gun on a seemingly endless chain of legal and political wrangling, as US states worked to develop their own unique takes on sports betting legislation.

As of right now, sports betting is regulated in 15 states and there are many more bills in the works.

One of the most divisive issues affecting these bills has turned out to be how gambling operators get access to the data from games they are taking bets on.

The powerful American sports leagues have been lobbying hard for state sports betting laws to require operators to procure those vital streams of data directly from the leagues and no one else.

So far, only Tennessee and Illinois have included official data mandates in their legislation, but a handful of other regulated states have the option to effectively enforce the requirement.