*By Max Godnick*
The Supreme Court's decision to let states decide whether to legalize sports betting has professional leagues on notice, but there doesn't seem to be much consensus on how teams and leagues will approach gambling.
"Each league has a different opinion on it and a different approach as to how they're going to address this," said Kelly Cheeseman, the chief operating officer of the L.A. Kings of the National Hockey League.
The Court ruled 6-3 this week to overturn a 1992 federal prohibition on sports gambling. That law was supported by the NCAA, NFL, and NBA, but now some leagues are changing their tune on the matter.
"Maybe it creates opportunity here," said Cheeseman in an interview Wednesday with Cheddar, adding he wouldn't get ahead of the NHL on the matter. "We're going to follow what the league wants to do here and then be able to bounce off of that," he said.
The NHL responded to the Supreme Court's decision in a statement that acknowledged an "entirely different landscape," but it also said there would be "no immediate impact on existing League rules relating to sports wagering."
It's a very different tone than the one set by Adam Silver, the commissioner of the NBA, who said in a statement that his league supports a federal framework for legalized gambling in the states that permit it.
"Each league has a different opinion on it and a different approach on how they're going to address this," said Cheeseman, who is also the COO of AEG Sports, a unit of Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns the Kings.
"As an owner and a team, we're going to follow what the league ultimately does here," said Cheeseman. "But it's still really too early to be able to see what the total impact is here."
The Kings were knocked out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Las Vegas Golden Knights last month. That's more relevant for him than the potential of sports gambling.
"It's really not a factor for us, we focus on winning games, and gambling is not something we think about," he said.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/new-technology-makes-sports-venues-more-eco-friendly).
The Drone Racing League kicked off its 2021-2022 world championship season this week. Spanning across 14 different locations over the course of the year, 12 of the world's best drone pilots will be racing against each other to bring home the title. Drone racing has grown in popularity over the past year, with the Drone Racing League seeing an uptick of nearly 200 percent average viewership, 90 percent in virtual drone racing participation and 60 percent fanbase growth over social media. Rachel Jacobson, President of the Drone Racing League, discusses the future of the sport and why she thinks drone racing will soon be on par with traditional sports.
Bill Enright, Editorial Lead for Gambling and Fantasy Content at Sports Illustrated, shares his insight into the strategy behind betting on NFL futures, such as who will win the Super Bowl or MVP award.
Sponsored by BetMGM
Jeff Stoneback, Director of Trading at BetMGM, discusses his betting insights for Super Bowl LVI futures, and says a pair of NFC East teams could make some noise come playoff time.
Sponsored by BetMGM
The final Grand Slam tennis tournament of 2021 will be lacking some of its biggest stars including Venus and Serena Williams, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal. However, with legendary names missing from the court, it could provide an opportunity for future superstars to shine. Jon Wertheim, a senior writer at Sports Illustrated, joined Cheddar to discuss the fallout from the cancellations. "This is tennis' version of the NBA after [Michael] Jordan," he said. "Some Kobe [Bryant] or some LeBron [James] will come along, and we'll have new champions to cheer for."
Cheddar Bets, sponsored by BetMGM, is a first-of-its-kind look at the intersection of sports betting and financial markets with insider intel from BetMGM's oddsmakers.
In stories sure to move markets next week, investors will be served another full plate of earnings, the July jobs report comes out, and the Summer Olympics continue in Tokyo.