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Ifrah Law Secures Major Victory for iGaming Operators as Massachusetts Court Reinforces Arbitration Rights
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October 8, 2026
Ifrah Law Secures Major Victory for iGaming Operators as Massachusetts Court Reinforces Arbitration Rights
By: John Mikuta
In a significant victory for iGaming operators, a Massachusetts trial court issued a sweeping decision reinforcing the enforceability of arbitration agreements against third-parties who seek to recover alleged gambling losses under Massachusetts law.[1] The ruling represents a major win for Ifrah Law’s iGaming clients and underscores Ifrah Law’s ability to navigate novel legal challenges, develop sophisticated strategies, and achieve meaningful results at a time when iGaming companies face increasingly aggressive and creative legal threats. Massachusetts, along with about 30 other states, has a “Loss Recovery Act” that allows a losing gambling to sue the winner and recover their losses. Like the statutes in several other states, if the gambling loser does not file a lawsuit within three months, a third…
CFTC Opens the Door for Passive Software Providers in Derivatives Markets
September 28, 2026
CFTC Opens the Door for Passive Software Providers in Derivatives Markets
By: John Mikuta
In a new no-action letter, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) recently opened the door for software developers building software to facilitate trading in derivatives and futures. The CFTC’s Market Participants Division (“MPD”) issued a no-action position providing that it would not recommend bringing an enforcement action against a “passive software provider,” or “PSP”, for failing to register as an introducing broker (“IB”) or associated…
Trust the Future You Trade: Lessons About Prediction Market Surveillance from the DACOM Summit
September 23, 2026
Trust the Future You Trade: Lessons About Prediction Market Surveillance from the DACOM Summit
By: John Mikuta
Prediction markets are no longer a niche offering confined to a small corner of the internet. The rapid growth of prediction markets has launched them into the mainstream as a meaningful part of the financial ecosystem. But with that growth comes many of the same market integrity and compliance challenges that more traditional financial markets have long encountered. Prediction markets have faced public scrutiny over…
Will Legalized Sports Betting Save NFL Television?
September 27, 2019
Will Legalized Sports Betting Save NFL Television?
By: Jeffrey Hamlin
The growth of proposition and in-play sports betting may be just what the NFL needs to sustain a revived interest in televised games. From 2016 to 2018, the NFL experienced a two-year ratings slump when viewership decreased by 17%. Theories abound as to why ratings fell. Some point out that traditional television viewership was (and is) down generally due to younger viewers who are ditching…
What About Gaming? The House Passes the SAFE Banking Act, Putting Cannabis Ahead of Regulated Gambling
September 26, 2019
What About Gaming? The House Passes the SAFE Banking Act, Putting Cannabis Ahead of Regulated Gambling
By: Ifrah Law
The inability to secure banking services has created enormous difficulties for state level, legal cannabis industries. Eleven states and the District of Columbia have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, and a majority of states also have legal medical marijuana programs. Nonetheless, “marihuana” remains a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act and its sale or possession can be a federal crime. As a…
A Comeback Victory: Appeals Court Says Monmouth Park Owner is Entitled to Recover Damages from NCAA and Sports Leagues
September 24, 2019
A Comeback Victory: Appeals Court Says Monmouth Park Owner is Entitled to Recover Damages from NCAA and Sports Leagues
By: Ifrah Law
It has been over a year since the Supreme Court found that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was unconstitutional in Murphy v. NCAA, and countless states have legalized sports gambling in the time since, but the legal fallout from the Murphy case is still weaving its way from the courts. Early in the Murphy case, when the sports leagues and NCAA requested…
North Carolina on the Verge of Legal Sports Betting
July 29, 2019
North Carolina on the Verge of Legal Sports Betting
By: Ifrah Law
In April, I spoke to the North Carolina Bar Association concerning the future of sports betting in the state. At the time, a bill to legalize sports betting was making its way through the legislative process. Last week, the North Carolina legislature finally passed a bill authorizing sports wagering at the state’s two Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian casinos. The bill explicitly adds sports betting…
New Hampshire Federal Court Finds Wire Act Is Limited to Gambling on Sporting Events
June 4, 2019
New Hampshire Federal Court Finds Wire Act Is Limited to Gambling on Sporting Events
By: Ifrah Law
On June 3, 2019, Judge Paul Barbadoro of the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire issued a 60-page opinion holding that the Wire Act is limited to sports gambling. Judge Barbadoro’s opinion resolved litigation between the New Hampshire Lottery Commission, its service provider (NeoPollard), and the Department of Justice (DOJ), over a 2018 opinion by the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel…
