SBJ Unpacks: Warm optimism for Winter Games

Tonight in Unpacks: The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics open Feb. 6, and with it in a U.S.-friendly time zone for the first time in 16 years, the USOPC senses a moment to build momentum for LA28 and 2034’s Winter Games in Utah, as SBJ’s Rachel Axon reports in this week’s magazine.

Also tonight:

• MLS signs Polymarket as prediction market sponsor
• NWSL, union leaders at odds over High Impact Player rule
• What betting records tell us about first-mover states
• Op-ed: Gate innovations driving revenue

Listen to SBJ’s most popular podcast, Morning Buzzcast, where Abe Madkour opens the week with the NCAA sanctioning jersey patch sponsorships for the regular season, the Washington Post skipping the Winter Games, Oklahoma hiring its first new athletic director in 27 years in Illinois Deputy AD Roger Denny and more.

From outside the Duomo di Milano to the Dolomites, the Milan-Cortina Games offer the stunning backdrop of their Italian hosts. With an enviable cultural (and culinary) setting, the Olympics and Paralympics hosts have the potential to reignite interest for the winter event the way Paris did for the Summer Games.

Doing that, however, will have to come as efforts on more sustainable hosting present operational challenges on the ground and as the smaller event attempts to capture the attention of audiences at a more crowded time in the sports calendar.

The Winter Olympics open Feb. 6 and the Paralympics a month later with the potential of generating interest in a movement that hasn’t had a Games in a North American-friendly time zone in 16 years and sees its immediate and long-term future tied up in a U.S. audience, as Los Angeles will host in 2028 and Utah in 2034.

Building on a playbook that resonated resoundingly in Paris, everyone from broadcasters and sponsors to sport leaders and athletes see hope in what can be built in Northern Italy over the next two months.

“Paris was a sea change and restored excitement, enthusiasm and confidence,” said U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee Chairman Gene Sykes, who is also an International Olympic Committee member. “So people come into Milan with very high expectations of having the same sense of fervor and excitement, and all the things that we associate with having the Games.”

For the majority of viewers who will consume the Games on screens big and small, the beauty and culture of Italy, coupled with a healthy dose of star power and high potential for U.S. success, is likely to translate into increased viewership and viral moments.

For stakeholders attending in person, navigating the most spread-out Games in Olympic history — with venues in eight locations, many of them hours apart (see map below) — has them preparing for a siloed experience.

“It’s a fragmented plan that meets the fragmented nature of the Games,” said USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland. “You will see our team very divided geographically.”

Nevertheless, with a stable of generational talent in multiple sports and the familiarity of regularly training and competing in these same venues, Hirshland adds, “We’re going in pretty bullish from a Team USA perspective.”

So are stakeholders from around the movement.

In recent years, the International Olympic Committee has focused on making hosting more sustainable, encouraging use of existing venues and fitting the Games to the location, rather than the other way around.

Enter Milan-Cortina and the first truly regional Games. The events of the Olympics and Paralympics held there will span much of Northern Italy, some of them hundreds of miles apart. Organizers prioritized using existing venues, including ones that routinely host world cups and other international competition, and temporary venues.

The spread of the Games takes snow sports, which are often concentrated in a mountain cluster, and sprinkles them throughout the Dolomites. Transit from Milan is expected to take 5 to 10 hours, leading to the most siloed Games anyone has seen.

Organizers/Venues

The regional reach of the Games will be clear from the opening ceremony onward. The Olympics ceremony in San Siro Stadium in Milan will have a heavy dose of celebrity, including performances from Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli.

But the event will happen in parts in three other places as well, with athlete parades and elements of the ceremony in Milan, Cortina, Livigno and Predazzo.

“The fact that they are doing multiple opening ceremonies and we’re going to have an opening ceremony in Cortina, it’s going to feel like the Games,” said Aron McGuire, CEO of USA Bobsled and Skeleton. “But we’ll certainly miss that opportunity to see a lot of other events.”

Indeed, the siloed nature is by design.

As part of Agenda 2020 reforms passed under past-President Thomas Bach, the IOC sought to create sustainability for hosts. Italy’s bid spread events throughout the Dolomites, many in venues that annually hold World Cups and other competitions, aimed at meeting that vision.

Operationally, that puts venues farther apart than has ever happened. Some distance is typical for a Winter Games, with a mountain cluster hosting snow sports while rink-based sports are often concentrated in a city.

But in Milan-Cortina, for example, U.S. Ski and Snowboard alone will have athletes competing in five locations, from freeskiers and snowboarders (where it is likely to win the bulk of its medals) in Livigno on the Swiss border, to women’s Alpine skiers in Cortina d’Ampezzo on the Austrian border. It is sending 25% more staff to cover its events.

“Logistically it’s going to be quite challenging for us,” said U.S. Ski and Snowboard CEO Sophie Goldschmidt. “We are very spread out across Italy.”

The far-flung nature of the venues — which are hours apart on mountainous, sometimes snow-covered roads — means spreading out staff and operations. The USOPC will not have a centralized high-performance center for the Games, opting to use resources to support camps and get athletes in-country earlier.

It is working with national governing bodies on staffing to cover everything from high-performance needs to media operations. With the locations stretching resources, the USOPC’s medical team is working with its peers from Canada and Finland to coordinate coverage of equipment and supplies. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Foundation’s hospitality program similarly will adapt to what these Games offer.

“We’ll do it in a way that also tries to be conscious of not spending a huge amount of time traveling between clusters and venues,” Hirshland said.

While athletes are likely to have a more siloed experience, with little chance to meet their peers in other sports or watch other competition in many clusters, most take place in venues with plenty of experience hosting.

For some sports, though, having venues complete has remained a question until only recently.

Italian organizers defied an earlier push from the IOC to host bobsled, skeleton and luge events elsewhere in Europe, opting to spend 118 million euros ($138 million) to rebuild the sliding track in Cortina, which hosted the 1956 Games. That track was finished early last year and is operational from a refrigeration, timing and technical standpoint. But work remains around the venue, especially on groundwork, to prepare it for spectators.

“Is there still some work to be done? Yes, a lot,” said Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi. “It’s impressive but it’s not complex, and they have a lot of people working, so it will be ready. No doubt it will be ready. ”

In Milan, Santagiulia Arena will host hockey events after completing a test event there just earlier this month. The size of the ice surface generated concern earlier this year, with the finished rink measuring 3-feet smaller than NHL rinks.

Milan-Cortina organizers, the IOC, the International Ice Hockey Federation, the NHL and the NHLPA put out a statement in December saying the difference in dimensions were “insignificant” and shouldn’t affect player safety.

Even as the mid-January test event confirmed the viability of the ice, construction continues. Dubi said organizers have 1,600 workers in the venue daily to finish the concourse as well as temporary structures, which include about half of the venue’s locker rooms that were not done two weeks before opening.

“When we start competitions, it will be really no problem with this,” Dubi said. “But yeah, they’re still working because it’s temporary. And temporary, you don’t build six months before, by the way, so there is some normality to it.”

Broadcast plans

Largely, NBC staff won’t be moving around either during the Games.

While hosts like Mike Tirico and Maria Taylor and celebrity talent, including the return of Snoop Dogg and the addition of Stanley Tucci, will appear at various sites around the Games, NBC will have teams that stay in Milan, Cortina and Livigno.

Like past Games, NBC will have the bulk of its operations out of its Stamford, Conn., offices, with around 1,800 staffers there and another 1,000 in Italy.

“We’ve done a pretty good job, even though we’ve had to populate three different zones, of managing that number without adding cumulatively more total traveling bodies,” said NBC Olympics President Gary Zenkel.

NBC will host daytime at the Duomo, the 14th-century Gothic cathedral that will serve as the backdrop of international broadcasts. Two studios in the international broadcast center — one of a Milan backdrop and another of the mountains — will showcase its afternoon and primetime coverage. It will also have standup locations in Livigno and Cortina.

With a six-hour time difference to the East Coast proving friendlier to a U.S. audience, NBC will rely on much the same playbook as Paris. All events will air live on Peacock, and Gold Zone, its popular whip-around show, will make its Winter Games debut.

The network’s prime-time show will focus on storytelling to go beyond the results of the day. It will work with Olympic Broadcasting Services, which is deploying several tech innovations in the 6,000 hours of content it expects to produce on 1,000 hours of competition.

That includes 360-degree replay, the use of drones closer to the action than ever and a tracking system in curling stones.

“What I’m most excited about is all the new technology and ways we’re going to explain what we call relatable awe,” said Molly Solomon, executive producer and president, NBC Olympics and Paralympics production. “It’s everything from much more use by Olympic Broadcasting Services of live drones in coverage, like in Alpine. It’s breathtaking.

“We are employing a sports scientist to help us take all the data and the metrics we’re getting to actually explain that when a pairs skater lands on a throw triple loop, it’s like having a hippo land on her foot. So there’s all these really neat things that we’re taking all of this information and explicating it better for the audience, and I think it’s going to just add to the viewing experience.”

NBC hopes that adds to its “Legendary February,” with the network leveraging an enviable trio of sports rights.

After airing the opening ceremony on Feb. 6, it will surround the Super Bowl two days later with coverage from Italy. Live competition will precede pregame coverage in Santa Clara. After calling that game, Tirico will lead back into Olympic coverage from the football field before catching a flight to Italy.

NBC will take a similar approach a week later when it airs NBA All-Star Weekend.

“It’s hard to imagine that the Olympics, which spans the 17 days, gets lost. To me, it’s the anchor,” Zenkel said. “The connection to Milan never gets lost. I still think that’s the foundation of those two weeks.”

Hirshland said the busy calendar can be an asset to the USOPC, drawing in viewers to the Games that they might otherwise miss.

“The idea here is one plus one plus one should equal four, as opposed to really being competitive,” she said. “But you have to be thoughtful about how to do that, and you can imagine NBC and our team are in lockstep.”

Team USA’s success should help reignite interest in the movement.

Topend Sports projects Norway to win the medal count for a fourth consecutive Winter Games and the U.S. team to rank fourth. But the Americans bring generational talent and a plethora of compelling stories set to engage audiences and sponsors.

NHL players return for the first time in 12 years, while the women’s team enters the Games having swept Canada in the Rivalry Series. Speedskaters Erin Jackson, the first Black woman to win individual Olympic gold in the Winter Games, and Jordan Stolz, a world champion at multiple distances, enter as heavy medal favorites. So does two-time world champion Ilia Malinin, also known as the “Quad God” for being the first and only figure skater to land a quadruple Axel.

“It’s just this phenomenal collection of individuals and storylines that I just think are going to grab people by the heart and be really inspiring,” said U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell.

Those storylines will drive sponsor interest, viewership and engagement in the Games.

In the mountains, snowboarder Chloe Kim will chase a third consecutive Olympic gold in the halfpipe; Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin will star in Alpine; and a trio of bobsled pilots — Kaillie Armbruster Humphries, Elana Meyers Taylor and Kaysha Love — are all medal contenders.

Even biathlon, the only winter sport in which the Americans have never claimed a medal, could have a breakthrough in world championship medalist Campbell Wright.

“We have the best team the United States has sent to an overseas Olympics ever,” Solomon said. “It’s so deep and so the stories are so rich.”

Sponsor strategy

At the highest level, TOP sponsors are looking for creative ways to activate on the ground, showing up in multiple locations and unique ways.

Airbnb spent more than a year working in the host towns in the mountains, knocking on doors to propose residents list their homes during the Games. While not a new effort (it did the same in Paris and will in Los Angeles), it became critical in the mountain towns through the Dolomites.

Dave Stephenson, CBO and head of employee experience at Airbnb, said 160,000 visitors will use the platform in Milan-Cortina. It is also sponsoring a team of athletes in addition to offering experience packages, from watching figure skating with Nathan Chen to a Milanese dinner and craft night with Paralympian Dani Aravich. Its hospitality house, Casa Airbnb, will host a series of experiences in Milan throughout the Games.

It’s further building on a sponsorship that dates back to 2019 and was significantly affected by fans being barred from the Tokyo and Beijing Games during the pandemic.

“When we do these events, our guests have more places to stay. The hosts in the communities we’re in earn more money. We show up as more local and we show up in support of the communities that are having these Games, which gives us favorability. We have these unique stays and experiences that no one else can provide, so it amplifies our brand,” Stephenson said. “It’s really coming into its own. And Paris was awesome and I’m super optimistic about Italy so far.”

Longtime TOP sponsor Samsung will appear throughout Milan-Cortina, with the return of its victory selfie that saw medalists taking photos together with Galaxy phones from atop the podium in Paris. Separately, Samsung will have employees around the country to service the Olympic-edition phones given to athletes. And its Galaxy S25 Ultra phones will be used during the opening ceremony broadcast in places where a larger camera would be more obtrusive.

“Geographical distance across the country, it’s definitely challenging in terms of activation — but at the same time, we see there’s great opportunity,” said Sophia Kim, head of experience marketing at Samsung MX.

“The IOC was happy about [the victory selfie], and we are very happy about it actually showcasing our technologies and the value of those technologies in the moment,” she added. “It’s more of athletes actually enjoying the moment and then actually being themselves, more authentic excitement and joy on the Games’ time, the spirit.”

Many sponsors have focused on activating through athlete deals and storytelling around them, coming in even later in the process than usual so they can activate around these Games. Part of that has been born out of the rapid addition of U.S. sponsors this year, with 15 signing on to sponsor through LA28.

Jeannie Goldstein, partner at Chicago Sports and Entertainment Partners, said even as athletes were in the thick of training and qualifying, they were accommodating brand content captures. Meyers Taylor shot one around Thanksgiving, while Jackson did one in January.

“I’ve never seen it like this before, and I’ve been around since 1998,” she said. “While I think they’ve had their eye on LA28, they’re also trying to step in and do stuff with Milan.”

Mattress company Saatva just in May announced its deal with U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Properties, the joint venture between LA28 and the USOPC. It has since signed a team of athletes, generated creative and is sending out 400 sets of its mattress toppers, sheets and pillows to Milan. It will hold events and watch parties at its locations stateside.

“We believe that the business will change dramatically after February because the Olympic watcher is a great consumer for Saatva,” said CEO Ron Rudzin. “We’re spending a ton of money in the upper funnel with NBCUniversal, and obviously our brand awareness level will change dramatically this March.”

Other partners are leveraging the Ice House, a hospitality space for friends and family built out of a joint effort of U.S. Figure Skating, USA Hockey and US Speedskating in Milan. Because of the spread of the Games, the USOPC is not offering a Team USA House and will have events throughout the clusters. It will collaborate with the NGBs to use Ice House for Managing Victory, its post-event media tour for athletes.

“We really feel that we’re filling that space in a great way for the people in Milan,” said US Speedskating executive director Ted Morris. “I think that the partners saw that this is a way to get engaged with Team USA and really have a presence in Milan.”

Hirshland said single NGBs would run their hospitality in places where they’re on their own, and that the USOPC would partner with some in other places. She also anticipated events around the Games, including with longtime sponsor Ralph Lauren at its store in Milan.

“The trick here is the lack of ability to be as nimble, given it isn’t like there’s going to be a bunch of extra hotels in Cortina or Bormeo, or the places that are naturally going to be a little cozier,” she said. “I think it’s planning ahead and really recognizing how to curate a good experience when you don’t have quite as much flexibility to adapt plans on a day-to-day basis as you might have in a place like Paris.”

The distance between clusters has led sponsors and other stakeholders not to travel between and instead focus their hospitality and client programs within individual sites, concentrating in Milan, Cortina and Livigno.

“The TOPs, a majority of them are still turning on at least multiple clusters, but with really focused objectives and audiences,” said Jessie Giordano, chief partnership officer at GMR Marketing, which has seven clients operating in Milan-Cortina. “We’re still seeing the majority of our VVIP programming happening in Milan, and then really either geographic-specific programs or consumer-level programs happening within each of the other clusters.”

On Location will run hospitality for a second Games under its 2021 deal with the IOC and the organizing committees for Paris, Milan-Cortina and Los Angeles. That program will include a Clubhouse 26 to offer hospitality, food and beverage in Milan, Cortina and Livigno.

Anecdotally, several stakeholders said they were building their own programs, often around the limited supply in the mountains. The aim collectively is the multisport event atmosphere of the Games, the kind of special sauce of the Olympics and Paralympics that unites athletes and fans across sports and cultures.

It might still be found in Italy, even if in pockets.

“The Milan experience, given the level of hospitality lounge and access to viewing sport in other regions within the country, I think it’s still largely going to feel like a fantastic, connected, spirited, European festival of an Olympics in Milan,” said Adam Lippard, chief commercial officer at GMR. “There’ll be so many of the sports in Milan and the ability to view the mountain clusters through the televised hospitality and lounge experience. It’s still going to feel amazing. Whereas I think if you are in one of the clusters as sort of a sport-only cluster, you’re going to feel a little bit more independent.”

Despite the challenges, those around the movement see the potential in Italy to revitalize the Winter Games the same way Paris did two years ago. Coming off the most recent Winter Olympics during the pandemic and a run of three in a row in Asia, Milan-Cortina offers hope for renewed commercial and fan interest. And with two U.S. Games in the near future, the Italians’ success can only boost the future of the Games.

“Paris put the Olympics and Paralympics back to a level that we were all hoping it would get back to. And I think it could be even more extreme with Milan-Cortina,” said Goldschmidt. “Some of the momentum we’ve seen and the interest and just the energy around the Games, you can definitely feel it. It’s very different from how it was three and a half years ago. So I hope that we can break out of that winter sports kind of bubble and really transcend in a much bigger way.”

MLS has signed Polymarket as its official prediction market sponsor and will create an authorized operator designation in the emerging category, clearing the way for other prediction apps to use club and league marks if they agree to similar integrity provisions as legal U.S. sportsbooks.

The exclusive deal, signed though MLS commercial arm Soccer United Marketing, requires Polymarket to use official league data and third-party integrity monitoring and to refrain from offering markets that the league sees as easily manipulated, such as yellow cards, or prone to the use of inside information, such as manager firings and player movement.

Its authorized operator designation, open to other operators licensed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, also will require those integrity provisions.

“These guys all have markets on MLS,” MLS SVP/Emerging Ventures Chris Schlosser said. “So we need to figure out a way to get the best possible integrity protections, no different than our activities in sports betting.”

Relaunched in the U.S. last month, Polymarket bills itself as the world’s largest operator of prediction markets, commodities derivatives that look similar to sportsbook wagers, with fluctuating odds that include point spreads, over-unders and prop bets on individual player stats. Unlike legal sports betting, prediction markets are available in all states.

The NFL, NBA and MLB have not expanded their sports betting authorizations to include prediction markets, which are the subject of a spate of legal action taken by regulators and operators across the U.S. The NHL became the first of the leading leagues to sign sponsorship deals with Polymarket and exchange operator Kalshi in October.

“We could stick our head in the sand, or we could lean in and work with them as best we can,” Schlosser said. “So, in the space, we think it’s really important that we’re building a framework that we can use to at least regulate the markets in and around MLS.”

The league hopes to integrate Polymarket odds into content on its app and website, Schlosser said, though it hasn’t determined which to use or how to present them.

MLS has not opened prediction markets as a sponsor category for clubs, Schlosser said, but is in “rule-writing mode,” crafting a framework of which marketing assets could be used and what operators could be approved. Prediction market sponsorships could be especially appealing to clubs in states that have not legalized, including California and Texas, which are home to seven MLS clubs.

Schlosser pointed to the league’s success working directly with sportsbooks to eliminate wagering on yellow cards as an example of a benefit of an authorized operator designation. When the league sent letters asking regulators and tribal operators in 41 states to take down that market, eight opted not to.

“We’re not always successful with sports betting getting everything we want on the integrity side either,” Schlosser said. “But we think it’s really important that we create a real integrity framework for these new prediction markets.”

The Washington Spirit’s re-signing of Trinity Rodman to the richest contract in women’s soccer history last week marked a win for NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman, who promised ahead of the NWSL championship in November to “fight to keep” the 23-year-old star in the league. In retaining Rodman, the Spirit became the first club to utilize the newly created High Impact Player mechanism, a rule Berman pushed to allow NWSL teams to exceed the salary cap to compete globally for top talent.

Whether that victory proves durable will depend on the outcome of a grievance filed by the NWSL Players Association challenging the league’s implementation of the HIP rule.

While the union is naturally in favor of reforms that increase players’ earning power, it says the league’s “unilateral implementation” of the rule violates the CBA and federal labor law. Furthermore, the union objects to earmarking funds exclusively for players who meet league-defined eligibility criteria rather than simply raising the salary cap.

In an interview with SBJ following Rodman’s signing of a contract reportedly worth over $2M annually, Berman defended the NWSL’s authority to implement the HIP rule and expressed confidence in the outcome of arbitration over the union’s grievance. She also argued the targeted mechanism would be more effective in advancing the league’s business than a uniform increase to the salary cap, which ultimately benefits all players through revenue-sharing.

In terms of process, the NWSL has the right under the collective bargaining agreement to establish new “player classifications and categories” and to “reduce or eliminate the salary cap ... for certain roster classifications.” Berman says this language authorizes the HIP mechanism.

“We negotiated that knowing that this day might come, and we enacted our rights under that rule in the development and implementation of the High Impact Player rule,” Berman said.

NWSLPA Exec Dir Meghann Burke wrote in an email that introducing the HIP mechanism goes beyond creating a roster classification and instead alters the negotiated compensation system.

“Our CBA has a comprehensively negotiated compensation structure, and NWSL cannot circumvent it by calling a new and unilaterally-determined compensation structure a roster classification,” Burke wrote.

She added, “We would have -- and remain willing -- to consider the HIP Rule through bargaining. We reject their attempt to impose this rule through unilateral implementation.”

As for the rule’s merit, Berman pointed out that the introduction of the HIP mechanism will make up to $115M in incremental funds available to players through the end of the current CBA in 2030. Limiting those funds to players who meet certain criteria, she said, will ensure that capital is used strategically to compete with the world’s other top leagues to attract and keep the most talented and marketable athletes.

“It’s our responsibility to be good stewards of capital and, in particular, incremental investment,” Berman said.

Burke, however, objected to the league’s criteria and the idea of the HIP funds being available to only some players.

“The ‘HIP Rule’ creates an entirely separate pot of funds with a new cap and establishes ill-conceived criteria that reduces the pool of players who are eligible for it,” Burke said. “NWSL has made clear that this is about commercial interests, not fielding a competitive roster for NWSL competition.”

Berman declined to contemplate what an arbitrator ruling in the union’s favor would mean for Rodman’s contract, saying only that she is confident in the league’s position. Burke, though, said she expects the league to honor its commitment to Rodman no matter what, something Spirit management has said it intends to do.

“We fully expect NWSL to respect and adhere to the terms of every player’s contract, regardless of the outcome of the grievance,” Burke wrote. “If the HIP Rule is deemed to have violated our CBA, NWSL remains obliged to the terms of contracts entered into with players.”

When handle records fell in 23 of 30 legalized online states in a two-month span this football season, it got me thinking about what the seven states that haven’t peaked of late have in common.

All started taking online sports bets before February 2021, putting them among the first dozen states to do so. So you could point to market maturity as a factor. But nearly half of that first 12 did break records last fall, indicating it’s more than that alone.

Let’s dig a bit deeper into the seven states, in order of their online opening:

Nevada: When you think about state openings, it’s easy to forget Nevada, which was taking bets legally long before the fall of PASPA. The state’s last big month came in January 2022, when it handled $1.1 million in wagers. That was also the year that Nevada saw its last year-on-year growth. Handle fell 4% in 2023 and again in 2024. It’s on pace to slow that rate of decline this year, but still isn’t likely to do much better than finishing even with ’24.

Some degree of decline was inevitable. Now that visitors from half of the U.S. can wager from home, getting a bet down while in Vegas is no longer a novelty.

New Jersey: The sportsbooks in the state that started all this benefited mightily from being first movers, taking $22.7 billion in bets in the 3½ years that it took for New York to open.

You always knew that the river eventually would start flowing the other way.

Even with New York posting a mind-blowing $16.2 billion debut year, Jersey managed to put up almost the same number in 2022 as it did in ’21 — about $10.9 billion — and grew by 9% in ’23 and 7% in ’24, when it started the year with a record $1.7 billion month. But that ’24 number lagged far behind the 19% growth of sportsbook handle nationally, an indication of what was to come.

Last year, handle in New Jersey fell 4%, the state’s first decline.

Compared to its peers, Jersey’s first-mover edge has proved to be surprisingly sustainable.

West Virginia: Like I was sayin’ ...

West Virginia was the first-moverist of all first movers, racing to get out of the gate ahead of its more populous neighbors at the close of 2018, beating Pennsylvania by five months. It managed to grow by double-digits annually even after D.C. and Virginia legalized, but the dam burst when Ohio, Maryland and Kentucky climbed aboard at the start of ’23. (It may not have many people, but West Virginia has a lot of neighbors.)

The state saw handle plummet by 19% that year. It fell by 2% last year, putting it 145% off its high-water mark of 2022.

The first movers weren’t the only states to outrace neighbors, only to see that advantage eaten away.

New Hampshire: You know how New Jersey played come hither with New Yorkers? New Hampshire did a similar number on Massachusetts.

The state was punching well above its weight while legislators from its far more populous neighbor to the south were figuring out whether and how to legalize, growing 27% from 2021 to ’22. When Massachusetts legalized in ’23, New Hampshire handle fell 8%. The following year, it dropped another five.

Last year brought a bounce back and an 11% gain, but that’s still a tad shy of where the state was in ’22. And it hasn’t come close to the $103 million single-month record it set in March ’23, the very month that Massachusetts opened.

Rhode Island: Opening two months before New Hampshire, Rhode Island grew its handle to $532.6 million in 2022. Then, when Massachusetts opened in ’23, it saw it decline 13%. It rebounded in ’24 but is on pace to fall another 4% for ’25, which will put it at least 10% off its best year.

Rhode Island’s best month was the January before its far larger neighbor launched, when it handled $62.3 million. Last January, it took $47.3 million.

Colorado: In December 2023, Colorado popped a $716 million handle that it hasn’t eclipsed. The closest it got was this past November, when it hit $694 million. Otherwise, it’s been a consistent performer, with few jumps or dips.

Unlike the others, it’s not on this list because of a decline. Handle jumped about $100 million for one month, dropped back down and fell into cycle.

If you have a Colorado-specific theory, shoot me a note. I got nothin’.

Michigan: Ohioans were nearly surrounded by sports betting by the time the state opened at the start of 2023, with sportsbook apps in Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania and West Virginia all well established.

All four of those states saw Ohio syphon back its migratory bettors in that year. Michigan saw handle come in even with ’22, a marked slowing of growth coming off a 21% gain from ’21. The state rebounded to 14% handle growth in ’24, when it last broke its single-month record, but it rose only 1% in ’25.

The takeaway is that the border hopping that lobbyists pointed to as they urged state legislators to legalize sports betting was real, or at least real enough to ding many of those neighboring, first-mover states once the fences came down. But nearly as many were able to continue to grow, or rebound to grow, as evidenced by Pennsylvania, Indiana, Iowa and Oregon from the Class of ’19 and Illinois from ’20 all toppling records recently.

What does that all mean today? Some engaged in the legalization push suggest passage in midsized or smaller states such as South Carolina and Oklahoma, a full commercial opening in Florida, or legalization in Oklahoma still could exert similar political pressure on top-tier states such as Georgia and Texas, but are not sure they’d matter so much now that a fleet of prediction market apps are available nationally.

Why keep driving to the Shell station parking lot on the other side of the border when you’ve got what you see as a “close enough” alternative from Kalshi, Robinhood or Polymarket in your pocket?

That’s the new border war, still to play out in court.

Here’s the full rundown of those state handle records, through November.

When fans arrive at a stadium, they’re not just passing through turnstiles anymore; they’re entering an ecosystem of sensors, scanners and software that quietly define the business of live sports. Modern access control is no longer just about safety; it’s about speed, staffing efficiency and the operational data that drives smarter decisions across the venue.

Emerging technology at the gate, biometrics, mobile credentials, RFID ticketing and AI-powered crowd analytics is transforming entry points into business tools. The result: faster throughput, reduced labor costs, better fan experiences and new streams of actionable data.

Throughput, staffing, and the speed of trust

In the last decade, venues have learned that time is money, especially at entry. With frictionless entry, stadiums can reduce gate staffing, reassign personnel to hospitality or premium areas, and increase per-capita spending once fans are inside. Every minute shaved off a line is a minute gained for food, beverage and merchandise sales.

RFID and biometric systems have also reduced the risk of ticket duplication and fraud. In addition, these technologies provide real-time metrics on crowd density and gate performance, data that was once invisible but now drives staffing models and event planning.

Risk management in real time

While faster entry boosts revenue, it also enhances security. AI-enabled surveillance and crowd analytics allow security teams to identify congestion, abandoned items, or unusual movements before they escalate into incidents. Computer vision systems now flag early indicators of crowd crush conditions, enabling staff to redirect flow or temporarily pause ingress.

These systems don’t just prevent emergencies; they protect the bottom line. Fewer incidents mean lower insurance exposure and reputational risk, and the digital logs produced by smart gates create detailed audit trails for compliance and post-event review. The capability to trace when and where every credential was scanned gives legal and insurance teams a layer of accountability that paper tickets never could.

Data is the new turnstile

Behind every entry scan is a data point, and together, they tell a story about fan behavior. Smart access control produces timestamped records of when fans arrive, how long they wait, and which entrances they prefer. That information now fuels dynamic staffing, parking coordination, concession preparation and even marketing strategies.

Venues are beginning to integrate these insights with loyalty apps and premium programs. For example, identifying early-arriving fans enables push notifications for seat upgrades or exclusive offers. Data also allows operators to forecast and stagger arrivals by promoting specific entry gates, improving both security posture and fan comfort.

From cost center to profit driver

Historically, gate operations were considered a cost center, an expense tied to safety and compliance. But as these systems become more intelligent, they’re emerging as commercial assets. Modern access control can:

• Reduce labor costs through automation and predictive staffing
• Increase throughput and per-capita spend
• Enhance fan satisfaction by eliminating friction
• Generate operational data for marketing, logistics, and security

This mindset shift, from “security expense” to “business enablement,” is defining the next generation of sports facility management. Venues investing in technology at the gate are discovering that safety and profitability are no longer competing priorities. They’re the same goal achieved through smarter tools.

Challenges on the horizon

Of course, modernization isn’t without complications. Biometric and AI-driven systems raise legitimate concerns around privacy, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance. Integrating new tech with legacy infrastructure can be costly and disruptive, and retraining staff for hybrid human-digital workflows requires time and investment.

The future of the gate

At the modern stadium the gate is an engine. Each scan, sensor and system contributes to a safer, smarter and more profitable operation.

Emerging technologies are giving venues the capability to measure, predict and monetize the fan journey in real time. In that way, the future of revenue and risk management starts exactly where the fan experience does: at the gate.

Anna Reahl is managing director and co-founder of Arcus Group, specializing in temporary security perimeters. She has been managing large-scale events for the past 30 years in various roles, including 14 National Special Security Events (NSSEs), and co-hosts the podcast “Managing Your Perimeter.”

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