Axios Sports: New York sports betting — NFL draft big board — RIP, Tom

1 big thing: 💵 Cuomo embraces mobile betting | Thursday, January 07, 2021

Open in app View in browser     Axios Sports By Kendall Baker ·Jan 07, 2021 👋 Good morning! Let's sports. Today's word count: 1,642 words (6 minutes).     1 big thing: 💵 Cuomo embraces mobile betting Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios   After watching New Jersey turn into America's new sports betting capital this fall, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is ready to embrace mobile betting as a way to generate much-needed revenue for the state amid the pandemic. Driving the news: In a statement to the New York Daily News, Cuomo said he will make mobile sports betting a central part of his policy proposals to be laid out in next week's State of the State address. "New York has the potential to be the largest sports wagering market in the United States, and by legalizing online sports betting we aim to keep millions of dollars in revenue here at home, which will only strengthen our ability to rebuild from the COVID-19 crisis." — Cuomo Between the lines: Cuomo says he wants to run sports betting through the state lottery, as opposed to casinos. "I'm not here to make casinos a lot of money. I'm here to raise funds for the state," he said. This approach has proved "disastrous" in places like Washington, D.C., which has struggled to generate revenue, writes Action Network's Darren Rovell. "A lottery model means only one sportsbook would operate, leading to less competition, worse pricing for consumers and little to no innovation." The backdrop: New York has been losing out on sports betting revenue for years, as residents travel across the border to place bets in New Jersey, turning the state's train stations into gambling hubs. Wild stat No. 1: An estimated $837 million was bet in New Jersey by New Yorkers in 2019, accounting for roughly 20% of the Garden State's wagering. Wild stat No. 2: New Jersey will approach $6 billion in handle for 2020 — and that's with no March Madness and a four-month sports outage. Once New York gets on board, it could do even bigger numbers — and fast. Looking ahead: "New York, with a population of nearly 20 million, dwarfs any other state with legal betting and should have no problem regularly topping $1 billion a month in wagers," says industry analyst and former American Gaming Association official Sara Slane.     2. 🏈 NFL draft big board: Top 20 prospects Table: Axios Visuals The NFL Draft is still nearly four months away, but with the college season ending Monday, there's no time like the present to take a look at the top prospects, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes. The backdrop: One major storyline before the season began was how many players would opt out to avoid potential COVID-19 issues and focus on the draft instead. Turns out, quite a few of the top prospects did just that. Six of our top 20 opted out: Penei Sewell (OT, Oregon); Ja'Marr Chase (WR, LSU); Micah Parsons (LB, Penn State); Rashawn Slater (OT, Northwestern); Caleb Farley (CB, Virginia Tech); Gregory Rousseau (DE, Miami). Trey Lance (QB, North Dakota State) played in the Bison's lone fall game, but has opted out of their spring FCS season. Samuel Cosmi (OT, Texas) started 34 consecutive games for the Longhorns, but opted out of the final two of the regular season, plus their bowl game. Looking ahead: Here's the NFL draft order for non-playoff teams. Picks 19-32 are based on playoff finishes. Jaguars Jets Dolphins (via Texans) Falcons Bengals Eagles Lions Panthers Broncos Cowboys Giants Niners Chargers Vikings Patriots Cardinals Raiders Dolphins 🎥 Watch ... Trevor Lawrence says goodbye: "Thank you, Clemson."     3. 💔 RIP, Tom Source: @Bonnie_D_Ford (Twitter) Sportswriter Tom Perrotta, who specialized in tennis, has passed away after battling a brain tumor for the last four years. He was 44. Beautiful words: In November, Tom published a piece in the Wall Street Journal about the silver lining of the pandemic: It let him spend more time with family. "In ordinary times, I'd be walking my sons — they are 11 and 8 — off to school in the morning, then waiting around at home for them to finish. Time alone is not what I'm craving right now — that's when my mind races. "Instead, most days, everyone is here — me, my wife (who's working from home) and my children (who are mostly doing virtual school). We're jammed up here for hours, in each other's laps, in each other's business. It might drive other parents crazy. I think it's the greatest. "I call it my unexpected blessing. I'm trying to savor every minute of it: every interaction, every game of Uno, every book, every homework problem. ... My sons know what's happening with their father, but they might not fully grasp why this is so powerful to me. It's my everything." Full story: In a stay-at-home pandemic, a sportswriter finds a silver lining (WSJ)     A message from Axios Tech news worthy of your time     Catch up on the top tech stories in just a few short minutes with Axios Login. Delivered to your inbox every weekday by our chief technology correspondent Ina Fried. Subscribe for free     4. 🏀 Last night in the NBA Photo: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images Bradley Beal scored a career-high 60 points against the Sixers, but Philadelphia still emerged victorious, 141-136, to improve to an NBA-best 7-1. Why it matters: Beal is just the 29th player to score 60+ points in an NBA game. Stephen Curry (62) joined the club earlier this week. Fun fact: Just six players have scored 60+ points on more than one occasion: Wilt Chamberlain (32x), Kobe Bryant (6x), Michael Jordan (5x), Elgin Baylor (4x), James Harden (4x) and Damian Lillard (3x). Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images 🚨 Stat du jour: There were no blowouts last night, which is a rarity this season. 26 of the first 105 games this season were decided by 20+ points, tying an NBA record for most blowouts over that span. Celtics 107, Heat 105: Payton Pritchard's putback with 0.2 seconds left capped a wild finish in Miami. Knicks 112, Jazz 100: Julius Randle (30-16-7) and the Knicks are 5-3. Hornets 102, Hawks 94: Gordon Hayward dropped a career-high 44. Magic 105, Cavs 94: Orlando improved to 6-2 but lost Markelle Fultz for the season (torn ACL). Pacers 114, Rockets 107: Malcolm Brogdon dropped a career-high 35. Thunder 111, Pelicans 110: Steven Adams (10-11-10) notched his first career triple-double but it wasn't enough against his former team. Bucks 130, Pistons 115: Both teams took a knee after the opening tip in response to Wisconsin prosecutors declining to file charges against a police officer who shot Jacob Blake last summer. Kings 128, Bulls 124: Buddy Hield converted a four-point play with 38 seconds left to hold off Chicago. Clippers 108, Warriors 101: Kawhi Leonard (21 pts) led L.A. to the win in San Francisco. They'll run it back Friday night. Suns 123, Raptors 115: Players linked arms at center court during the American and Canadian national anthems in response to the storming of the U.S. Capitol. Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images     5. ⛳️ Preview: Sentry Tournament of Champions Screenshot: Google Maps The Sentry Tournament of Champions tees off today at Maui's Kapalua Plantation Course, Jeff writes. Normally, only players who won a tournament in the previous PGA season are invited to play (hence the name). But this year, with the pandemic shutting things down for three months, the field was expanded to include players who reached the FedEx Cup finale. The field: A record 42 men will vie for the $6.7 million purse, and with no cut they'll each have four days to play their best golf. Favorites: Dustin Johnson (6-1) and Justin Thomas (13-2) lead the way. They're also tied for the longest active streak playing in the event (2016–present). Odds. Dark horse: Xander Schauffele, who was one putt shy of winning this event last year, is the best of the 16 non-winners in the field. Long layoffs: Sergio Garcia (15 years) and Stewart Cink (11) are both returning to the event after more than a decade away. Cameron Smith on the 10th green during Tuesday's practice round. Photo: Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images The course: Unlike most PGA events, Kapalua's Plantation Course is a par-73, measuring 7,596 yards. The mountainous locale (Mauna Kahalawai) gives Kapalua its signature rolling hills and incredible views. Signature hole: The 18th is the longest hole on the PGA Tour (663 yards), but with the help of wind and a huge slope, it's actually reachable in two. Go deeper: Course breakdown (Golf Course Gurus)     6. ⚽️ Americans abroad It's still surreal to turn on an important European soccer game and see a young American making an impact. Big Wednesday for our boys... Photo: Manchester City FC via Getty Images MANCHESTER, England — Pennsylvania native and former Maryland Terrapin Zack Steffen, 25, got the start in net as Manchester City beat Manchester United, 2-0, to advance to the League Cup final against Tottenham. 🎥 Watch: Match highlights Photo: Mattia Ozbot/Soccrates/Getty Images MILAN, Italy — Texas native Weston McKennie, 22, scored a goal to ice Juventus' key win over first-place AC Milan, which vaulted the nine-time reigning league champions into fourth place. 🎥 Watch: Match highlights Elsewhere: With the January transfer now open, the CIES Football Observatory released its latest biannual transfer value list. Two Americans made the top 100: No. 46 Giovanni Reyna ($96.8M) and No. 61 Christian Pulisic ($85.7M).     7. ⚡️ Lightning round Photo: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images   🏀 WNBA spotlight: The WNBA's early activism helped oust Kelly Loeffler, co-owner of the Atlanta Dream, from the Senate. Now, the question becomes: Will Loeffler last in the league? 🇺🇸 Medals of Freedom: President Trump will award three athletes the Medal of Freedom today, including a posthumous award to two-time Olympic gold medalist Babe Zaharias. Golfers Annika Sörenstam and Gary Player are the other two recipients. 🏈 Good read: The rise of Steve Sarkisian ... and the decline of the man who got him here (SI)     8. Jan. 7, 1961: 🏈 The Playoff Bowl Photo: Focus on Sport/Getty Images   60 years ago today, the Lions beat the Browns, 17-16, in the NFL's first Playoff Bowl — a short-lived game for the not-so-distinguished honor of being the NFL's third-place team. The backdrop: In 1959, the NFL felt threatened by the newly-formed AFL — specifically regarding the latter's TV exposure, which outpaced theirs. In order to showcase more of what the NFL believed was its superior product, the league added a second playoff game between the second-place finishers in each conference. The Playoff Bowl was always held at Miami's Orange Bowl and took place one week after the NFL Championship except for its final iteration in 1969, when it was played the day before. Results: 1960: Lions 17, Browns 16 1961: Lions 38, Eagles 10 1962: Lions 17, Steelers 10 1963: Packers 40, Browns 23 1964: Cardinals 24, Packers 17 1965: Colts 35, Cowboys 3 1966: Colts 20, Eagles 14 1967: Rams 30, Browns 6 1968: Cowboys 17, Vikings 13 1969: Rams 31, Cowboys 0 The last word: As one might expect, the great Vince Lombardi was not a fan of this consolation game, calling it "the S--t Bowl." "It's a loser's bowl for losers. A hinky-dink football game, held in a hinky-dink town, played by hinky-dink players. That's all second place is — hinky dink." — Lombardi     9. 🏈 Super Bowl trivia Photo: Rey Del Rio/Getty Images   The Lions went a perfect 3-0 in the Playoff Bowl, but they remain one of just four teams to never make the Super Bowl. Question: Name the other three. Hint: Only one made the playoffs this year. Answer at the bottom.     10. 🎓 Map du jour: NCAA schools Courtesy: NCAA Division I: 357 schools (in 49 states) Division II: 312 schools (in 45 states) Division III: 442 schools (in 36 states) Explore the map.     A message from Axios Tech news worthy of your time     Catch up on the top tech stories in just a few short minutes with Axios Login. Delivered to your inbox every weekday by our chief technology correspondent Ina Fried. Subscribe for free   Talk tomorrow, Kendall "What a day" Baker Trivia answer: Jaguars, Texans, Browns Invite friends to follow Axios Sports Use your personal link to track how many readers you bring into the community You currently have 00 referrals. Share with a friend or use your personal referral link https://www.axios.com/referral/sports?code=BbTjEdwGLRoN For questions email referralsupport@axios.com. 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