{"id":82042,"date":"2018-06-27T15:00:31","date_gmt":"2018-06-27T22:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=82042"},"modified":"2018-06-27T14:53:30","modified_gmt":"2018-06-27T21:53:30","slug":"pittsburgh-pirates-want-cut-of-sports-betting-profits-to-fund-stadium-upgrades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pittsburgh-pirates-want-cut-of-sports-betting-profits-to-fund-stadium-upgrades\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh Pirates Want Cut of Sports Betting Profits to Fund Stadium Upgrades"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Pirates are taking the concept of \u201cintegrity fees\u201d to whole new heights as they seek to benefit from proceeds derived from new sports betting legislation to improve their stadium.<\/p>\n

\"Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Pirates president Frank Coonelly wants sports betting profits for stadium upgrades. (Source: bizjournals.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a letter to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), team President Frank Coonelly suggests that a cut of sports betting revenues should go towards upkeep of the team\u2019s home stadium, PNC Park.<\/p>\n

Coonelly\u2019s argument is a straightforward one. He believes that, since there would be no games to bet on if the Pirates didn\u2019t exist, it follows that they should get a portion of the profits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think it is important to note that any revenue generated through sports wagering is largely dependent on organizations like the Pirates who actually supply the sports wagering product,\u201d Coonelly wrote in the letter to the PGCB this week.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He goes on to say that \u201cwithout professional sports there can be no sports betting\u201d, while pointing out that their landlord, the Sports & Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh, doesn\u2019t pay for maintenance and improvements to their park.<\/p>\n

That may be a hard pill to swallow for the Pennsylvania public, who funded $222 million of the $262 million cost of the stadium.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, at least one expert asserts that there is no legal basis for Coonelly\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n

Are Sports Intellectual Property?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Ever since the Supreme Court overturned PASPA in May, opening the door for states to offer sports betting, officials from Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association have argued that they have a right to a so-called integrity fee. They contend that the money would be used to spot any suspicious betting activity on their games.<\/p>\n

The Pirates are taking it a step further, claiming they deserve money for their stadium as well. But neither position holds any legal water, according to lawyer Marc Edelman, who writes for Forbes.<\/p>\n

Edelman asserts that two court decisions indicate that sports leagues have no right to such fees whatsoever. He points to the case of NBA vs. Motorola, in which the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that sports statistics fall under the public domain<\/a> and are not intellectual property of the leagues.<\/p>\n

In another case, C.B.C. Distribution vs. MLB, the court ruled in a favour of a fantasy sports operation, saying they didn\u2019t need a license from the league to operate.<\/p>\n

Edelman’s legal opinion\u00a0 \u00a0is that sports statistics belong to the public, and leagues have no right to ask for fees, but that hasn\u2019t stopped them from giving it a shot.<\/p>\n

Leagues Waging Losing Battle<\/strong><\/h2>\n

So far, the leagues haven\u2019t had much luck in convincing state lawmakers to hand over their desired cut. An early draft<\/a> of sports betting legislation in New Jersey called for a fee of 2.5 percent to go towards the leagues. However, that idea was scrapped when the state passed an updated bill, with one lawmaker calling it \u201cextortion\u201d.<\/p>\n

Delaware doesn\u2019t pay an integrity fee, and neither has Nevada over its many years of offering sports betting. Meanwhile, in New York, an early draft of sports betting legislation there would allow for a one-quarter percent integrity fee. However, that legislation has yet to be passed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania hasn’t finalized all the details of its sports betting bill, so it\u2019s too early to say whether they will concede on that front.<\/p>\n

However, given what we\u2019ve already seen from lawmakers in other states, it\u2019s unlikely that officials in the Keystone State will be fans of the stadium demands being made by the Pirates president.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Pirates are taking the concept of \u201cintegrity fees\u201d to whole new heights as they seek to benefit from proceeds derived from new sports betting legislation to improve their stadium. In a letter to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), team President Frank Coonelly suggests that a cut of sports betting revenues should go […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":82043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPittsburgh Pirates Want Cut of Sports Betting Profits to Fund Stadium Upgrades<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pittsburgh Pirates president Frank Coonelly argues that his team should get a cut of sports betting profits to go towards upgrades and upkeep at their home PNC Park.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pittsburgh Pirates Want Cut of Sports Betting Profits to Fund Stadium Upgrades\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pittsburgh Pirates president Frank Coonelly argues that his team should get a cut of sports betting profits to go towards upgrades and upkeep at their home PNC Park.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pittsburgh-pirates-want-cut-of-sports-betting-profits-to-fund-stadium-upgrades\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-06-27T22:00:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-06-27T21:53:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/09-27-jw-pirates-prez-frank-coonelly-03_1200xx2400-1350-0-148.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cort Smith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cort Smith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pittsburgh-pirates-want-cut-of-sports-betting-profits-to-fund-stadium-upgrades\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pittsburgh-pirates-want-cut-of-sports-betting-profits-to-fund-stadium-upgrades\/\",\"name\":\"Pittsburgh Pirates Want Cut of Sports Betting Profits to Fund Stadium Upgrades\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pittsburgh-pirates-want-cut-of-sports-betting-profits-to-fund-stadium-upgrades\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pittsburgh-pirates-want-cut-of-sports-betting-profits-to-fund-stadium-upgrades\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/09-27-jw-pirates-prez-frank-coonelly-03_1200xx2400-1350-0-148.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-27T22:00:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-06-27T21:53:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/20db7dec4c6b349b19992217f9a7df7d\"},\"description\":\"Pittsburgh Pirates president Frank Coonelly argues that his team should get a cut of sports betting profits to go towards upgrades and upkeep at their home PNC Park.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pittsburgh-pirates-want-cut-of-sports-betting-profits-to-fund-stadium-upgrades\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pittsburgh-pirates-want-cut-of-sports-betting-profits-to-fund-stadium-upgrades\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pittsburgh-pirates-want-cut-of-sports-betting-profits-to-fund-stadium-upgrades\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/09-27-jw-pirates-prez-frank-coonelly-03_1200xx2400-1350-0-148.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/09-27-jw-pirates-prez-frank-coonelly-03_1200xx2400-1350-0-148.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"Pittsburgh Pirates president Frank Coonelly wants sports betting profits for stadium upgrades. 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