By Research and Markets

DUBLIN – The Online Gambling Market – Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021-2026) report has been added to Research And Markets’ offering.
The world’s online gambling market is expected to register a CAGR of 11.94% during the forecast period, 2021-2026.
The COVID-19 pandemic positively impacted the market, as consumers turned more toward the online platform to bridge their financial, social, and psychological crisis during lockdowns. One of the research studies conducted by the Lund University in Sweden found that due to restrictions in sports events due to lockdowns, consumers have surged their interest in online gambling platforms.
Online betting is expected to be the fastest-growing segment during the forecast period. Artificial intelligence, chatbots and machine learning have taken over the market.
The rise in the number of the female population in casinos and the convenience of the cashless mode of payment during gaming are likely to boost the online gambling market during the forecast period.

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Posted on September 22, 2021

By Roger Wallenstein

The sign resided at the oldest ballpark in the country, Birmingham’s Rickwood Field, built in 1910 and the former home both of the Birmingham Black Barons and the (white) Barons. Perhaps it was a vestige of the Black Sox scandal, but the message pretty much resonated in major and minor league stadiums throughout the country for decades. So much for ancient history.

Over the weekend, the Sun-Times reported on the employment of John R. Daley by the White Sox as a lobbyist to promote legislation that will permit a sportsbooks at The Grate, home of the playoff-bound ballclub on the South Side.
The name resonates in a city run by the Daleys for 43 of the 55 years between 1955 and 2011. This Daley is the nephew of Richie and grandson of Old Man Daley. Naturally.
The paper reports that 11th Ward (home of the White Sox) Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson is “supportive . . . of sports betting at stadiums and arenas.” The same Patrick Daley Thompson who has been indicted for failure to pay back a $219,000 loan from a now-defunct bank although he allegedly deducted the interest on his income tax returns. If true, what a bad boy.

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Posted on September 20, 2021

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Bengals better, too. Including: Matt Renteria; Ex-Bear Factor; The Waiting Is The White Sox’s Hardest Part; Cubs Coulda Been; Blackhawks Burying Bodies; College Football Wasteland; Sky Out Of The Mystic; Thorns In Red Stars’ Pride; and We Didn’t Start The Chicago Fire.

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Posted on September 17, 2021

By Roger Wallenstein

Bless their hearts, these wonderful White Sox. Before addressing the athletes on the field, let’s first focus attention on our hosts, the folks who run operations at Guaranteed Rate Field, or, as it is commonly known here at the Beachwood, The Grate.
My wife and I managed to witness two of last weekend’s closely fought games against the Red Sox – the 4-3 nail-biter on Friday night and Sunday’s tension-filled 2-1 triumph on Leury García’s unexpected, but more than welcome, walkoff four-bagger.
We’ve probably been to 20 games this season, which might be one reason why my inbox on Saturday morning included a survey sent by the White Sox querying me about my fan experience on Friday. My Saturday mornings are extremely busy with box scores to be scrutinized, a check of the injury list to see which Sox players will be sidelined for the next 10 days, and a perusal of the usual litany of slings and arrows aimed at Tony La Russa on social media. However, I took 10 minutes out of my frenzied morning to fill out the survey.

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Posted on September 13, 2021

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Let’s face it, this team is going nowhere – and not even fast. Plus: Waiting On The White Sox; Fake Cubs; Lauri’s Leap; Bielosa; Wading In; Red Stars Dashing; USMNT Qualifies; Fire Doesn’t; Teenage Riot; and Ongoing Arlington Awfulness.

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Posted on September 10, 2021

By Kate McGee/The Texas Tribune

The Texas chapter of the NAACP, along with the civil rights organization’s University of Texas at Austin chapter and a group of anonymous students, has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights alleging UT-Austin is creating a “hostile environment” for Black students by continuing to play the “The Eyes of Texas” alma mater song at university events.
The complaint, filed Friday morning, alleges that Black students have been denied full benefits of Longhorn student life because the song is an official part of the university, “despite its racially offensive origin, context and meaning.”
The song premiered at a minstrel show in the early 1900s where students likely wore blackface. Despite pushback, university officials have said they are going to keep the song as their alma mater, concluding in a report issued earlier this year that the song “had no racist intent.”

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Posted on September 7, 2021

By Roger Wallenstein

For some inexplicable reason, that song from Rent keeps repeating itself inside my head. You know, the one about 525,600 minutes in a year. “Seasons of Love” for the uninformed.
I do like the song and wish I could just leave it at that until the lyrics and tune run their course and abandon my consciousness, going back to wherever they came from. However, the fortunes of our favorite South Side team have interfered.
With 28 days left in this 2021 regular season, even with a 9½-game bulge in the American League’s Central Division, the White Sox have more question marks than certainties. I suspect I’m not alone wishing that this lovely September will pass by quickly so that we can find out the answers.

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Posted on September 6, 2021

By Phil Galewitz and Andy Miller/Kaiser Health News

The college football season is kicking into high gear, the National Football League season starts Sept. 9, and the baseball pennant races are heating up. For the first time since 2019, nearly all stadiums will be fully open to fans.
In the so-called Before Times, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder inside a stadium with tens of thousands of boisterous spectators – after a few hours of pregame tailgating – was a highlight of many fans’ autumn. But with COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths soaring from the delta variant, many fans are wondering if that is a wise idea.
KHN talked to seven health experts to get their takes.

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Posted on September 5, 2021

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

It’s neat! Plus: This Is The Way It Ends For The White Sox; Jedhunting; Illinois Husks Corn; Markannen Moved; Sky News; Red Stars At Night; and Fire Wire.

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Posted on September 3, 2021

By The American Poolplayers Association

Five Chicago residents are $11,000 richer after a recent visit to Sin City. But their good fortune didn’t happen in the casino.
The team “BB Cues” won the 2020-2021 APA Ladies 8-Ball Pool Championship last month in Las Vegas.
BB Cues were one of only 354 teams nationwide to qualify for the American Poolplayers Association’s (APA) Ladies 8-Ball Championship held at the Westgate Las Vegas.

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Posted on September 2, 2021