Betting on buildings

Some unexpected pranksters took us for a ride this April Fool’s Day, as The Architect’s Newspaperannounced it was launching its very own betting app.

With competition always fierce among the biggest architecture firms to secure the best building jobs, the humorous article suggested punters would now be able to put their money where their mouth is when it came to guessing which firm would walk away with which contract.

“Online gambling has been legal in the US since 2018, and it’s since grown into a $6.5bn industry, so why shouldn’t architecture get into the action?” the industry publication asked.

With March Madness taking place, the paper announced the release of AN BETS, “a platform for betting”.

“Want to bet on who will be the next SCI-Arc dean? AN BETS has you covered. You can also now win big on guessing who’ll win the next Pritzker Prize — if the jury decides to go with a crowd favorite instead of a deep cut. Go ahead, take a gamble,” it encouraged.

The supposed new product would also allow punters to have a go at guessing who would win the next big architecture prize abroad, “or put all your chips on a two-way parlay on lawsuits between architects and clients.”

The platform promises to disrupt the betting sector, and offers users a generous $125 sign-up bonus in free credits.

All jokes aside,The Architect’s Newspaper’ssubtle dig at the new-found ubiquity of the betting sector in the US is reflective of broader societal concerns around its growth.

Those concerns also saw the sector lampooned in a Saturday Night Livesketch last year.

While regulatory and legal challenges continue to put the sector under the microscope in the US, it appears there is now another weapon society is beginning to use to undermine it: humour.

If you can’t beat ‘em, laugh at ‘em.

Very Important People?

Elsewhere, in a recent Washington Postinvestigation, reporters Rick Maese and Albert Samaha reveal how online sportsbooks use VIP programmes to keep their biggest bettors engaged, sometimes at significant human cost.

Since the Supreme Court struck down PASPA in 2018, sports betting has expanded to 38 states plus DC, with Americans wagering nearly $148bn in 2024. The newspaper also highlighted industry data suggesting some 80% of sportsbook profits come from just 20% of customers.

To maintain these high-value relationships, the report said big operators like DraftKings and FanDuel assign personal hosts to their most active bettors, offering one-on-one service, promotional deals, gifts, and exclusive experiences. 

DraftKings’ chief customer officer Shawn Henley describes it as rewarding loyalty, similar to programs in other industries.

However, the article highlighted incidents where these VIP schemes resulted in damage to people’s lives. Lisa D’Alessandro, whose husband lost nearly $1m while gambling $15m through DraftKings, found their savings depleted and their children’s accounts emptied.

Former Jacksonville Jaguars employee Amit Patel, now serving prison time for embezzling $22m to fund his gambling habit, claims his FanDuel host was “trying to extract as much money from me as possible.”

The companies maintain their hosts undergo responsible gambling training and use AI to monitor for problematic behaviours. However, lawsuits against these programmes are mounting, with allegations that they enable addiction rather than prevent it.

While other countries have implemented strict regulations, such as the UK where gambling sector reforms led to a 90% reduction in VIP customers, US regulators have largely left oversight to the industry itself.

A Democrat-sponsored federal bill introduced in March would ban VIP programmes altogether.

Professional gambler Gadoon “Spanky” Kyrollos summarises the troubling industry paradox: “Your most irresponsible gamblers are your best customers.”

Revolving door

Finally, Bloombergbrought us the latest from the rapidly growing world of prediction markets, as it reported that Kalshi’s top lawyer had left the company for a new role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

According to the scoop, Kalshi’s former chief regulatory officer Eliezer Mishory is now leading the DOGE team at the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Sources close to the matter said Mishory left his Kalshi post last week, marking just the latest person to jump ship from the business and straight into government.

Former Kalshi staffer Samantha Schwab, for example, is now deputy chief of staff at the Treasury Department.

Someone using this seeming revolving door in the opposite direction is Donald Trump Junior, who was appointed as an advisor to Kalshi in January.

“Before joining Kalshi, Mishory had served as a senior staffer to Brian Quintenz, a former commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. In February, President Donald Trump nominated Quintenz, who has also served on Kalshi’s board of directors, to lead the swaps and futures regulator,” Bloomberg reports.

As Kalshi’s popularity skyrockets, despite challenges from state gambling regulators and the CFTC itself, some would say the movements between the company and government could lead to conflicts of interest.

Still, it seems the business will be going nowhere any time soon — especially with so many friends in high places.