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What is Crystal Classics?
VGW gave $20,000 to state Sen. Andrew Jones (R-District 10) and $15,000 to Senate President Pro Tempore Garlan Gudger (R-District 4). State Sens. Donnie Chesteen (R-District 29) and Will Barfoot (R-District 25), along with Republican candidate John Roberts, who is running in the second district, each received $10,000 from VGW.
Longtime gaming and lottery advocate, Sen. Greg Albritton (R-District 22), also collected a $10,000 check from the sweepstakes firm.
Since April 1, VGW has made 36 political contributions across Alabama.
What is Crystal Classics?
Within the report, Spectrum alleges “concerns around the availability of Evolution’s games in certain prohibited markets, the regulatory implications of its practices, and the lack of proactive monitoring of its customers”, Playtech has reported.
The report was commissioned by Evolution and was recently unsealed in the ongoing case. Evolution had tried to delay the report’s release, citing confidential and commercial sensitivity.
The case, which dates back to November 2021, was filed by Evolution against Black Cube, after the intelligence firm was found to have been secretly investigating Evolution’s activities from December 2020.
How to play Crystal Classics
Commercial sports betting generated just under $17 billion in nationwide revenue in 2025, which is why Davenport asserts that the “stakes of this case are exceptionally high”. Kalshi and Polymarket alone posted more than $45 billion in trading volume, which is similar but not identical to betting revenue, in August. That was a 15% decline from July, although that drop is attributed to the conclusion of the Fifa World Cup tournament that month per Yahoo! Finance.
The American Gaming Association estimates that the exchanges have siphoned more than $1.3 billion in would-be tax revenue from states. One of the AGA’s primary spokespeople pin its fight against prediction markets is former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who championed the PASPA case to the Supreme Court.
As with PASPA, this matter revolves heavily around federalism versus states’ rights. Traditional sports betting is governed by individual state regulators with varying laws and regulations. Federal derivatives are regulated by the CFTC, which has fully embraced prediction markets under US President Donald Trump after rejecting them in previous administrations.
