Hercules Unleashed

About Hercules Unleashed

Handle analog is a metric used as a cleaner comparison between sportsbooks and prediction markets because the latter’s volume doesn’t compare evenly with sportsbook handle.

Based on its projections, EKG sees the overall sports wagering industry growing 8% year-over-year, outpacing the current baseline growth rate of 5% (a figure that strips out temporary boosts from the 2026 World Cup).

Assuming that 8% spurt is realized, it’d be impressive because since the end of the 2025 football season, only Missouri and Alberta, Canada joined the live and legal sports betting party with Arkansas opening to DraftKings and FanDuel earlier this year.

What is Hercules Unleashed?

Cruz, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, also co-authored the aforementioned Protect College Sports Act with Washington Senator Maria Cantwell. As cloture motion for floor debate of the act began this week, Cruz has expressed optimism that the bill will be signed into law.

The proposed bill seeks to prevent student-athletes from trading on prediction markets, but does not set any explicit standards on player harassment.

Separately, the two senators wrote a formal letter to a bevy of pro sport leagues last October requesting additional details on the leagues’ interaction with integrity monitors on suspicious wagering.

About Hercules Unleashed

But this week the 2022 report was released in full by the court. Playtech, for its part, has celebrated a number of findings in the document, which it says supports and corroborates findings from Black Cube.

Notably, the Spectrum report does acknowledge that Evolution did not knowingly allow games in prohibited territories, however, it has also flagged a number of compliance issues, which resulted in its games being provided in markets where online gambling is, or has been, prohibited.

Here are some of the dossier’s key findings, some of which raise questions around Evolution’s compliance operations during the period assessed.