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Massachusetts residents will not be able to wager on LIV Golf events this year after gaming regulators rejected an application to add it to the state’s betting catalog.
Sports betting company DraftKings submitted a request to add LIV Golf events to the golf section of Massachusetts’ betting portfolio ahead of the league’s proposed merger with the PGA Tour in 2024.
But the Massachusetts Gaming Commission unanimously rejected DraftKings proposal on Tuesday, with all five commissioners voicing opposition to the controversial golf tour that is currently the focus of a U.S. Senate oversight hearing this week.
LIV Golf is owned by the Public Investment Fund — the sovereign wealth fund of the government of Saudi Arabia.
“For a lot of the reasons that are in the press in terms of the financial backing of the LIV league, to me, I’d feel uncomfortable putting this in our catalog, even as a LIV free-standing [option], notwithstanding the DOJ investigation of the merger,” said Commissioner Eileen O’Brien, as transcribed by Chris Lisinski of State House News Service.
“I, too, am not comfortable putting this in our catalog right now with all the controversy that surrounds it,” Commissioner Brad Hill added.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is allowed to revisit its decision on LIV Golf at any time, and will be able to revisit it once again if the merger with the PGA Tour goes through next year.
After being locked in a bitter dispute for over a year that involved player defections and a slew of lawsuits, both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf agreed to a merger back in early June that dropped all litigation and will create a new for-profit entity moving forward.
On Saturday, former AT&T executive Randall Stephenson resigned from his position on the PGA Tour’s policy board, stressing his “serious concerns” regarding the tour’s expected merger with the Saudi-affiliated LIV Golf.
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Hardly had Kelly Ayotte, the new governor of New Hampshire unloaded on Massachusetts over its immigration policy, than another illegal immigrant was charged with rape in the Bay State.
Originally Published:
Suspended Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor’s Trial Board disciplinary proceedings will go on to a second day.
Proctor’s trouble publicly began when he testified during the murder trial of Karen Read last summer. During a tense examination by the prosecution and even more intense cross examination, Proctor admitted to inappropriate private texts that he made as the case officer investigating Read.
“She’s a whack job (expletive),” Proctor read from compilations of text messages he sent to friends as he looked at Read’s phone. The last word was a derogatory term for women that he at first tried to spell out before Judge Beverly Cannone told him to read it the way he wrote it.
“Yes she’s a babe. Weird Fall River accent, though. No (butt),” he continued under oath on June 10, 2024.
He also texted them “no nudes so far” as an update on the search through her phone. He also testified that he told his sister that he hoped that Read would kill herself.
On Wednesday, Proctor sat through a full day of trial board proceedings at MSP general headquarters in Framingham. When that concluded in the late afternoon, the board decided to continue for a second day on Feb. 10. Neither Wednesday’s proceeding nor the second day is open to the public.
Proctor was relieved of duty on July 1 of last year, which was the day the Read trial concluded in mistrial. He was suspended without pay a week later. The State Police finished its internal affairs investigation last week and convened the trial board to determine the next step in the disciplinary process.
The trial board makes disciplinary recommendations to the superintendent, who determines the final outcome.
“A State Police Trial Board shall hear cases regarding violations of Rules, Regulations, Policies, Procedures, Orders, or Directives,” states the Department’s Rules and Regulations.
“In the event that the Trial Board finds guilt by a preponderance of the evidence on one or more of the charges, the Trial Board shall consider the evidence presented by the Department prosecutor pertaining to the accused member’s prior offenses/disciplinary history, and shall make recommendations for administrative action,” the rules and regulations state.
Read, 44, of Mansfield, faces charges of second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter and leaving the scene of a collision causing the death of O’Keefe, a 16-year Boston Police officer when he died at age 46 on Jan. 29, 2022. Read’s second trial is scheduled to begin April 16.
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Tech startups based in Massachusetts finished 2024 with a buzz of activity in venture capital fundraising.
In the fourth quarter, 191 startups raised a total of $4.1 billion, 20 percent more than startups raised in the same period a year earlier, according to a report from research firm Pitchbook and the National Venture Capital Association. For the full year, local startups raised $15.7 billion, about the same as in 2023.
The stability ended two years of sharp declines from the peak of startup fundraising in 2021. Slowing e-commerce sales, volatility in tech stock prices, and higher interest rates combined to slam the brakes on startup VC activity over the past three years. The 2024 total is less half the $34.7 billion Massachusetts startups raised in 2021.
But local startup investors have expressed optimism that VC backing will continue to pick up in 2025.
The fourth quarter’s activity was led by battery maker Form Energy’s $455 million deal and biotech obesity drugmaker Kailera Therapeutics’ $400 million deal, both in October, and MIT spinoff Liquid AI’s $250 million deal last month. Two more biotech VC deals in October rounded out the top five. Seaport Therapeutics, working on new antidepressants, raised $226 million and Alpha-9 Oncology, developing new treatments for cancer patients, raised $175 million.
Massachusetts ranked third in the country in VC activity in the quarter. Startups based in California raised $49.9 billion and New York-based companies raised $5.3 billion.
Venture capital firms, however, had an even harder time raising money in 2024 compared to earlier years. Massachusetts firms raised $5.9 billion, down 7 percent from 2023 and the lowest total since 2018. That mirrored the national trend, as VC firms across the country raised $76.1 billion, down 22 percent from 2023 and the lowest since 2019.
Only one Massachusetts-based VC firm raised more than $1 billion in 2024, a more common occurrence in prior years, according to the report: Flagship Pioneering in Cambridge raised $2.6 billion in July for its eighth investment fund plus another $1 billion for smaller funds. The firm, founded by biotech entrepreneur Noubar Afeyan, helps develop scientific research for startups in addition to providing funding.
The next largest deals were Cambridge-based Atlas Ventures’ $450 million biotech-focused fund announced last month and Engine Ventures $400 million fund investing in climate tech startups announced in June.
The decline comes as VC firms have had trouble getting a return on their investments, because so few startups have been able to go public. Just six biotech companies based in Massachusetts and no tech companies went public last year.
Aaron Pressman can be reached at aaron.pressman@globe.com. Follow him @ampressman.
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