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Innovative AI-powered approach to sports handicapping continues push to reshape betting

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Innovative AI-powered approach to sports handicapping continues push to reshape betting

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Artificial intelligence has opened the door for a whole new experience for fans and spectators who decide to partake in the fast-changing world of sports betting. 

Long gone are the days when someone interested in placing a wager is forced to travel to a Las Vegas casino or frantically search for a local bookmaker. As more and more states across the U.S. legalize sports gambling, the way sports are consumed is likely to drastically change.

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Data from the American Gaming Association showed that Americans placed more than $23 billion in bets on Super Bowl LVIII, featuring the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. A considerable number of those bets even involved singer Taylor Swift. Other wagers focused on the coin toss or the length of the national anthem.

People place bets at Churchill Downs on Derby Day, May 6, 2023, in Louisville, Kentucky. (Albert Cesare-USA Today Sports)

While prop bets for the Super Bowl are always popular, millions of sports fans handicap various sporting events throughout the year. Sports handicap betting focus technology company Leans.AI is at the forefront of leveraging AI in an effort to make something that is typically unpredictable into something more reliable.

Leans.AI created a “genius” platform called Remi to quickly and precisely analyze data from some of the most popular professional sports leagues in the nation, including the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB. 

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WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)?

Remi can also crunch the numbers for college football and basketball contests. The computer picks generated with the assistance of AI use specific win probabilities “to find a few games each day that lean strongly to one side of a line or spread,” according to the company’s official website.

Remi then aggregates point spreads for a given sporting event.

“So what it does is it analyzes data on every single game and its thousands and thousands of data points… and it crunches all of those numbers into a single win probability for the game, and then we can convert that to a cover probability based on what betting lines are at the time. We generate an exact probability based on what the algorithm is telling us of exactly how likely it is for a team to cover a spread or not.” Steve Westfeld of Leans.AI told Fox News Digital.

Leans.AI provides precise data to subscribers who can then use the information as they choose.

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SPORTS BETTING IN GEORGIA SEES RENEWED SUPPORT AMID OPPOSITION

Fans can even take in a game when they are on the go. When that is coupled with the rising costs associated with supporting a team, people’s desire to attend in-person games has been somewhat dampened. Now, more than ever, fans are looking for something that makes them feel as though they are participating in an event or situation that was tailored to them. Sports betting is no different, but AI-driven technology has started to bridge that gap by creating experiences that can feel highly personalized.

A more personalized experience also tends to create a more emotional connection to the game, which is something bettors often grapple with in their decision-making. Becoming overly emotional and being too attached to a particular team or game could impact someone’s choice when they are making a sports wager. But, Remi is data-driven and unbiased, which creates a much more ideal environment for finding a precise probability.

“We are trying to predict true game analytics. So our algorithm is not looking at where the money is going or is not going on a game… it’s not looking at what other emotional bettors are doing… it’s not looking at what other emotional, biased handicappers are doing. It’s looking strictly at data and the AI and algorithm has allowed us to take essentially human bias and emotion out of the equation entirely. When we do that, we can create a pretty precise probability on how the game is likely to trend.”

A customer makes a sports bet at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Sept. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

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Access to television bundles, streaming, and 4k television technology has allowed the average fan to watch their favorite team or player from the comfort of their home, even if they do not live in a given team’s home market. 

Machine learning algorithms can also be leveraged to allow various sportsbooks to analyze a given bettor’s patterns and interests to show them personalized recommendations. As a result, users are given a variety of new tools that they otherwise would not have without the technology.

“AI will allow for increasingly personal experiences for sports bettors, and customize quests for users, building upon the type of quests they tend to accept and complete,” Dan Taren, founder of sports betting platform Scrimmage, told Boardroom.

“This is powerful for operators we integrate with to help their users make their betting experience feel personalized to them.”

So-called microbetting has experienced a rapid rise in recent years. It gives participants the ability to place wagers on outcomes as narrowly targeted as whether the next play will be a run or a pass, how many yards will it gain, or whether the drive results in a punt, a touchdown, a turnover or something else.

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Microbetting “is a must-have to be a competitor in this space,” Matt Prevost, chief revenue officer for BetMGM said. Between 40% to 65% of all bets his company takes on football come after the opening kickoff.

Artificial intelligence is being used to power the personalization of popular sports betting apps to tailor experiences to users’ preferences. (iStock)

Johnny Avello, director of race and sports for DraftKings, said his company is concentrating more on microbetting offerings this fall.

“We’re going to have more markets like betting on the next play, who’s going to carry the ball, how many yards it will gain,” he said. “We’ve found that those are equally as popular as who’s going to win the game or the total amount scored.”

When enjoyed in moderation and when spending limits are put in place, sports wagering gambling can be a fun and exciting way to enjoy a game. However, it is important that players are aware of the importance of responsible gambling.

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Bill Miller, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association, shared that a responsible gambler does not rely on gambling as a source of income.

“As someone approaches the Super Bowl or March Madness or any other sporting event where they’re thinking about making the game a little bit more fun or a little bit more interesting, one, it’s supposed to be fun. No one should ever believe they are going to make a living or a second job placing wagers on sporting events,” Miller told Fox News Digital last February.

Gamblers should also have a specific budget in mind.

“And number two, you set a budget, and you stick to that budget,” he advised.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

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Ex-NFL star implores Russell Wilson to hang it up: ‘Do your TV thing’

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Ex-NFL star implores Russell Wilson to hang it up: ‘Do your TV thing’

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Russell Wilson has had his share of ups and downs in his NFL career.

He helped the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl championship in 2013 and was named to the Pro Bowl four times. But the last few years of his career arguably did some damage to his legacy as he’s spent the last three seasons with three different teams.

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New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson watches from the sidelines during the second quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Oct. 9, 2025. (Brad Penner/Imagn Images)

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Wilson is still on the free-agent market as he looks to latch on to a new team for 2026. However, former NFL star Aqib Talib implored Wilson to hang up the cleats.

“Do your TV thing, Russ. It’s over with, man. Once you’ve got to decide, do I even want to play?” Talib said on “The Arena: Gridiron.” “I think you don’t really want to play. I hate when guys get to the later part of their career and then they start doing the bounce-around thing and they’re not going to win. There was no chip in New York. That’s just going to be another stop on your resume.”

Wilson reportedly garnered some interest from NFL teams.

New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson stands on the field before a game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA on Oct. 26, 2025. (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)

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He told the New York Post that the New York Jets were one of them.

Wilson also was reportedly a candidate to take Matt Ryan’s spot on CBS’ “The NFL Today” after Ryan left to take a front office job with the Atlanta Falcons.

Wilson has 46,966 passing yards and 353 passing touchdowns in 205 career games, but the 2025 season with the New York Giants was one to forget.

Wilson started three games and made some bizarre decisions in a loss against the Chiefs. Jaxson Dart was named the starting quarterback. As he came in to take a few snaps while Dart was being checked for a concussion, Wilson was booed.

New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson watches from the sidelines during the second half against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo., on Oct. 19, 2025. (Ron Chenoy/Imagn Images)

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Should he end up signing with another team, Wilson will be entering his age-38 season.

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Artists, community come together to welcome World Cup to Inglewood with murals and more

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Artists, community come together to welcome World Cup to Inglewood with murals and more

A lot has changed since Jacori Perry attended Morningside High School.

Perry is now a renowned artist who goes by the names Mr. Ace and AiseBorn.

The school is now known as Inglewood High School United.

And the lecture hall on that campus now features a large, ornate mural of a soccer ball being grasped by the hands of two people — freshly painted by the 2004 Morningside graduate as the city of Inglewood prepares to host eight World Cup games at SoFi Stadium starting next month.

Local artist Mr. Ace works on his mural at Inglewood High School United on May 11. The artists, whose real name is Jacori Perry, attended the school when it was known as Morningside High more than two decades ago.

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(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

“If you told me that I would be back here painting one of the walls on this campus when I was in high school, I don’t think that I necessarily would have foreseen it,” Mr. Ace said as he was putting the finishing touches on his mural last week. “So I’m a little in amazement about just the way life works in that sense.”

He was one of several Los Angeles-based artists to participate in a Road to World Cup Community Day last month at Inglewood High United. Many of the artists — including Juan Pablo Reyes (“JP murals”), Michelle Ruby Guerrero (“Mr. B Baby”) and Angel Acordagoitia — sketched designs on portable panels (12-feet by 8-feet) and picnic tables for community members to paint.

The picnic tables will remain at the high school in front of Mr. Ace’s mural. The mobile murals will be placed throughout LAX to welcome visitors arriving for the World Cup.

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Kathryn Schloessman, CEO of the Los Angeles World Cup 2026 Host Committee, said in a news release that the event was “just one example of how the energy of the World Cup can be felt in neighborhoods across our region.”

“Students, artists, and volunteers came together to create a work of art that will live on well beyond the end of the tournament,” Schloessman said. “It’s a reflection of the creativity, diversity, and community pride that makes our region so special as we prepare to host the world for FIFA World Cup 2026.”

Community members were encouraged to take part in the painting process, no matter their skill level.

“We made it easy enough for people that have zero experience to a proficient level of experience, for them to all be involved,” said Reyes, who designed and helped paint two mural panels and three tables. “We did the sketch, and then I tried to dab a little bit of color — whatever color is supposed to be there, I dabbed a little bit of color right there, so they would have a guide. …

People stand on a scaffold and on the ground while painting a mural on a large panel.

Students and community members help paint a mural panel during a Road to World Cup Community Day event May 2 at Inglewood High School.

(Dawn M. Burkes / Los Angeles Times)

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“I was right there, kind of supervising, making sure that everything went as planned. And if anybody has questions, they’re more than welcome to let me know about them. But, yeah, it’s pretty easy for them to kind of be involved and feel that sense of ownership and have a sense of pride that, ‘Yeah, I was part of that mural-creation process.’ It’s a rich experience for them.”

Acordagoitia sketched several table-top designs for the public to paint at the event.

“They did great,” he said of the community members. “They helped a lot. They were asking questions. They got all the other colors correct. So, yeah, they were excited. A lot of kids were excited to see the live painting, because now kids are used to being on their phones. So that was a great experience for them.”

Acordagoitia also opted to paint a mural panel on his own because “it was a little more technical,” involving portraits of his 8-year-old son, a nephew and a friend.

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“I wanted to focus more on the youth because that’s really our future,” he said. “So that’s, that’s the main thing about the mural, just about the kids, soccer, culture, community. It’s exciting for me, because I grew up playing soccer and to include soccer with art, it’s just a dream come true.”

Guerrero said “the community was a big help in filling in all the background colors that I need in order to build the detail and layers” on the two mural panels she designed.

“My whole style is based on culture. And I think that there’s a connection there with the World Cup and how I feel like it brings together all the culture and just, like, celebration,” Guerrero said. “It kind of goes hand in hand with the type of work I do, because my stuff is really festive, celebrating culture. And just as an L.A.-based artist, I think the collaboration made sense.”

The four artists also took part in another Road to World Cup Community Day in downtown L.A. at Gloria Molina Grand Park on March 14. At that event, the artists sketched designs on large sculptures shaped like soccer balls and an oversized picnic table, also for community members to paint.

While Mr. Ace opted to paint his permanent mural at Inglewood High School United on his own, he was sure to include the community theme into his work.

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“The idea was really centered around just creating something that was community-based — something that represented the World Cup but also represented some sense of community,” he said. “And so what I did was try to create something that was symbolic, very direct in terms of its relationship to soccer and figuring out through that how to create something simple that [brings] into that a sense of community. And that’s how I landed on the two hands holding the soccer ball.”

A man stands in a lift and paints on a wall with blue paint as part of a mural with an ornate design.

Local artist Mr. Ace works on his World Cup-themed mural at Inglewood High School United on May 11.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Back when he was a student on that campus, Mr. Ace said he was always involved in art and knew he wanted a career as an artist. He struggled to come up with the right words to describe how it felt being back there creating a work of art to be shared with the students, all of the community and everyone who happens to see it on the way to a World Cup match.

“I guess there’s no words to really describe it,” he said. “I think if any artist gets the opportunity to paint at their own high school — especially if they’ve been doing large-scale works around the city, the country or the world — I think that is a little touching. When it’s attached to something like the World Cup … you know, a large part of my childhood was spent in Inglewood, so coming from my circumstances and life, I think it’s even more intriguing.”

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Indy 500: Counting Down The 10 Best Finishes In Race History

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Indy 500: Counting Down The 10 Best Finishes In Race History

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The best Indianapolis 500 finish could be subjective, depending on which driver a fan was rooting for to win.

It certainly is in the eye of the beholder.

So take this list for what it’s worth. One view of the 10 best finishes in Indianapolis 500 history. Of course, it skews to more recent decades when the runs have come a little faster and the finishes have had a tendency to be a little closer.

We’ll add one each day to this list of fantastic finishes ahead of the 110th running of the Indy 500 on May 24 (12:30 p.m. ET on FOX).

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10. Ericsson outduels O’Ward (2022)

After a red flag, Marcus Ericsson held off Pato O’Ward in a two-lap shootout. The shootout didn’t last two laps, though, as there was a crash on the final lap behind them. Ericsson had a comfortable lead when the red flag came out for a crash with four laps to go, a situation where in past Indianapolis 500 races, they likely would have ended the race under caution with Ericsson as the winner.

9. Foyt survives chaos (1967)

How does a driver who wins by two laps end up on this list? It’s because the win nearly didn’t happen on the last lap. A big crash with cars and debris littering the frontstretch just ahead of Foyt as he came to the checkered flag forced him to navigate through the wreckage for the win.

8. Sato can’t catch Franchitti (2012)

This was one of those finishes where the leader holds on for the win, but boy did the leader have to hold on. Takuma Sato tried to pass Dario Franchitti early on the final lap but to no avail and Franchitti sped off for the victory. This was one of those Indy 500s that made you hold your breath all the way to the checkered flag.

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