Boat Bonanza

What is Boat Bonanza?

In the 1960s, back when Las Vegas’ Meadows Addition neighborhood was nice, showgirls lived there. They liked to sunbathe au naturel at their apartment pools because they didn’t like tan lines.

That’s the commonly told story of how the Naked City, a community of low-rent apartment buildings and houses in the shadow of the Stratosphere just north of the Las Vegas Strip, got its nickname.

Not a single newspaper reference to Naked City appears in a Las Vegas newspaper before a June 20, 1982, Las Vegas Review-Journal cover story headlined: “’Naked City’ a Las Vegas Battleground.”

What is Boat Bonanza?

There’s widespread belief that old guard media companies are incentivized to feature event contract data on their sites or reference it in select publications as a way of better connecting with younger readers and viewers.

Then there are the financial implications, namely new revenue streams. Prediction market operators typically pay media companies to integrate their data while some outlets also earn referral commissions for driving new business to yes/no exchanges.

At least one well-known cable network has a financial stake in a major prediction market operator.

How to play Boat Bonanza

The Commission launched its investigation into various reports of insider betting on the election date in June 2024 after Ladbrokes flagged a bet placed by Williams, who was recorded as a politically exposed person.

Further bets flagged by operators involved other politically sensitive individuals, including Metropolitan Police officers and political advisers. The Commission charged 15 people total in April 2025. Four have now pleaded guilty.

The offences relate to special betting markets that let customers wager on the exact date of the general election.