Football season is right around the corner and it is the one time of year when new offshore sportsbooks popup out of the blue. Sportsbooks make most of their money during football or 'busy season' and the time is ripe for shady operators to startup and take a shot at players. Unfortunately, many of them don't make it until the New Year. And the sudden influx of new sportsbooks makes us both skeptical and worried.

Let's be clear. Here at OSGA we will not recommend a sportsbook as valid until they get through one football AND baseball season, no matter who they are. For us, this is rule #1 when it comes to sending money.

The latest sportsbook model that is being used by newer operators is a price-per-head (PPH) model, where the sportsbook can setup a website, call center and customer service by simply signing up with a PPH service for very little up-front investment. These new operators then buy or use a list of verified players and start calling and emailing prospective clients. These new operators can typically take money in easily, but often have very few methods of sending funds back to U.S. players. And certainly no methods to send back big money.

Here are a few of the books that we have heard of that are brand new and thus do not meet even rule #1, let alone several basic criteria that players should use before sending money offshore. Each site is missing several components that every highly rated sportsbook has and each one of them started within the last several months.

AllSports247.net – started June 2016. For more complete information on AllSports247, click here. Avoid.

BookieBarn.com - surfaced summer 2016, but registered in 2015. This may be a legitimate agent site. Get more complete information on BookieBarn, click here. Avoid.

YouBetOnIt.eu – started April 2016. New operation. 

The list above is always on the move as operators using the PPH model can shift easily. We don't have much solid information on the books listed above, but they fall under the same category as Bad Bets like BetMayor, theSportsbookLTD, Book247, PlayCR, 7RedSports and others. These places were all new and were fine, until players started winning. And unfortunately, by the time their scams were uncovered, it was too late and many players got stiffed.

OSGA Members get updated information on sportsbooks in the Member Forum, as well as priority Bad Bet alerts when we become aware that a place is going bad. We urge players not to risk any funds this year on small, new operations. You may find yourself on the wrong end of a "Bad Bet".

For more information on newer sprrtsbooks,including some good shops, click here.