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Survey Says Cleveland and Cincinnati Dominate Biggest NFL Busts List

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NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — They don’t have a Super Bowl win among them, but it appears that Ohio’s pro football teams are good at something. Drafting busts.

The sports betting website “The Game Day” conducted a nationwide survey of pro sports fans, who agreed that JaMarcus Russell is not only the biggest bust in NFL history, but fans voted him the biggest bust in professional sports history overall.

The data is based on responses given by sports fans across 48 states plus Washington, D.C., who voted on the biggest busts in the NFL, NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball and the biggest ever busts in all sports combined.

“What was jarring was seeing so many athletes with Ohio ties on the list, particularly given the broad group of respondents. It shows Ohioans’ loyalty given their feverish fandom even while enduring a substandard product through the years.” – Pat Pickens, Writer at The Game Day and author of “The Whalers: The Rise, Fall, and Enduring Mystique of New England’s (Second) Greatest NHL Franchise”

Let’s start in the NFL, where you’ll find the Browns and the Bengals dominating the list of teams fans believe have drafted the most busts.

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Biggest Busts in NFL History

1. JaMarcus Russell – Oakland Raiders (23.8%)
2. Johnny Manziel – Cleveland Browns (23.5%)
3. Ryan Leaf – San Diego Chargers (16.1%)
4. David Carr – New York Giants (6.6.%)
5. Tony Mandarich – Green Bay Packers (5.5%)
6. Charles Rogers – Detroit Lions (5%)
7. Akili Smith – Cincinnati Bengals (4.9%)
8. Tim Couch – Cleveland Browns (4.5%)
9. Dion Jordan – Miami Dolphins (4.3%)
10. Ki-Jana Carter – Cincinnati Bengals (3.6%)

Johnny Manziel (Cleveland), Akili Smith (Cincinnati), Tim Couch (Cleveland) and Ki-Jana Carter (Cincinnati) are all in the top 10. Manziel was drafted 22nd overall in 2014, and played in only 14 games over two seasons in Cleveland before moving north to the Canadian Football League.

Smith was taken third overall by the Bengals in the 1999 NFL Draft and won only three games in his brief career.

Couch was selected first overall by the Browns in the 1999 NFL Draft, He was Cleveland’s first draft pick when the club re-joined the NFL as an expansion team.

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Carter was selected first overall in the 1995 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals, but after suffering a ligament tear in his knee during his first preseason game, he was never the same.

Biggest Busts in Sports History (All Sports)

  1. JaMarcus Russell – Oakland Raiders (23.64%)
  2. Johnny Manziel – Cleveland Browns (23.34%)
  3. Greg Oden – Portland Trail Blazers (18.87%)
  4. Ryan Leaf – San Diego Chargers (15.99%)
  5. Brien Taylor – New York Yankees (14.10%)
  6. Anthony Bennett – Cleveland Cavaliers (12.81%)
  7. Kwame Brown – Washington Wizards (12.41%)
  8. Rick DiPietro – New York Islanders (12.31%)
  9. Brian Lawton – Minnesota North Stars (12.31%)
  10. Donavan Tate – San Diego Padres (11.92%)

And when you check the list of overall busts, it doesn’t get any better for Ohio. Johnny Manziel is number two on the list, Greg Oden is third, and Anthony Bennett is sixth. In fact, Oden and Bennett were voted the two biggest busts in NBA history (below).

Oden, although drafted by Portland as the number one overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft, has Ohio ties as a member of the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Anthony Bennett was the number one overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers out of UNLV. He lasted one season in Cleveland and was out of the league within three years.

Russell received votes from fans in 40 states plus Washington, D.C. and, perhaps unsurprisingly, his biggest vote share came from California.

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Biggest Busts in NBA History

1. Greg Oden – Portland Trail Blazers (19.1%)
2. Anthony Bennett – Cleveland Cavaliers (12.9%)
3. Kwame Brown – Washington Wizards (12.5%)
4. Jay Williams – Chicago Bulls (10.3%)
5. Darko Miličić – Detroit Pistons (9.5%)
6. Sam Bowie – Portland Trail Blazers (9.5%)
7. Chris Washburn – Golden State Warriors (7.8%)
8. Michael Olowokandi – Los Angeles Clippers (6%)
9. (Tie) Adam Morrison – Charlotte Hornets (5%)
(Tie) Hasheem Thabeet – Memphis Grizzlies (5%)

Oden and Bennett top the list of the biggest busts in the NBA (according to the survey). Oden grabbed more than 19% of the vote and Bennett nearly 13%.

Biggest Busts in MLB History

1. Brien Taylor – New York Yankees (14.2%)
2. Donavan Tate – San Diego Padres (12%)
3. Matt Bush – San Diego Padres (11.1%)
4. Todd Van Poppel – Oakland Athletics (10.6%)
5. Mark Appel – Detroit Tigers (10%)

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Taylor was thought to be a can’t-miss fireballer of a pitcher taken number one overall in the 1992 draft by the New York Yankees. But after hurting his shoulder in a fight, he never got out of the minor leagues.

Biggest Busts in NHL History

1. (Tie) Rick DiPietro – New York Islanders (12.5%)
(Tie) Brian Lawton – Minnesota North Stars (12.5%)
3. Claude Gauthier – Detroit Red Wings (11%)
4. Nail Yakupov – Edmonton Oilers (10.7%)
5. Patrik Štefan – Atlanta Thrashers (9.4%)

DiPietro had his one impressive season (2006-07), but injuries cut his career short.

“The survey clearly shows that the perception of athletes is directly tied to a person’s fandom and familiarity of a player within their state. And as a New Yorker who is a Knicks fan, I can relate to sticking with a team despite all the letdowns.” – Rich Migliorisi, VP of Web Operations at The Game Day

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Contact:Lauren Polkey: [email protected]

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TEN Launches First-ever Fully On-chain Poker Powered by Autonomous AI Agents

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TEN, The Entertainment Network for AI‑Native iGaming, has launched House of TEN—the first fully on-chain poker application featuring autonomous AI agents with trustless, encrypted gameplay.

More than just a technical milestone, the launch signals the arrival of AI-native iGaming—a new category of on-chain entertainment where AI agents and trustless wagering converge. The successful launch of House of TEN illustrates how TEN’s unique, encrypted execution environment is expanding the possibilities for what can be achieved on the Ethereum blockchain. With programmable privacy, verifiable randomness and no off-chain logic, TEN enables fully autonomous, high-stakes games that merge crypto trustlessness with real gameplay complexity.

Poker That Actually Works On-Chain

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Poker has been played for over 200 years, but until now, it couldn’t exist fully on-chain without compromising fairness or privacy. By solving long-standing limitations around privacy, randomness, and user experience—without relying on off-chain components—TEN is enabling games that were previously considered impossible to build on-chain. Users can stake on AI agents with distinct strategies and personalities, earning ZEN—a prediction-based rewards system that converts into future airdrops.

Poker requires hidden information, strategic play and fair randomness—none of which have been possible in previous blockchain implementations without compromising trust assumptions. TEN uses TEEs to deliver encrypted card hands and secure, verifiable randomness, without any off-chain logic.

“We’ve built the world’s first true on-chain poker with AI agents you can stake on. It’s one of the most technically advanced dApps ever deployed in Web3. To make it work, we had to solve cryptographic challenges that most thought were impossible—like fully private card hands, autonomous logic, and fair, tamper-proof dealing,” said Cais Manai, Co-Founder & Head of Product at TEN.

AI Agents That Think, Bluff and Deceive

TEN’s poker experience includes autonomous AI agents with unique personalities and play styles, from aggressive risk-takers to unpredictable wildcards. Players can follow and stake on these agents as they compete in real time. The gameplay experience mirrors leading online poker platforms, only now, it’s fully on-chain, transparent and decentralized. Each hand is unpredictable. Odds move in real time based on player actions, not bots, because the game state is encrypted and can’t be sniped.

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The launch of House of TEN is a live demonstration of what the protocol makes possible:

• Trust in the protocol, not the people.

• Chain-level encryption.

• Lightning-fast finality.

• Seamless user experience (UX) that hides complexity.

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A Glimpse Into What’s Next for Ethereum

While poker is the first showcase, TEN is built to support much more. Its encrypted execution environment enables entirely new classes of on-chain games and AI applications that require privacy, randomness or complex off-chain-like logic—spanning DeFi, gaming and AI-based applications.

“TEN isn’t just another L2—we’ve built what we believe is the most sophisticated infrastructure in the space. This launch proves that real utility, strong user experience (UX), and cryptographic privacy can all coexist on Ethereum. We’re building for the future of institutions, enterprises, and autonomous systems entering Web3,” said Gavin Thomas, CEO of TEN Protocol.

The post TEN Launches First-ever Fully On-chain Poker Powered by Autonomous AI Agents appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Ygam Welcomes Two New Trustees

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Ygam has strengthened its board of trustees with two appointments bringing combined expertise in governance, policy, public affairs and safeguarding.

Judy White joins the Ygam board with over 20 years of experience in governance and operational leadership across the not-for-profit sector. A Chartered Secretary, Judy has a proven track record in governance, risk management, data protection, transformation and stakeholder engagement. She most recently served as Head of Governance at the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), where she oversaw governance, assurance and risk across the organisation.

Previously, Judy spent seven years at the Gambling Commission as a Senior Manager in Licensing, where she played a key role in assessing complex licensing applications. Judy’s deep understanding of governance frameworks and regulatory environments will provide crucial oversight and support as Ygam continues to grow and evolve.

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Iain Corby joins alongside Judy as an experienced leader with a diverse career spanning consultancy, government policy, and the third sector. His early career included 12 years as a programme management consultant at Deloitte before transitioning into policy work.

Iain has experience working in gambling harms prevention sector, previously serving as Deputy Chief Executive of GambleAware. He is currently the founding Executive Director of the Age Verification Providers Association which prioritises child protection in the digital space. With an MBA from UCLA and a reputation for delivering performance improvements, Ian brings strategic insight, commercial acumen and a wealth of knowledge in public affairs and communications.

Mike Wocik, Chair of Ygam, said: “We are delighted to welcome Judy and Iain to the Ygam Board. Their wealth of experience and expertise will further strengthen our governance and strategic leadership, ensuring we continue to operate at the highest standards. Strong governance is the foundation of our success, and their insights will be invaluable as we grow our impact and evolve as a leader in our field. I look forward to working with them to drive our mission forward and make a lasting difference.”

Judy White said: “I’m excited to join the fantastic team at Ygam. I’m passionate about supporting children and young people, and I’ve been hugely impressed by Ygam’s position as a leader in their field, with a clear commitment to high standards of governance and impact. I look forward to engaging and collaborating with the board and staff to advance Ygam’s vision and mission, ultimately supporting children and young people in safely navigating our increasingly digital world.”

Iain Corby said: “Although it has been six years since I was at GambleAware, I have followed developments in the field from a distance and recognise this is a time of great change and opportunity with the introduction of the new levy. The growing focus on prevention has never been more important, and I look forward to supporting the board, the whole leadership team, and the impressive team that is delivering such a formidable impact for young people across the country and beyond.”

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Narva Communications Becomes Svenska Spel’s New Agency for Corporate Communications

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Narva Communications has become Svenska Spel’s new agency for corporate communications.

“We received high-quality bids from some of Sweden’s leading agencies in Corporate Communication. After a thorough evaluation process, Narva was the agency that received the highest score. They have demonstrated great strategic acumen, strong analytical skills and a very good understanding of Svenska Spel’s mission and communication needs,” Andreas Jerat, Head of Corporate Communication at Svenska Spel, said.

Narva’s assignment includes strategic communication support within Corporate Communication, Public Affairs and financial communication. The assignment also includes the production of annual and sustainability reports. The agreement is valid for two years starting in May 2025, with the possibility of extension 1 + 1 year.

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“We are extremely proud that Svenska Spel has chosen Narva as a partner for its group communications. Svenska Spel is one of Sweden’s most well-known brands with an important social mission. We look forward to working with them to develop communications and help further strengthen the image of Svenska Spel as a role model for games that are offered in a safe and responsible manner,” said Frida Dahlgren, CEO of Narva Communications and account manager for Svenska Spel.

The post Narva Communications Becomes Svenska Spel’s New Agency for Corporate Communications appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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