The Startup
1996 - 1999
World Sports Exchange, WSEX.com, officially launched in November 1996. The early days were filled with all the excitement and promise that comes with a startup along with a lot of attention, small successes and big problems.
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1996
World Sports Exchange officially launched Oct 11, 1996
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1997
Rebecca "Becky" Quick WSJ article brought us a lot of attention just a few months after launching.
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1998
Less than two years after launching WSEX.com, the DOJ charged Jay Cohen and 13 other offshore sports book operators for violating U.S. gambling laws.
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1999
HBO Real Sports did a great piece on us and sent the legendary sports broadcaster Jim Lampley down to talk to Steve, Haden and Gyneth McAllister, Antigua’s Director of Offshore Gaming
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Big Time and Doing Time
2000 - 2004
Jay Cohen went back to the U.S. and unsuccessfully fought the U.S. and was sentenced to 21 months in prison. During this time World Sports Exchange continued to flourish and became one of the biggest employers in Antigua.
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2000
We quickly outgrew the office at Ryan's Place and moved into a larger space to allow for more servers and more employees. We continued to offer our customers markets on elections including the 2000 Presidential Election. The contested results meant our customers had their money tied up for weeks until there was a clear winner.
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2001
While Jay Cohen was awaiting trial, 60 Minutes interviewed him and defense attorney Benjamin Brafman about the trial. They also went down to Antigua to interview Haden and Steve.
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2002
Jay Cohen served his sentence at Ft. Nellis Prison not far from the Las Vegas strip
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2003
World Sports Exchange worked with Antigua to file an official complaint against the United States claiming it discriminated against online gambling companies, which were legal and licensed in its country. The case has still not been settled.
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The Golden Era
2005 - 2009
This was the hey day of World Sports Exchange. The company continued to grow and World Sports Exchange became one of the top sports betting sites in the world. The company had its best years, but dark clouds were gathering as U.S. lawmakers like Senator Jon Kyl were lobbying and passing laws to ban internet gambling.
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2005
World Sports Exchange expanded into poker and celebrated with the London Poker Open
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2006
Twenty-five years before Kalshi and Polymarket, World Sports Exchange offered markets on all kinds of events – elections, box office openings and who would reality shows like Survivor and American Idol. There was an even a market on the Spelling Bee.
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2007
Our third and final office. We became more streamlined as the business evolved and as we continued to fund Antigua’s legal foray against the U.S. in the WTO, which continued to drag on.
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2009
World Sports Exchange offered futures markets on everything including who would win American Idol
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Survival Mode
2010 - 2012
Legislation limiting banking business with offshore sportsbooks would cement the fate of World Sports Exchange. The end would soon come and tragedy would follow.
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2010
Almost four years after Senator Kyl attached the UIGEA to 2006 Safe Port Act, the law finally went into effect. It would limit how customers could send money to us and eventually led to our demise.
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The Aftermath
2013 - 2017
WSEX.com shut down in 2013 and one of its founders committed suicide. The closing of the site marked the end of an era as illegal sports gambling continued to boom in the face of growing banking regulation.
2013
Steve Schillinger ended his life the day after World Sports Exchange shut down
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2016
Haden Ware returned to the U.S. in 2016, ending almost 18 years of being a fugitive. He was spared any prison time.
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A New Era
2018 - Present Day
The U.S. Supreme Court's 2018 case led the way for states to offer legal sports betting leading to an explosion of new entrants into the market. Offshore sports betting sites, however, are still considered illegal.
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2025
Kalshi takes on prediction markets, almost 30 years after World Sports Exchange
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2026
Prediction markets are all the rage even as their legal status remains uncertain. Sound familiar? They’re even offering markets on world events.
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