Sports betting advocates won a landmark legal battle in Washington on Monday morning. The US Supreme Court ruled that a state ban on sports gambling is unconstitutional.
The 7-2 ruling on Monday struck down PASPA — the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act — which had essentially prevented legal sports gambling outside of the state of Nevada for more than two decades.
BREAKING: U.S. Supreme Court rules that federal ban on state-sanctioned sports betting is unconstitutional. Decides case in favor of New Jersey. Floodgates now officially open for other states to allow sports betting. #RIPPASPA
— Daniel Wallach (@WALLACHLEGAL) May 14, 2018
According to USA Today, the Court ruled in favor of New Jersey, who challenged the law in an effort to establish sports gambling and essentially make it legal nationwide.
PASPA was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1992 and went into effect in January 1993. Nevada – the only state at the time the bill became law that had widespread state-sponsored sports bettors – and three other states with more limited betting (Oregon, Delaware and Montana) were grandfathered in.
PASPA didn’t outlaw sports betting because that was already illegal. Rather, PASPA banned states – outside those given exemptions – from regulating (and taxing) sports betting.
Despite PASPA’s existence, the American Gaming Association (AGA) estimates at least $150 billion a year is gambled on sports in the U.S. and 97% of that amount was bet illegally.
The ruling doesn’t necessarily allow for gambling right away, as individual states can now move to set up official gaming authorities to create their own gambling infrastructure. USA Today reported that 17 states have passed bills or are working on legislation to do just that, and many will work quickly now that gambling is legal.
Individual sports leagues will also have to decide how they want to regulate gambling on its events. The NBA, for example, has made some moves to anticipate the legalization of gambling but has not established clear rules for the league.
According to an ESPN report from January, that includes requesting a set of laws for leagues to follow in the event that sports gambling did, indeed, become legal in the rest of the United States.
The NBA wants 1 percent of every bet made on its games in addition to other regulations, a request that could create massive revenue for the NBA and other sports leagues in the future.
Spillane also said the NBA wants more widespread access to gambling for its fans, pushing for bets to be made legal on smartphones and kiosks and not just inside casinos and racetracks. That would increase the amount of wagering and, in turn, create more revenue for the league under its desired plan.
Silver and the NBA released a statement about the Supreme Court ruling on Monday afternoon.
“Today’s decision by the Supreme Court opens the door for states to pass laws legalizing sports betting,” Silver said. “We remain in favor of a federal framework that would provide a uniform approach to sports gambling in states that choose to permit it, but we will remain active in ongoing discussions with state legislatures. Regardless of the particulars of any future sports betting law, the integrity of our game remains our highest priority.”
Essentially, the NBA views sports betting as another avenue for revenue and is being proactive about getting involved in a market that’s likely to explode in the near future. Other leagues, of course, will be soon to follow.
