In a momentous ruling, the Supreme Court has declared that states will be able to offer sports betting legally, effectively overturning a 1992 federal ruling that banned states from offering sports betting.
The Supreme Court has officially ruled in favor of New Jersey to allow sports betting to be offered legally in all US states. This is a momentous ruling from SCOTUS, which overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992 and essentially told the federal government that it cannot commandeer states’ rights.
The Supreme Court issued a statement:
"The legalization of sports gambling requires an important policy choice, but the choice is not ours to make. Congress can regulate sports gambling directly, but if it elects not to do so, each State is free to act on its own. Our job is to interpret the law Congress has enacted and decide whether it is consistent with the Constitution. PASPA is not."
A Long Time Coming
Governor Chris Christie was the galvanizing force against the 1992 ruling. In 2011, New Jersey residents voted to allow sports betting to be legalized within the state, but the referendum was challenged with lawsuits from powerful major sports leagues and the NCAA; their lawsuits were upheld by federal courts until today.
After being turned down again and again, Christie continued to appeal until his case reached the Supreme Court. The vote to overturn PASPA was 6-3.
What’s Next?
It’s likely that New Jersey will have regulated sports betting up and running within the next 12 months, if not sooner. Nevada is currently the only state that offers legal sports betting (three others were allowed, according to PASPA, but didn't). The state’s Gaming Control Board reported $4.8 billion in sports bets last year, which means it's highly likely that other states will follow suit and jump into this billion-dollar industry.
Will Legal Sports Betting Affect Online Gambling?
It’s impossible to say at this point how sports betting will affect online gambling, though contrary to popular belief, the two are complementary, not opposing. Just as online gambling only served to boost New Jersey’s land-based casino revenue, it seems like sports betting will have a similar effect. Additionally, states that have previously considered legalizing online gambling may now be more open to actually pushing it through together with sports betting as a package deal.
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