US Supreme Court Overturns Federal Sports Betting Ban
15th May 2018 — In a landmark decision on Monday the United States Supreme Court agreed to allow the state of New Jersey’s bid to offer sports betting at its casinos and racetracks. This ends a decades long prohibition which had restricted the practice to the state of Nevada.
“The legalization of sports gambling requires an important policy choice, but the choice is not ours to make,” the Supreme Court decision stated. “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.”
PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act) was enacted in 1992 and forbid individual states from authorising sports gambling. Mondays Supreme Court decision overruled this protection, indicating that the states are free to independently regulate sports betting in their jurisdictions.
“Everybody who owns a top 4 professional sports team just basically saw the value of their team double at least.” Mark Cuban owner of the Dallas Mavericks and host of the American variant of Shark Tank, discussing the issue on CNBC with some extremely positive sentiment following the decision. “It’s going to be interesting, it’s going to be a free for all, I guess that’s the only thing you can say with certainty.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver confirmed in a statement regarding the decision “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.” confirming that a federal approach is preferred, but the NBA will continue to assist working groups at the state level.
