In 1992 there was a law passed called PASPA.This law prohibits betting on traditional sports anywhere outside of Nevada. Recently, the Supreme Court heard arguments for New Jersy to be allowed to do so. There were representatives from several other interested states as well.
Why do states like NJ want traditional sports betting?
The answer to that is high stakes. You see, the traditional sports betting industry outside of Nevada is a black market. Sports betting; however, is a flourishing underground. With an estimated $150 billion per year betting pool. There is a lot of opportunities here for a lot of states. The sad part is, only $5 billion of the aforementioned figure comes out of Nevada. The rest–illegal and flourishing; so why not organize it and allow the states to benefit from the revenue and provide jobs for a lot of people.
What’s the real economic impact according to the experts?
According to Oxford economics, repealing PASPA would spawn a $26.6 billion dollar surge as a positive economic impact. In addition, yet another traditional change taking place in the country as federalism is quite possibly the highest stake in this game. It’s a historic hearing as well as a precedent for other states rights that are on the table.
In the wake of an estimated $60 billion in offshore unregulated betting, the court speculated that maybe the law was created to spawn such a surge in unregulated sports betting. It was a point that the CEO of the AGA agreed with as a possibility given the success of the underground betting system.
The CEO of the AGA also stated that they will certainly be on top of the issue in case the court doesn’t address and resolve all the concerns. This is bound to happen as the laws are complicated and we have a lot of states. On the positive side, the hearing did shine the light of hope for a future decision. Congress is the group that needs to be targeted for this and on the lucky side, at least one member thinks a hearing is necessary. This is a great sign and gives a direction to focus on. 13 states have already begun sports betting legislation in 2017.
There is no reason why this should not go to Congress. According to Dina Titus {D-NV} they have to protect the public as well as block those with ill intent from entering the game.