BREAKING: Supreme Court Lifts Ban On Sports Gambling
May 14, 2018, 12:00 AM | Updated: Jan 4, 2019, 11:27 am
(Photo Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The United States Supreme Court came to an agreement on Monday to allow New Jersey’s bid for sports betting at casinos and racetracks.
Per Bleacher Report, this agreement has put an end to making sports betting illegal and striking down restrictions on wagering outside of Nevada.
The Supreme Court announced:
“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.”
The move to try and get New Jersey into legalized sports betting began with former governor Chris Christie, with the state passing a non-binding referendum allowing sports betting in 2011.
Murphy vs. National Collegiate Athletic Association dealt with if the government had the right to “impermissibly commandeer the regulatory power of States.”
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected New Jersey’s referendum by ruling that it violated the federal Professional and Amatur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) which forbids state-authorized sports gambling.
Each of the North American major pro sports leagues and the NCAA filed a lawsuit against the state the following year after Christie signed a sports betting law, suing in 2012 and again in 2014.
“Given the pending Supreme Court decision regarding the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) … The time has come to address not just who profits from sports gambling, but also the costs. Our unions have been discussing the potential impact of legalized gambling on players’ privacy and publicity rights, the integrity of our games and the volatility on our businesses,” the Players Associations said in a joint statement in January.
Congress did give New Jersey the option to become the fifth state to allow gambling before the ban was enacted, but the state failed to pass a sports betting law in the time allotted.
This could allow as many as 25 other states to seek the same allowances.
Nevada is currently the only state to allow single-game wagering. Nevada and Louisiana are the only two states that legally have casino-style gambling.
PASPA prohibits 46 states from authorizing sports betting.
Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana are exempt from PASPA, having grandfathered in because they adopted betting practices already.
The full decision from the Supreme Court can be read here.