Betting Sports Forum: Internet Sports Gambling Heading For US?

Betting Sports Forum: Internet Sports Gambling Heading For US?

By Pete Gunnel

Mad Rush to Online Sports Gambling. All sorts of new thinking is emerging from legislatures in the face of the recession, and online sports gambling may be one of the changes soon to come to the US. While many Washington observers have been heralding the approach of regulated Internet gambling, sports wagering wasn't considered likely to be a part of the package until recently.

Now, however, movement in Delaware to exploit an exemption in the national law against sports betting has stirred other states, who are eager to create new revenues as well. New Jersey lawmakers, eager to find a solution for the precipitous drop in Atlantic City income, want the freedom to decide their own rules for sports gambling.

Delaware is one of four states allowed by a 1992 Congressional law against sports betting to consider its own statutes for wagering on sporting events. But many states are making moves precisely to keep gambling revenues at home, and aren't happy with any competitive advantage enjoyed by Delaware... or Montana, Oregon, or Nevada, for that matter.

New Jersey is also looking into beating the US to the punch and instituting intrastate online gambling. If a potential lawsuit suggested by a state Senator leads to a court ruling against the uneven federal sports gambling ban, it would seem reasonable that the state would combine the two.

Observers also point out that, while there is much opposition to legalizing sports wagering, states might force Congressional representatives to bend to economic necessity. Measures to regulate online gambling will surely be met with cries to include sports gambling.

While there is no federal law against Internet gambling, it has been found by courts that the Wire Act does preclude sports betting on the Internet. And the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act does block all but those four states from having any form of sports wagering.

Yet, there is a mood in the country for removing outdated laws, and online sports gambling would serve as a strong regulatory form in which to collect revenue from an industry largely dominated by local bookies. If sports advocates can be convinced that outlawed gambling is far more dangerous to leagues than transparent, legitimate licensed sports gaming, the US may see gambling openness only dreamed of a few scant months ago.

Betting Sports Forum: Internet Sports Gambling Heading For US?