Outside of Nevada, sports betting is considered illegal as a result of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA), which issued a federal ban on state-sponsored sports betting. This measure was passed with the goal of restricting and eventually terminating the legal status of sports betting as some felt that it had an adverse effect on the integrity of the sports world. Like nearly every other act the government has attempted to restrict, sports betting has found a home in underground, unregulated betting rings. An act that was designed to monitor sports betting and prevent individuals from manipulating the outcome of sporting events has led to copious amounts of illegal gambling across the country.
Supporters of legalized sports betting have reason to be optimistic about the future of this controversial topic as the Supreme Court is expected to release its decision on Christie v. NCAA. This case, originally brought to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit by former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, claims that New Jersey’s controversial gambling law is in direct violation of PASPA. It will be up to the Supreme Court to determine not only if New Jersey’s law is legal, but also if PASPA is in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, which gives all rights not explicitly delegated to the federal government in the Constitution to the states.
This case, like many others that reach the Supreme Court, has begun to garner quite a bit of attention from both the American public and large corporations, specifically the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour. In a rather surprising move, the PGA Tour announced last week that they would support a move towards legalized gambling in all fifty states.
According to PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, the Tour believes that legalized and regulated sports betting will enable them to improve the monitoring of betting on their tournaments. Under the current system, illegal bets can come from anyone and anywhere, making it easier for tournaments to be fixed by wealthy gamblers. In addition to the regulation aspect, the PGA Tour believes that they will be able to reach a much broader audience if sports betting were to become legal.
The gambling industry contributes around $137.5 billion to the U.S. economy, a market the PGA Tour yearns to be involved in. Like any other business, the PGA Tour cares about growing their brand to even more people, something they feel the legalization of sports betting will allow them to do.
Americans spend nearly $150 billion a year on illegal sports wagering. That’s $150 billion that is unmonitored and untaxed by the United States Government. If the Supreme Court were to strike down PASPA, the money made off of sports betting would be a tremendous boost to the economy of the individual states as well as the federal government. A move toward legalized sports betting would represent a step in the right direction toward less governmental involvement. The Supreme Court must put an end to the terminal, unconstitutional act that is government overreach.