The Current State Of Legal Sports Betting In The United States
The legalization of sports gambling in the United States can happen in one of several different ways. The first being that the US Supreme Court rule in favor of New Jersey and start allowing states to enact their own legal sports betting laws. The case for this to happen has hit a speed bump as of late as on May 24th, the Solicitor General requested that the Supreme Court not take the case.
The second would be if more states did exactly what New Jersey did and it just becomes a never ending cycle that Congress would start to realize that most states want it. That being said, there have been no states that have attempted any legislation against PASPA but maybe this case will get other states to follow suit.
Finally, the most direct way that sports betting could become legal in the United States is if Congress decides to finally end the very outdated federal law of PASPA. This is actually picking up steam as of late after a congressional committee announced the Gaming Accountability and Modernization Enhancement Act or GAME Act on May 25th. This Act would repeal the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act and allow states to provide legal sports betting in the United States. This is currently just a draft of legislation but stay tuned for updates soon.
There have already been 12 states in the US that have passed various laws legalizing or regulating some form of paid-entry fantasy sports and plenty of other states are going to follow suit. While the methods we have explained do come with their issues and elongated time frames, they are still all possibilities.
Using Fantasy Sports To Springboard Legalized Sports Betting
Fantasy sports betting has become one of the top sports gambling options over the years and could be the key to getting states to legalize sports betting as well. The unclear nature of the fantasy sports gambling laws and vague language allows for states to advance their fight for legal sports betting in the United States.
Essentially what I am saying is that casinos and gaming establishments who get a license in a state that allows fantasy sports, could then use those laws as a tool to provide for more aggressive types of fantasy sports wagering that may lean more towards sports betting in general. The only thing that limits this strategy is that under fantasy sports laws, the athlete's performances have to be involved in the bet. It can’t simply be a wager on who will win or lose or any outcome for that matter.
There are several different ways in which fantasy sports can catapult the legal status of sports betting and the first is to get state casinos to start taking advantage of these fantasy sports laws. There is already movement at several different fantasy sports operators and sportsbooks throughout the country. These companies should then keep providing more and more fantasy sports betting products because the more opportunities there are, the more they can start slipping into the single-game betting aspect of it all. Finally, more and more states should begin passing fantasy sports laws if they want to get sports betting legalized.
What To Expect In The Future
It won’t be a simple process but the seed has already been planted in more than a few ways. Fantasy sports can be the vehicle that delivers us legal sports gambling in sports betting states, and as long as more and more states start to allow legal fantasy sports betting, it’s only a matter of time.