Online Casinos Not The Only Battle States Will Take On In 2013

Dozens of states are focused on expanding their gaming industries to include online poker in 2013. There is another form of gambling, however, that is starting to receive plenty of attention, and the attention comes from some of the more influential states in the US.

Sports betting has long been considered a taboo subject for lawmakers. Federal law prohibits sports betting in all but a dozen states. Those states opted out of a 1992 law prohibiting the activity. Upon further review of the law, critics have now come to the conclusion that the law is unconstitutional.

To “allow only some states to have some forms of sports betting…is like Congress declaring that only a dozen states can have sound in their movie theatres, while others cannot show talkies,” said Whittier Law School Professor I. Nelson Rose.

New Jersey is the state leading the charge to change the 1992 sports betting law. Representative Frank Pallone is one of the legislators that is pushing for federal law changes, and he believes the system is not fair as currently constructed. Pallone is especially weary of the major sports’ leagues stance that regulated sports betting would bring trouble for the leagues.

“It is absurd for the professional sports leagues and the NCAA to claim that they will suffer injuries as a result of the legalization of sports betting in New Jersey,” said Pallone. “That these organizations claim that the sports they represent will somehow have their reputation impacted is naive at best and assumes that illegal gambling is not currently occurring in lieu of legal sports betting.”

Pallone’s opinion is starting to make its way around a nation that is become increasingly more tolerant of gambling. Last year, Delaware legalized sports betting. Only parlay bets are permitted in Delaware. Single team bets are still prohibited, but that may change pending the outcome of New Jersey’s legal battle over the federal laws.

Las Vegas has been the home to regulated sports betting for decades. The NFL, MLB, NBA, and NCAA have all stood on the premise that they are against gambling on their sport. NBA Commissioner opened the door for future regulated NBA betting when he said last year that he could see a time in the future when gambling on his league’s games could become accepted.