Sports Gambling vs U. S. Supreme Court Ruling Today!
It is a huge day for the sports world and gambling. Today the United States Supreme Court will hear from former Presidential Candidate and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Currently, sports gambling is only legal in the state of Nevada. But back in 2011, Christie started the push to allow the people of New Jersey to bet on sports. The voters approved the idea and it looked like they would be the second state in the U.S. to allow sports betting. But unfortunately, the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL and NCAA challenged the idea and it was shut down before it even started.
Although sports betting in the U.S. is illegal in 49/50 states, it still runs rapid. The days of going down a dark alley to pay a bookie or even make a phone call are over though. There are several gambling sites on the internet that accept credit cards or even bitcoin like Bovada or Sportsbook. And there are still local bookies, but their business is ran through a fake website and PayPal is used to collect or pay out your money. Often times, people don’t even know their bookies or if they do, rarely to never have to see them.
It is estimated that the illegal sports gambling industry in the U.S. is $150 BILLION per year. If we are going to have slot machine parlors on every corner (and we do in Chicago and Illinois), Off Track Betting in every town, local and state lotteries, casinos within a 2 hour drive everywhere in the country, and the ability to simply fly to Vegas, then why not legalize sports gambling? And with Fanduel and DraftKings generating billions of wagered dollars in “fantasy sports” then the time has come.
The ruling that Christie is hoping for today would pave the way for individual states to decide for themselves if they want to legalize sports betting. The current law that is blocking this is called the “Professional and Amatuer Sports Protection Act.” There are reportedly 17 states other than New Jersey they want to legalize sports betting. I sure hope Illinois will be one of them.
Thank you for following me @scottybuckets and I will be back with an update on today’s ruling later. Cheers!
From what I've been hearing it sounds like it's only a matter of time before it's legal in more states. Probably won't ever get the pass federally, but could end up much like marijuana is currently.
Well it’s legal Now!
We won't have an answer today but reports are that the judges are leaning towards lifting the sports betting ban that will allow states to legalize sports gambling. There are 32 states that will move towards legalization but it will take some time, possibly up to 5 years in some cases. Regardless, the Libertarian in me is thrilled! Cheers!
Not bad news at all. yes! Let's go libertarians!
It's hard to believe that it's only legal in Nevada still. With all of the websites people use, you would think they would just give in and try to make sure it's regulated. I really don't see the harm in legalizing it when it's already so easily available. Fingers crossed!