Regardless of whether the U.S. Supreme Court allows New Jersey casinos and racetracks to offer sports betting, or strikes down the effort, the American Gaming Association is claiming victory in its push for legalized sports betting.
Geoff Freeman, the group’s president and CEO, said the court’s decision to take up the case is a “nail in the coffin” for the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act.
In a surprise change of course, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed Tuesday morning to hear the New Jersey sports betting case, breathing fresh life into the state’s quest to push back against federal restrictions prohibiting the activity outside of Nevada and three other states.
The high court granted the case a Writ of Certiorari despite a recommendation from the Solicitor General earlier this year that it not hear the case. The case will likely be heard in the fall.
The state has sought for years to strengthen its gaming industry by partially repealing its state laws that prohibit sports gambling.
But the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case will not throttle the AGA’s efforts to push a legislative solution to the sports betting question, Freeman said, reiterating previous statements that President Donald Trump will have legislation repealing PASPA on his desk by the end of his first term in 2020.
“I’d say the best case scenario has already been achieved, regardless of the outcome. This will prove to be another nail in the coffin to PASPA,” Freeman said, arguing that Congress can no longer ignore the “failing law.”
“You are seeing a coalition being built here probably unlike anything you’ve ever seen here on a gaming issue,” Freeman said, adding the key reason why a Supreme Court ruling that PASPA is unconstitutional will not provide enough to ensure a safe and legal regulatory framework.
“Even if the Supreme Court rules in New Jersey’s favor, we’re left with the situation where states may be able to move forward with sports betting but maybe not with the regulatory standards that we all seek,” Freeman said.
“At the end of the day, we all need good regulations,” he added, saying that Congress is the only entity that can provide such a robust framework.
While there remains concern among Nevada sport book operators over the potential impact of the state’s monopoly on sports betting being broken, Freeman cast aside such concerns by saying the monopoly is in “name only” because of the rampant illegal market for sports betting that currently exists in the US – a market the AGA estimates at $150 billion.
Michelle Minton, a fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington, argued that a repeal or overturn of PASPA could actually benefit Nevada bookies by expanding their customer base.
“One of the things that this might do, as we start looking at other federal gambling laws like the Wire Act, is that Nevada bookies might be able to offer sports gambling legally to the entire country. This could have a beneficial effect to them down the line.”
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Aaron Stanley
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