The American Gaming Association is campaigning to urge a fresh look at the legality of sports betting in the U.S. That campaign moved significantly forward this week on the back of a push by the group to highlight illegal wagering on the Super Bowl.
The trade group’s claim that $4.7 billion worth of bets – 97 percent of those being illegally – will be placed on this year’s match between the Falcons and the Patriots garnered significant media coverage around the country, with more than 50 mentions by traditional television and online media.
More importantly, the story was widely picked up beyond the usual outlets that report on sports betting developments for niche audiences.
Various affiliates of all the major television networks – NBC, ABC, FOX and CBS – mentioned the AGA and cited the illegal wagering figure as part of their Super Bowl lead-up coverage.
National outlets with large audiences like ESPN, Forbes, the Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, and FOX Business also showed interest, even amid a turbulent news cycle that has been dominated by new President Donald Trump’s travel ban and the announcement of his nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The story and an accompanying infographic produced by the group were also widely circulated on Twitter. Most notable was a tweet by Darren Rovell, a sports business reporter with ESPN, which was retweeted almost 400 times.
The group’s effort to raise awareness on the scale of illegal Super Bowl wagering is part of a broader push to get Congress to rethink a longstanding ban on sports betting outside of Nevada, a ban that has been in place since 1992. As a means to achieving this end, the group is seeking to bring to light the problems posed by rampant illegal betting and to drum up sufficient interest among sports fans and potential coalition partners to ultimately see the ban overhauled.
The AGA is eying a legislative fix to achieve its goal – a congressional repeal of the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. This is no easy task: support, ideally enthusiastic, must be established at the grassroots level with voters around the country. These voters must then be sufficiently motivated and empowered to pressure their representatives in Congress to support a PASPA repeal.
The other cornerstone of modern day lobbying and public affairs effort is to build a strong coalition of other groups and individuals. By highlighting the widespread nature and costs of illegal gambling – and the potential losses in tax revenues to states and municipalities, the AGA is creating an clear rationale for potential partners to climb onboard.
Indeed, AGA CEO and President Geoff Freeman signaled in an interview with ESPN that the PASPA repeal push is may be reaching fruition.
“I think, when the time comes to push this publicly on the Hill, it could be helpful to have some strange bedfellows leading the charge there,” Freeman told ESPN. “And I feel good about where we are in terms of recruiting those individuals, folks who’ve been perhaps outspoken on amateur sports and things like that, but want to take a fresh look at this.”
The repeal push took another incremental leap forward on Tuesday when sports betting legislation was introduced – also timed with the Super Bowl week for maximal exposure – in the House of Representatives by Representatives Frank Pallone and Frank LoBiondo of New Jersey.
