Through the Oregon Lottery and DraftKings, Oregonians are currently able to place bets on the outcomes and achievements of professional sports games, teams and athletes. Betting on college sports, however, is banned.
A bill in the Oregon Legislature would legalize betting on college sports. But in its initial public hearing Tuesday, it faced pushback from tribal representatives and anti-gambling organizations.
Senate Bill 1503, sponsored by Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, would allow the Oregon Lottery to conduct gambling opportunities based on the outcomes of college sports games.
The bill came into the hearing with a pair of amendments, which would ban betting on individual athletic performance and direct net proceeds toward funding the Oregon Opportunity Grant program, the state’s largest publicly funded, need-based grant program for college students.
