Shoeless Joe Jackson. Pete Rose. Jontay Porter. What do these professional athletes have in common? Each player was banished from his professional sport for life.
For over one hundred years, most states have criminalized sports gambling and U.S. professional sports leagues have forbidden sports gambling. In 2018, that world turned upside-down. The United States Supreme Court held a federal ban on sports gambling was unconstitutional, paving the way for states to pass laws permitting sports gambling. The internet brought on-line gambling to almost everyone. Between 2018 and 2024, most states legalized sports betting and millions of bettors have wagered over $220 billion legally through on-line sports platforms in the U.S., such as FanDuel and DraftKings.
