Those who follow the sports betting business know the score.
Thanks to a shadowy history and scandal, plentiful ignorance and some outright fear-mongering, the nation’s bookmakers were left at the gate when gambling in the United States transitioned into era of legalization and regulation. Outside Nevada, the bookies remain outlaws.
But perceptions are changing, and after decades of political paralysis advocates of legalized sports betting finally appear to have assembled a strategy that one day might lead to a new era of legitimacy – and industry prosperity.
To that end, American Gaming Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman Tuesday morning found himself in the press room at Global Gaming Expo 2016 making a pitch he hopes will be the start of a winning combination that eventually sees the repeal of the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) and a new chapter of sports gaming legalization.
“When it comes to growth for this industry, we’re going to have to get more creative,” Freeman says. “One place to do that is by powering the industry and provide our customers with a product that they want most, and there’s no better example of that than sports betting. Americans are clamoring to bet on sports in a legal way. We know that because they’re going to lengths to do that in an illegal way.”
Flanked by Dr. David Forrest and Rick Parry, who have long studied sports and and the economic and social effects of game wagering in Great Britain, Freeman expressed his belief that the old view of sports gambling is part of a dusty newsreel, and there’s a big opportunity for something essentially unprecedented: the widespread legalization of bookmaking in America. And, he said, there’s no better time than now to start making the case for PASPA’s repeal and the legalization and regulation of sports gambling on a broader scale. (PASPA essentially landlocks Nevada as the country’s only fully formed legalized sports betting zone at a time that forms of gambling have been approved in 40 states and fantasy sports gaming has swept the nation.)
At this point, you might find yourself wondering what those pleasant British gentlemen were doing with the leader of America’s gaming lobby. Quite simply, reminding reporters in certain terms that the European legalized sports betting model — and especially the bookmaking craft as it’s practiced in England — has done far more good than harm since gaining approval in 1961.
Which is the realistic takeaway. Legalization and regulation aren’t a panacea, but they’re odds-on favorites to have a more positive impact on society than driving a widely popular activity underground and into the hands of the criminal underworld.
The AGA is, wisely I believe, using the British model as an example of how legalized sports gambling can function as a legitimate part of society. As academics and law enforcement officials have noted, that act didn’t set off a firestorm of bookmaking and fiendish wagering behavior. It did, however, begin an era of regulation and taxation that never before existed. The Forrest-Parry report includes a compelling anecdote from Great Britain mega-bookie Fred Done, who grew up immersed in his father’s illegal operation in a matter often repeated in big cities and small towns across America even today. Operating legally, Done has helped revolutionize the industry.
“This evocative account illustrates that the industry in Britain was able to be highly organized despite the law,” they observe. “And the service it provided was highly popular …”
In addition to the legal question, a big difference between the generations is the fact the new operators are taxed and at least somewhat regulated. The habits of sports fans have remained consistent: They want to wager on their soccer and cricket matches.
Americans are illegally betting an estimated $150 billion per year on amateur and professional sports.
What Freeman is forwarding is no small feat of political legerdemain. In the current congressional climate, it may take nothing short of a Hail Mary pass to repeal PASPA. But at least the industry is finally starting to see legalized sports betting as an opportunity instead of a gaming eyesore.
The Forrest-Parry report, official title “The Key to Sports Integrity in the United States: Legalized, Regulated Sports Betting,” is far from the final word on the subject, but it’s an excellent conversation starter.
In the Internet age, with illegal bookmakers from around the world only a few keystrokes away, it only makes sense to treat sports betting legalization in a serious way.
“Whatever the detailed reasons, the reality to be faced is that sports betting will take place, and on a significant scale, whether illegally as in countries like America, India and China or legally as in countries like Australia, Great Britain and France,” they write. “The policy question we address is whether problems traditionally associated with betting are likely to be controlled more effectively if the activity takes place in illegal, unregulated markets or legal, regulated markets.”
Finally, a little advice from the cheap seats: If the AGA is really serious, along the way to pushing for legalization it will encourage tougher sanctions for Nevada operators who fail to adhere to the highest regulatory standards.
With the nation watching, a lot more than one bookie’s bottom line is at stake.
John L. Smith is a longtime Las Vegas journalist and author. Contact him at jlnevadasmith@gmail.com. On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith.
