The case of Christie versus NCAA came before the United States Supreme Court last year. The core issue involved was whether or not sports betting should be legalized in the country. The decision of the justices is likely to have far reaching consequences for the sports and gambling industries.
Before we analyze what is at stake, it is essential to briefly recap the events leading up to Supreme Court hearing.
In In 1992, Congress passed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) that prohibits states from legalizing sports gambling. An exception was created for Nevada, Oregon and Delaware. These states already had pre-existing sports betting and were allowed to continue. New Jersey would also be exempt if legislation allowing sports gambling was enacted within a year. This did not happen.
In 2012, the New Jersey Legislature enacted the Sports Wagering Act, which legalized and regulated sports gambling in privately owned casinos and racetracks located in the state. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sued the Governor of the State of New Jersey, Christopher Christie.
The state argued that PASPA was unconstitutional under the Tenth Amendment anti-commandeering doctrine. The District Court ruled in favor of NCAA. The Third Circuit affirmed this decision. The Supreme Court denied Christie’s petition for writ of certiorari.
New Jersey legislators passed another law in 2014 which, rather than affirmatively authorizing sports gambling, repealed several longstanding state prohibitions on the activity.
The NCAA challenged this law as well. The District Court rejected this law and again the Third Circuit affirmed the lower court’s ruling.
However, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in June 2017, against the recommendation of the United States Solicitor General, to determine whether PASPA violates the anti-commandeering principle of the Tenth Amendment and heard the oral arguments on December 4, 2017.
Sports law experts seem to stand united behind legalizing sports betting. The reasons for their stance are compelling.
Sports Betting Violates Integrity of Sports
The premise that sports betting would violate the integrity of sports was the reason for creation of PASPA. Bluntly put, this means that there is a big inducement for players to intentionally perform below par or for officials to act unfairly in order to take advantage of bets placed by them or their associates.
Peter Rose, Tim Donaghy, Alex Karras and Tony Romo are some big names against whom action has been taken for compromising the integrity of sports. However, there are rotten apples in every basket and you cannot stop eating apples on that account.
Andrew Brandt has further pointed out certain anomalies. These perhaps do not violate integrity, but do create a bond between sports and gambling.
Sporting teams and leagues are already investing in gambling-related companies.
Sanction has been given to the Raiders' move to Vegas. The fact that Nevada has legalized sports betting is not lost.
Many high profile sports players are brand ambassadors for land based and online casinos.
Changing Opinion within the Leagues
It is evident that the sporting leagues are spending millions of dollars fighting the push for legalized sports gambling by New Jersey. Ironically some important officials have publicly supported the introduction of legalized sports betting.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has provided, in an article written for The New York Times, a path that could be taken for legalizing sports gambling.
NBA executive Dan Spillane has supported this view.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has taken steps to review the league’s stance on sports betting.
The question that obviously arises is then why the dichotomy. Perhaps, NCAA may be ready for one federal law legalizing sports betting, but does not want over 50 different state laws to contend with.
The Coming of Age of Fantasy Sports Betting
There was a time when fantasy sports activity was engaged in privately in offices and usually without exchange of money for bragging rights only. Now DraftKings and FanDuel have brought it out in the open. They run daily and season-long events in which the participants win money.
Some of the sporting leagues hold equity in DraftKings or FanDuel. Many teams have sponsorship agreements with them. Some experts hold that fantasy sports are not gambling because it does not involve team outcomes, only individual player statistics. Others call it soft gambling.
The fact is that early on there was vehement opposition to DraftKings and FanDuel, which has now receded considerably. The trend is clear. Fantasy sports have taken both sponsorship deals and fan engagement to a higher plane.
Based on this sound reasoning and voicing the demands of the people, Courtney Childs, from NoDepositKings, had this to say, “We believe it’s time for Americans to decide if they want to gamble online. It’s not for the government to over-reach and make decision for an intelligent society.” The million dollar question is whether the Supreme Court of the United States will concur with Courtney Childs.
The Possible Outcome of Christie Versus NCAA
The following options are technically on the table for the top court of the land.
The Supreme Court could withdraw the exemptions granted to Nevada, Delaware and Oregon from PASPA on the grounds of uniformity across the country. This would be the most regressive step it could take from the viewpoint of those in favor of sports betting.
The court could uphold the status quo by declaring the constitutional validity of PASPA. This would indefinitely defer the push for legalized sports betting. The way forward would then be for the federal government to repeal PASPA.
The Supreme Court could give a ruling permitting New Jersey to legalize sports betting but preventing other states from doing so. This could happen based on some technicalities that revolve around the Garden State initially being allowed one year’ s time to legalize sports betting. Such a ruling would generate opposition from other states and could lead to further litigation.
And finally the court could strike down PASPA allowing New Jersey to implement its plans. This would set a precedent for other states to follow suit.
The judgment is expected in spring. Hopefully it is not an adverse one. Even if the justices support the status quo, the push for legalizing sports betting will continue in some form or the other.
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