In a historic ruling in the United States, the Supreme Court has overturned the federal ban on sports gambling by a vote of 7-2.
The Supreme Court has just ruled 7-2 to overturn the federal ban on sports gambling. It's a historic day in American sport.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) May 14, 2018
With the ban overturned, that doesn’t mean that it is exactly legal right now right now in every state. Even though it is legal, every single state must now vote to allow it in their state.
"Congress can regulate sports gambling directly, but if it elects not to do so, each State is free to act on its own."
Flood gates are open. 4 states already have laws in place ready for this moment (NJ, WV, PA & MS) and more than 20 are in line now.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) May 14, 2018
This case was brought to the Supreme Court by former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who was looking for a boost to the state’s struggling horse tracks and casinos. Christie challenged the 1992 law, the “Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act.” That was passed by Congress to preserve the integrity of the most popular sports in the nation.
For New Jersey, they are going to only allow the betting in casinos and horse race tracks, and individuals must be at least 21 years old to participate. New Jersey is expected to have sports betting within the next couple of weeks.
The big question now is how other states will regulate it, and what impact it will have on sports betting as a whole in the United States.
With the Vegas Golden Knights being Las Vegas’s only professional sports team, it caused a lot of money to come in on the Golden Knights, with sports betting already legal in the city.
It will be interesting to see if that changes things for other sports in other cities. If some states allow sports betting in bars, some might be able to lay big bets on the home team, right before they head to the game, and could really change some lines.
For now, the rest of the United States has to wait for each individual state to pass the law allowing it.
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