DC to assess sports betting
A DC lawmaker said that “everything is on the table” regarding a potential legalisation of sports betting in the District.
US.- Sports betting is on the verge of being legalised all across the US after the Supreme Court ruled against the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) and allowed states to regulate the segment. DC is not exempt from the debate and lawmakers are looking into the possibility of getting the industry going in the District.
“Virtually every state in the country has gambling, and many of them have casino gambling, and for Congress to say you can’t have gambling in the District of Columbia when virtually every jurisdiction has gambling now would be completely hypocritical, so I don’t think that’s a stumbling block, either,” he said. “So, I think we can do what we think is best for the city,” D.C. Council member Jack Evans said about the potential legalisation.
Evans said he’d like to hold hearings in the fall with all the relevant stakeholders in order to discuss the potential integrity fee for the leagues and assess whether sports gambling could take place in physical locations and if there would be an online business as well.
Ever since the early 20th century, sports betting has been against the law in the District under Washington’s criminal code, which states: “(It’s illegal) to bet, gamble, or make books or pools on the result of any trotting race or running race of horses, or boat race, or race of any kind, or on any election or any contest of any kind, or game of baseball.” Years later, other sports were added and the law was updated to include just about everything.
