Sports leagues continue to lobby in DC

As sports betting continues to get legalised across the US, lobbyists try to persuade Congress to pass legislation that gives them a cut of revenues.

US.- The Supreme Court struck the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) down and allowed sports betting to be legalised all across the US. As the segment continues to advance in several states, lobbyists for the major sports leagues are set to double their efforts in Washington DC to get Congress to pass federal laws that would see them get a cut of wagers’ revenues.

“What we’re asking for, MLB and the other leagues, is a very small fraction,” MLB Senior VP Bryan Seeley said at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) this week in Los Angeles. “We’re not looking to take money away from state tax revenues.”

The major leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA & NHL) and the NCAA want to slow down the gambling expansion that has been reaching states like Pennsylvania, Mississipi, West Virginia, and others, as well as New Jersey, the first one to do so. However, unless they succeed in the short term, their aspirations to get their cut through an “integrity fee” or a similar tax are set to be reduced while many states follow those mentioned above.

The “integrity fee” has been embraced by the MLB, NBA and the NHL, which said it would be used to cover for the increased costs in monitoring sports gambling.