Supreme Court grants new date for sports betting case

The US Supreme Court determined that New Jersey’s appeal on the federal ban of sports betting will present its oral arguments on December 4.

US.- After the Supreme Court of the United States updated its calendar on Friday, it was revealed that a date has been set to hear oral arguments in New Jersey’s appeal of the national federal betting ban on sports betting. The state is seeking the repeal of the PASPA act that prevents states from offering the sports gambling modality.

Whilst the official date to hear the oral arguments was set for December 4, the Supreme Court won’t unveil the results of the case until mid-2018. The case is primarily centered around the fact that there is a US$150 billion illegal sports betting market in the United States each year. PASPA, a sports protection act that was passed in 1992, prevents states from offering gambling lines on sports. Nevada, Oregon, Delaware, and Montana were granted special exemptions, as all four of those states were offering some variation of sports lotteries back in 1992.

The case has gathered multiple support all across America, and the American Gaming Association (AGA) has called for the National Indian Gaming Association’s (NIGA) support in order to make the final push to legalise the industry. A national survey conducted by the Washington Post in conjunction with the University of Massachusetts Lowell revealed that 55 percent of adults in the United States are in favor of legal sports betting, whilst 33 percent of the people that participated in that poll said that they’re against it. The results marked the first time that the poll indicates a majority in support of legal wagering.

Moreover, another report from Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, LLC, an entity that tracks state-by-state legislation, revealed that legal sports betting could be offered in 32 states within five years if the United States’ Supreme Court rules in favor of the case presented by New Jersey, which is fighting the PASPA act that only allows a limited number of states to offer the gambling modality. Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, LLC said that a new market could be worth more than US$6 million, and it all 50 states of the American country legalise sports betting, the industry could be worth from US$7.1 to US$15.8 billion, as Boston Herald reported.

Chris Grove, managing director of the firm, said that if the Supreme Court rules in favor of New Jerset, 14 states would offer sports betting within two years.