Supreme Court Legalizes Sports Gambling

The Supreme Court just issued a major ruling for all lovers of sports. The Supreme Court has just struck down a federal regulation that outlaws states from adopting their own laws to allow betting on sporting events.

The news comes via NBC:

The U.S. Supreme Court acted Monday to bust Nevada’s monopoly on legal sports betting, allowing more states to get in on the action and reap the tax benefits.

The court struck down a federal law that required states to ban gambling on the outcome of sporting events. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was highly unusual: it did not ban sports gambling nationwide as a matter of federal law, but it said the states were not allowed to permit it.

The conservative side of the Court was most responsible for this ruling, with Justice Samuel Alito authoring the opinion. He wrote that the defeated law had the effect of state legislatures being “put under the direct control of Congress.”

“A more direct affront to state sovereignty is not easy to imagine,” Alito noted.

This was certainly a big win for states’ rights. Until now, Nevada has had a kind of monopoly on sports betting. The man arguably most responsible for this ruling is former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who argued that the overruled law unconstitutionally prohibited states from passing their own sports gambling laws. The original case was brought up by the state of New Jersey. Look for other states to start pushing their own laws legalizing and regulating betting on sports.

A brand new industry is about to explode in many states, if some analysts are to be believed.

What do you think about this Supreme Court ruling? Tell us your thoughts below!

Jim E. is a true political insider, with experience working both in Washington and outside in real America. Jim... More about Jim E

Mentioned in this article: