SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Legalize it: Can we just get over sports betting already?
Apr 27, 2018, 2:45 PM
The sports world is buzzing with coverage of the NFL Draft. Who’s going where and what it all means. But I have a question for you. Do you care if I want to wager a few dollars on the Seahawks game? I didn’t think so.
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So can someone please tell me why we still have the Professional Amateur Sports Protection Act? Who exactly are we protecting? The PASPA made sports betting illegal in the US in 1992. Sure, there are a few states that carved out a grandfather clause: Nevada, Oregon, Delaware, and Montana. And of course Nevada allows for full fledged sports books.
As we speak, there are interesting things happening in the world of sports betting. The State of New Jersey is taking the PASPA to the Supreme Court to challenge its constitutionality. New Jersey rightfully sees this as a probable steady income stream to the state coffers. You know who is also hoping that New Jersey wins their case? The National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball.
Turns out that sports betting is an estimated $150 billion a year industry in the United States — even though we pretend that it’s illegal. By keeping it primarily underground, there’s no regulation and no taxes. The NBA and MLB are on board, as long as they get a 1 percent service fee for their respective games. I’d imagine now that there’s an NFL and NHL franchise in Las Vegas that the other two sports leagues would love a little extra cash as well.
Sports betting
I’m also on team New Jersey. Not because I’m a sports gambler. In fact, I’m terrible at it, and most likely wouldn’t do it if it becomes available. Actually I lied. I’d probably put $20 on a Hawks game from time-to-time to make the game more interesting. Does that make me some kind of degenerate? I don’t think so.
I’m on board because I hate governmental hypocrisy. It drives me crazy when there is a law that says, “If you are on this side of a line, you can do it. If you’re on that side of a line, it’s illegal.”
Why in the world should an adult activity be simultaneously legal and illegal at the same time? That just doesn’t make sense.
With the amount of money that’s floating around right now in this unregulated economy, I bet that that Supreme Court rules the PASPA to be unconstitutional.
Wait, is it legal for me to bet that?
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