AGA: Next U.S. President Will Have 'Sports Betting On Their Desk'Lobbying Group Predicts Sports Betting To Be Legal Within 5 Years |
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Thanks to an estimated illegal sports betting market of $148.8 billion in the United States, the casino industry’s top lobbying group is advocating for reform to current federal law pertaining to the activity. The CEO of the American Gaming Association predicts that the next U.S. president will legalize sports betting so it’s not limited, by law, to just a few states.
According to a report from Trib Live, AGA CEO Geoff Freeman said in Pittsburgh last week that “the next president is going to have that issue of legalizing sports betting on their desk, and I’m confident they’ll make the right decision.”
“It’s time for a fresh, rational approach to sports betting that reflects […] reality,” Freeman said previously when the AGA said that it estimated $9.2 billion was bet on March Madness this year, with only $262 million of that figure bet coming at regulated and licensed sports books in Nevada.
A 1990s federal law limited sports betting to Nevada and a few other states, with the Silver State being the only one in the country with sports books. New Jersey, which is home to struggling Atlantic City, has tried challenging the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, but has so far been unsuccessful. Pennsylvania, which is another top casino gambling market in America, has said it’s interested in sports books if they were legal.
Delaware, which has sports betting in the form of parlays, is looking at bringing those bets to the Internet. Delaware is one of three states with online gambling.
Sports books in Nevada won $231.8 million from gamblers in 2015, an increase of two percent compared to 2014 and an all-time high. The state also recently saw a record $132 million wagered on the Super Bowl. Even the current president bets on the big game.
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