American casino owners to renew efforts at overturning federal sportsbetting ban
American casino owners are reportedly soon set to renew their push to overturn the federal Professional And Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992 and bring legalized sportsbetting to properties across the country.
According to a report from the Bloomberg news service citing Sara Rayme, Senior Vice-President for the American Gaming Association, industry lobbyists will be seeking an official sponsor early next year for legislation that would overturn PASPA with the recent election of former casino operator Donald Trump to the nation’s highest office being seen as something of a positive development.
“He was a former casino owner, he understands the business,” Rayme told Bloomberg.
The American Gaming Association reportedly revealed its renewed push in the wake of yesterday’s announcement regarding the proposed merger of daily fantasy sports giants DraftKings Incorporated and FanDuel Incorporated.
“DraftKings [Incorporated] and FanDuel [Incorporated] have sped up the debate on legalizing sportsbetting by demonstrating its popularity and mainstream nature,” Rayme told Bloomberg. “We’re building on the momentum created by daily fantasy sports to remove the federal ban on sportsbetting.”
Under PASPA, only the four states of Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon are permitted to offer sportsbetting but New Jersey has been fighting this prohibition since 2009 with little success but recently received much needed support in its anticipated action before the United States Supreme Court from West Virginia, Arizona, Mississippi, Louisiana and Wisconsin.
Bloomberg estimated that some $149 billion is annually wagered via illegal sports wagers in the United States while President-Elect Trump declared last year that he was not opposed to a legalized and regulated sportsbetting industry.
“I’m okay with it because it’s happening anyway,” Trump told satellite broadcaster Fox Sports 1 in November. “Whether you have it or don’t have it, you have it. It’s all over the place.”