Court ruling limits Delaware sports wagering to parlay bets

Delaware’s new sports-waging plan is limited to offering parlay bets on National Football League games, a federal appeals court concluded.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled last week that Delaware’s original plan, which featured single-game bets on a variety of sports, violated federal law. The judges explained that finding in a 23-page ruling released today.

The state can “institute multigame (parlay) betting on at least three NFL games” without violating federal statutes aimed at restricting the expansion of gambling, a three-judge panel said in the decision.

The NFL, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League and the National Collegiate Athletic Association sued Delaware Governor Jack Markell earlier this year, alleging the sports-betting plan approved by legislators violates Delaware’s constitution and federal law.

Markell pushed the wagering plan to help close an almost $800 million budget gap in the wake of the U.S. recession.

While the decision “does not provide the flexibility we had hoped for, Delaware is still the only state east of the Rocky Mountains that can offer a legal sports lottery on NFL football,” Markell said in a statement today.

“We still believe this is an opportunity to create jobs and generate revenue,” and state lawyers are considering options, Markell said.

After a hearing Aug. 24, the judges decided a new Delaware law authorizing single-game bets violated the 1992 federal Professional Amateur Sports Protection Act, or PASPA, which barred expansion of sports gambling.

“Expanding the very manner in which Delaware conducts gambling activities to new sports” would “engender the very ills that PASPA sought to combat,” the judges wrote.

NFL lawyer Kenneth Nachbar told the judges that single-game betting would “impact on the integrity and image of the game.”

Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment Inc., one of Delaware’s three casino venues, fell 6 cents to $5.99 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading at 12:25 p.m. The Dover-based company’s shares have declined 25 percent in the past year.

The case is Office of the Commissioner of Baseball v. Markell, 09-3297, 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Philadelphia).