Nevada awaits Supreme Court ruling on sports betting

WASHINGTON — With millions expected to be wagered illegally on the upcoming Super Bowl, Nevada and gaming officials are eagerly awaiting a U.S. Supreme Court decision on whether states should be allowed to offer legal sports betting.

The Supreme Court this month delayed a decision on a case brought by New Jersey that challenges a federal law that allows sports wagering only in Nevada and three other states: Delaware, Montana and Oregon.

New Jersey asserts that the law, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, is unconstitutional and that it restricts states from repealing their own laws so they can offer regulated and taxed gaming.

Other states, including Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi and West Virginia, have joined the challenge.

Nevada has not filed a brief in the case, and Gov. Brian Sandoval said a ruling in favor of New Jersey would help in the fight to reduce illegal gaming and would do little to hurt the Silver State’s position as a global destination for gambling and entertainment.

“I think it will be helpful in terms of illegal gaming, because obviously to bet in Nevada you have to be in Nevada,” Sandoval told the Review-Journal.

“People are still going to come to Las Vegas and bet on the Super Bowl and make their sports bets,” Sandoval said. “You don’t come to Las Vegas just to sports-bet. You come to eat the food, stay in the hotels, see the shows, to have a great experience.

“I’ve always felt that if you expand sports betting, it really wouldn’t hurt our state.”

Nevada is the only state that was exempted from the 1992 law and allowed to offer wagering on sports contests, including football, basketball, baseball, golf and others.

The three other states were granted permission to offer limited gaming on sports, including pools.

The Supreme Court has for now delayed a decision on whether to hear the New Jersey case, offering time for the U.S. solicitor general to submit a brief in the case.

President Donald Trump has yet to select a solicitor general.

BILLIONS SEEN IN ILLEGAL GAMBLING

The American Gaming Association filed an amicus brief with the high court claiming that the federal ban on sports betting in states is driving $150 billion annually in illicit gambling enterprises.

Geoff Freeman, the AGA’s president, said the law “threatens the integrity of games, presents fundamental questions about states’ sovereignty to define their own laws and combat crime within their borders, and prevents fans from engaging in the sports they enjoy in a safe legal way.”

The AGA said allowing states to offer legal gambling on sports would help curb illegal games and offer consumer protections through a system that is regulated.

Since the law was signed into law in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush, the AGA says, trillions of dollars have been bet on sports illegally.

The AGA estimates that $4.5 billion will be illegally wagered on Super Bowl LI this week.

Supreme Court justices must now decide whether to hear the challenge brought by New Jersey. If they take the case, a decision would likely not come until later in the year at the earliest.

New Jersey has casino gambling but not sports wagering.

Although Congress gave New Jersey a window to have sports wagering before the federal ban went into effect, the state failed to pass a law to enact it.

New Jersey has taken legal steps to get around the 1992 law, but those efforts have failed in federal courts and a federal appeals court in Pennsylvania.

The Department of Justice has argued that state attempts to approve sports betting remain in violation of the 1992 law.

But the Supreme Court, in its order, said: “The Acting Solicitor General is invited to file a brief in these cases expressing the views of the United States.”

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or at 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.