Despite having a great number of proponents and opponents, sports betting activities haven’t been legalized in many states so far. As a matter of fact, only Nevada-based players are legally allowed to make sports bets. Gambling regulators in several states, including New Jersey, have been putting lots of efforts in legalizing this kind of activities but the fierce opposition they met, made them halt the legislation proceedings.
It has been more than twenty years since the first proposal for sports betting legislation in the United States was announced. One of the toughest opponents of the legislation was the National Basketball Association. Its representatives had no hesitations in supporting the law, commonly known as Paspa. According to it, none of the states should be allowed to legalize any form of sports betting.
However, regulators of all states are well aware of the fact that despite being illegal, sports betting is a widespread form of gambling throughout the United States. The easy access to unregulated markets makes sports betting legislation essential for the economy. Currently, the States lose $400 billion annually because of regulators’ incapability to come up with a new, innovative approach towards solving that complicated matter.
Apparently, things have greatly changed since the disputable Paspa was implemented. Gambling has become an appealing and popular form of entertainment. For those who play a particular game professionally, it can also be a source of an impressive income. In addition, every state has lottery and most of them also have at least one casino venue. Bearing these factors in mind, the authorities of the United States will definitely have to pay closer attention to the sports betting legislation anytime soon.
Although regulators keep neglecting the requests, made by players, who would like to participate in legal sports wagering, the truth is that the longer they postpone taking appropriate actions and implementing changes in Paspa, the worse the situation will become.
New Jersey made attempts for legalizing the sports betting activities and according to several analysts it was a wise move. However, despite the approval of the proposal, the legislation is still a miracle in the Garden State. Four sports leagues disapproved of regulators’ decision to allow sports betting activities in all remaining casinos and racetracks. The opponents said that such a decision is not compatible with Paspa.
Although authorities make their best to distract the audience from that delicate issue, several experts raised the question again and pinpointed that in some European counties residents are free to take part in online sports betting activities and in land-based venues and urged the United States’ regulators give their consent to legalizing them.
According to them, sports betting legislation should pose a problem neither to the legislators nor to the communities that oppose the proposal on grounds that these activities are carefully monitored and every violation of the rules is fined.
