The amount of $4.7 billion is expected to be wagered on the 51st edition of the Super Bowl, according to figures posted by the American Gaming Association. The New England Patriots will face off the Atlanta Falcons on February 5 to determine the US National Football League champion.
The AGA said that 97% of all bets, which makes around $4.5 billion, will be made illegally and in violation of a 1992 law that prohibits the provision of sports betting options at a federal level. Several states are exempt from the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), but Nevada is the only place in the US where bets on single events can be placed legally.
According to the AGA, the approximate amount of $132 million will be wagered on the Super Bowl LI match at Nevada’s sportsbooks. On the other hand, illicit bets will be placed at unregulated facilities and websites, the latter mostly run by offshore operators.
Infographic by the American Gaming Association
The AGA has been defending the interests of the US gaming industry since its foundation in the early 1990s. The association has been among the staunchest and most vocal lobbyists for a lift of the PASPA ban. The AGA argues that the regulation of sports betting will allow for the creation of a multi-billion-dollar industry that will contribute substantial tax revenue to state and federal coffers, create multiple jobs, and deploy effective technology for the effective monitoring of betting activity.
AGA members also believe that the federal government’s stubbornness to keep PASPA has so far resulted in the nation losing billions of dollars to offshore operators, professional and amateur sports leagues being put at serious risk of losing their integrity, and bettors being exposed to unregulated betting operations.
AGA’s lobbyism seems to have borne some fruit as its efforts are now supported by different, and powerful, groups, including the National Council of State Legislatures and the US Conference of Mayors.
Several US states have introduced or are planning to introduce sports betting bills, some of those being New York, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. What is more, New Jersey has been among the most active supporters of the idea for the elimination of PASPA.
State lawmakers have continuously argued the Act violates the US Constitution by treating individual states unevenly and depriving them of their right to decide on certain regulatory matters, including the legalization of sports betting within their borders.
New Jersey has brought the matter to the US Supreme Court. Earlier this month, the highest federal court of the US said that it would wait for a brief from the incoming Solicitor General before deciding whether it would hear the state’s case on sports betting. Many interpreted that turn of events as a good sign for New Jersey’s effort as a number of other cases were instantly rejected by the Supreme Court, while its own case has been put on hold for the time being.
