The Possible Repeal of the PASPA and the Future of the Gambling Industry

Back in 1992, the United States of America accepted the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act which is known as PASPA or the Bradley Act. However one chooses to refer to it, the act prohibits sports gambling such as traditional sports betting outside Nevada. On Dec 04 (Monday), the Supreme Court held a hearing of arguments as to why the act is unconstitutional.

The hearing lasted one hour, and it allowed a number of interested states including New Jersy to present their reasons as to why each state should regulate the gambling on their own. The hearing was deemed successful by the casino industry, and so the states that spoke at the conference are hopeful that they will, in fact, be allowed to regulate gambling on their own.

Now, the gambling industry is a highly lucrative one as in the United States of America people bet about $150 billion every year. Of that, $5 billion is regularly coming through the regulated sports books in the state of Nevada. According to the estimates of Oxford Economics, if the PASPA is repealed would have a yearly economic impact of up to $26.6 in case market became regulated.

Individuals working in the casino industry all had something to say on the matter, and the Supreme Court also had a good deal of question to ask. Some of the concerns had to do with the black market which has been having a prosperous time lately. Mr. Geoff Freeman, the President and Chief executive officer of the American Gaming Association, shared that a few members of the Supreme Court had been questioning if the authors of PASPA are planning on creating a system that might allow for entirely unregulated betting on sports.

Over the years the black market in the casino industry has been growing as a vast number of American choose to do betting offshore through gambling sites that are not being regulated by law. According to the estimates of the research group of Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, Americans spend at least $60 billion on betting trough unregulated offshore websites every year. In any case, it is impossible to predict exactly what will happen if the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act is repealed.

It was made obvious, however, that some of the members of the Supreme Court were ”sympathetic” to the cases that different state representatives made at the hearing on the Dec 04. The argument that New Jersey made was the most appealing one as far as Mr. Freeman is aware. In any case, the hearing can only bring the resolution of the matter that much closer.

There are those that are opposed to the repeal of PASPA. One of the opponents is NCAA and other major sports leagues. NCAA even sued New Jersy in an attempt to prevent it from launching its sports books at the casinos in Atlantic City. New Jersey is preparing for the possible approval of the decision to repeal the act and will be able to start taking bets within a couple of weeks of the repeal of the act.