The stakes are high and so is the number of bets on how far the federal and state governments will go towards legalizing sports betting. It’s been a long, long time that sports betting has remained illegal in the United States, which has given rise to a $148.8 billion illegal sports betting market. This should be an eye opener for the authorities, which should obviously be looked at as a major avenue for earning great revenue in taxes.
At the end of 2016 the US will have a new president and the CEO of the American Gaming Association, Geoff Freeman, predicts that the new president is likely to legalize sports betting and expand it way beyond to what it currently is, which is in just a few states.
Trib Live reported that Freeman said he was confident that the next US president would make the right decision and legalize sports betting. What is needed is a fresh, balanced approach to the industry. Earlier, the AGA pointed out that although as much as $9.2 billion was bet on March Madness only $262 million was generated by Nevada’s regulated and licensed sportsbooks.
The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 only legalized sports betting in Nevada, Montana, and Delaware. Nevada is the only state with sportsbooks and they have generated $231.8 million from gamblers in 2015 alone. As much as $132 million was also bet on the Super Bowl, and one of those bets includes the current president. On the other hand, Pennsylvania is closely watching neighboring New Jersey’s online gambling revenue and is interested in sports betting if it is legalized.
For the most part, Delaware is looking to expand its online gaming to sports betting, which it currently has only in the form of parlays.
The bottom line is that sports betting is too prevalent to remain illegal. An estimated $80 billion to $380 billion is wagered through illegal betting. Those billions can easily be taxed, bringing much needed revenue to the states. This is why proponents of online sports betting remain optimistic that the entire country may be moving towards legalizing sports betting. While lawmakers, politicians and judges weigh the options, fans of online gambling and the betting industry await the future.
