Sport’s gambling in states (and countries) outside Nevada just got a green light…..
The Supreme Court on Monday opened the door for states to allow betting on sporting events, invalidating a federal law that prohibited such wagers in most of the U.S.
The court, in an opinion by Justice Samuel Alito, sided with a challenge brought by the state of New Jersey, which has waged a six-year battle to allow sports betting within its borders.
The state has been unable to do so because of the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, a federal law that says states can’t “sponsor, operate, advertise, promote, license, or authorize” sports gambling.
Bets on individual sporting events now takes place only in Nevada, whose long wagering history allowed it to be grandfathered into the federal law.
New Jersey argued the federal law was an intrusion upon states’ rights, and the Supreme Court agreed.
The high court said the 1992 law exceeded the powers of Congress. Congress can regulate sports gambling directly, the court said, but it can’t direct states on how to regulate their own citizens.
The ruling could bring major changes to the wagering landscape, with ramifications for U.S. professional sports leagues and college athletics, as well as casinos and European betting shops, which have been eager to tap into the U.S. market…..