NHL Partners with MGM

On October 29, 2018, the NHL announced a partnership with MGM Resorts International and became the second North American sports league to reach a partnership with the professional sports betting operator. As per the terms, the NHL officially designated MGM Resorts as the official sports betting partner of the NHL. Specifically, the deal allows MGM Resorts to host NHL promotional opportunities and establishes MGM Resorts as an official resorts partner of the NHL. Further, the deal provides MGM Resorts access to the NHL’s proprietary game …

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Supreme Court Bets on Federalism in Sports Gambling Ruling

On Monday, May 14, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down a federal statute controlling the states’ ability to regulate sports gambling, destroying Nevada’s monopoly and opening the door for other states to get in on the multi-billion dollar industry. In its majority opinion, the court voted to strike down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA). Although PAPSA did not make sports gambling itself a federal crime, the Act made it unlawful for states to promote, license, …

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Massachusetts Bill Proposes Legalization of Daily Fantasy Sports Amid Pending Supreme Court Ruling

On February 14, 2018, Massachusetts Legislature introduced a bill aimed at legalizing and taxing daily fantasy sports (DFS).  The timing for the bill could be particularly timely depending on how the Supreme Court decides to rule on the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which currently prohibits sports betting across the country.  As we have previously covered, the issue is still pending with the Supreme Court, though many states are hopeful for a decision by mid-March.

Senator Eileen Donoghue, the initiator of bill …

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NBA Calls for Legalization of Sports Betting

On January 24, 2018, the NBA’s Assistant General Counsel, Dan Spillane, testified in front of a New York State Senate committee and expressed the NBA’s support for a body of law that would legalize sports betting. Spillane said, “[w]e have studied these issues at length …[o]ur conclusion is that the time has come for a different approach that gives sports fans a safe and legal way to wager on sporting events while protecting the integrity of the underlying competitions.” Spillane’s testimony comes in stark …

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Florida Law Professor Requests Argument Before Court on Sports Betting

On October 17, 2017, Florida State University professor Ryan Rodenberg asked the U.S. Supreme Court in an amicus brief to consider all of its options before ruling on a challenge to a federal sports betting ban. Rodenberg, whose research is in sports law analytics, requested the court to grant him five minutes in oral arguments to argue that the court should rule based on the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) without ruling on the law’s constitutionality.

Rodenberg’s amicus brief is his latest …

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Will the U.S. Supreme Court “Take a Gamble” on New Jersey’s Stance to Legalize Sports Betting?

On Tuesday, September 5, 2017, the State of New Jersey, a state horsemen’s association, and a group of policy members urged the United States Supreme Court to deem a federal law prohibiting states from authorizing sports betting unconstitutional. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) is a federal law that directs states to maintain in effect their state-law prohibition on sports betting. New Jersey is trying to overturn the Third Circuit’s August 2016 holding that New Jersey’s attempt to repeal its sports betting …

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Indian Gaming Association Latest to Join Coalition to Legalize Sports Gambling

On June 26, 2017, the Supreme Court agreed to tackle the hotly debated question of whether the federal government should be able to prohibit states from legalizing sports gambling. The lawsuit commenced six years ago, when New Jersey Governor Chris Christie implemented a state law that would enable New Jersey casinos and racetracks to offer sports wagers. That New Jersey law was then challenged by the NCAA and “Big Four” of professional sports leagues, the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL. The opposition argued that the …

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New Jersey Fights Back for Supreme Court Sports Betting Review

On Tuesday, June 6, 2017, New Jersey and the state’s Thoroughbred Horseman’s (NJHTA) association made a final push to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to review whether a federal law, PASPA, can prevent New Jersey from repealing its laws banning sports betting in its state. Also referred to as the Bradley Act (the name of the law’s main sponsor, Sen. Bill Bradley), PASPA was intended to stop the spread of sports betting in the United States. Passed in 1992, PASPA stopped new states from legalizing …

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Another State Launches Attack on the Federal PASPA: West Virginia Introduces Bill Calling for the Legalization of Sports Betting

West Virginia has joined several other states in their quest to legalize sports betting by introducing a bill that calls the federal prohibition on states from allowing the practice unconstitutional.

On Wednesday, March 1, 2017, West Virginia State Representative Shawn Fluharty introduced House Bill 2751, which seeks to legalize and regulate sports betting in the state and alleges that the federal Professional and Armature Sports Protection Act (PASPA) is unconstitutional. The Bill declares that sports betting is lawful if it complies with the Lottery …

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Will President Trump Change the Course of Sports Betting in the United States?

Earlier this month, the United States Supreme Court chose not to strike down New Jersey’s challenge to the federal ban on sport betting, but rather called upon President Donald Trump and his administration to opine on the controversial issue. This decision comes after New Jersey’s multi-year long fight to convince the federal government to end its ban on sport betting, in order to benefit New Jersey’s struggling casinos and racetracks.

As background, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) has prohibited most states …

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