Pennsylvania wants PASPA overturned

According to a report in ESPN Tuesday the state of Pennsylvania may be about to join other US states (notably led by New Jersey) in seeking the repeal of the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which restricts sports betting in the US to just four states.

Pennsylvania Representative Rob Matzie has introduced a resolution urging Congress to lift the federal ban and allow states that have legalised and properly regulated casino gaming offering sports betting through strictly licensed facilities, the publication reports.

“In order to protect the public and ensure the integrity of not only professional sports but the Commonwealth’s current licensed gaming industry, the Federal Government must adapt to changing perceptions of sports betting and allow states that offer legal forms of gambling to decide if licensing and regulating sports betting is in the best interest of its residents,” Matzie’s resolution asserts.

The report comes soon after news that New Jersey’s three-year battle to legalise intrastate sports betting enters a critical stage with a full bench haring on February 17 in the US Third Circuit Court of Appeals, a finding that will set a powerful precedent .

Matzie’s resolution cites a 2008 report conducted for the NBA’s board of governors that estimated that $325 billion to $400 billion is wagered on sports in the U.S. annually….almost all of it in unregulated markets through offshore sportsbooks and local unlicensed bookmakers.

In 2014, $3.9 billion was wagered through Nevada’s legal sportsbooks alone.

The American Gaming Association estimates that nearly $145 billion was bet on sports in the U.S. last year and says that’s a “clear indication that the status quo is unsustainable.”

California, New York, Indiana, South Carolina and Texas were among states to consider sports-betting legislation in 2015, ESPN reports.