Insight
UNITED STATES Sports-betting
AT A GLANCE NHL Announces Sports Betting
Partnership with MGM Resorts l
Caesars Entertainment First Gaming Company to Sign Deal
with NBA and NHL Team l
New Mexico Joins Sports Betting
Gold Rush l
Sports Betting Expansion Looks
Likely in Virginia l
NCAA “Publishes Sports Wagering Principles”
State Tracker New Mexico
New Mexico has become the sixth state to allow sports betting. Betting got underway at the Santa Ana Star Casino Hotel in Bernalillo, located just outside of Albuquerque, with betting restricted to on-site wagering. However, online gambling and sports betting remain illegal in the state and customers are not permitted to bet on any local teams.
Bets are being taken on National Football League (NFL) Major League Baseball (MLB) and National Basketball Association (NBA) games, along with college sports. The sports book is being run by Nevada-based operator USBookmaking.
National Focus
Te National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has published its “Sports Wagering Principles” and handed it to the Indiana legislature. Te principles amount to a framework which it hopes will shape how college sports betting will be regulated in the future in other states.
Crucially, the NCAA wants no integrity fee. Tis issue has caused considerable controversy amongst lawmakers in most state legislatures who argue that the NCAA should already being regulating college sports to a degree that makes any additional funding unnecessary. However, pro leagues are still lobbying for a percentage of all bets in order to pay for the additional costs of monitoring the leagues and ensure compliance. But while the NCAA has done away with the call for fees it has called for certain restrictions as it argues that in play bets on individual events or actions during contests increases “the opportunity for match-fixing
P44 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA
and other corrupt practices related to sports betting.” Te NCAA also outlined its desire for “clear and enforceable legal standards to protect the integrity of American sporting contests, the health and safety of student- athletes and professional participant and consumers.”
It would also raise the age for gambling on college sports to twenty-one in order to exclude the majority of college students from betting and put in place resources to protect fans and ensure the integrity of college sports.
In another positive step in October the NCAA voted to establish a new committee to address the expansion of legalised sports betting. According to a statement the Board of Governors Ad Hoc Committee on Sports Wagering “will examine the sports wagering landscape and its potential impact on current NCAA rules, educational efforts, player
availability reporting, and any associated risks as more states legalise sports wagering.”
In August, the NCAA along with the NFL released a joint statement calling on safeguards and a new set of rules now that gambling is permitted on college sports in some sates. In the statement the NCAA and NFL, both of which had fought strongly against PASPA repeal, said that protecting the integrity of college sports is “of paramount importance to the NFL and NCAA.” Tey also called for “core federal standards which are critical to safeguarding the sports we love, the millions of athletes across the country who play these games at all levels and our fans.” Te association also praised the efforts of Senators Chuck Schumer (D) and Republican Orrin Hatch (now retired) both of whom have been pushing for a federal outline on sports betting in the country, which would protect both the integrity of sports and consumer rights.
US Sports-Betting Update
State Tracker Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Gaming Regulator has given the go ahead for three more Pennsylvania casinos to run sports-wagering operations. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved sports-betting licenses for Harrah's Philadelphia Casino & Racetrack, Rivers Casino Pittsburgh and the SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia. Earlier in October, the board awarded licenses to Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race and Philadelphia’s Parx Casino.
Pennsylvania was always likely to be on the forefront of any possible expansion for sports betting although it has been a long process and operators have been discouraged by a very high tax rate. In October 2017, state governor Tom Wolf signed a law, which allowed casinos in the state to offer mobile and online games including online poker, table games and slots as well as sports betting in casinos on both professional and college sports. The law, which went into effect once PASPA was overturned by the US Supreme Court in May, called for a $10 million application fee and a 34 percent tax on gross sports wagering revenue. Although the taxes are high five of the state’s twelve existing casinos have now been granted a licence. Sports betting could go live as early as late November or early December.
State Tracker Indiana
The state interim Committee on Public Policy has voted to recommend that the General Assembly consider pro sports betting legislation. Legislators made the recommendation after hearing from a number of bodies including The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the NBA, the Casino Association of Indiana, and the Indiana Gaming Commission. The recommendation was passed 9-0 in the committee stage.
The decision was made after a Gaming Commission ordered report predicted that revenue from sports betting in Indiana could grow to $256 million per year in five years time. However, that figure will depend on what rules legislators ultimately put in place. Indiana has a good chance of passing sports betting legislation soon.
House Bill 1325 was introduced in the 2018 legislative session by Indiana Rep. Alan Morrison, which allows for sports wagering at riverboats, racinos, and satellite facilities. It also allows for online sports betting. After the Supreme Court decision, Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives Brian Bosma said that the study committee would lay the necessary groundwork for consideration next year.
State Tracker Virginia
Virginia could well be moving ahead with sports betting. While sports betting legislation is at a very early stage rumours have been circulating that the state could try to approve legal sports betting at next year’s legislature for some months.
In October state delegate, Marcus Simon (D) announced that he was working on a bill that would legalise sports betting in the state by 2019. According to the lawmaker, sports betting would be a good fit with already existing betting facilities and the state is already losing out on gaming tax revenue across state lines.
Talking to local state press Simon argued: “I think there will be some appetite for this. I think there is certainly a revenue opportunity in Virginia. We already see a lot of our residents’ dollars go across the river to the MGM casino, and we lose out on a lot of opportunities to capture some of that revenue...
“I think you can probably find a way to combine sportsbooks with the existing horseracing and off-track betting that exists. And there is probably a way to facilitate online sports gaming as well.”
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