Since the repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in May, New Jersey, Delaware, Mississippi and West Virginia have all legalised sports betting, which is within their jurisdiction as individual states.
However, Senator Chuck Schumer recently proposed a federal sports betting framework that would be uniformly implemented across all states.
This proposal received the backing of major US sports leagues such as the NFL, NBA, MLB and PGA Tour. By contrast, the American Gaming Association warned against a repeat of the “abject failure” of past federal involvement.
Speaking at an industry event, he said: “There are pros and cons. The pro is that, instead of being state by state, with a bunch of rules taking a while to be implemented, it would be done consistently.
“The con is that, if it’s not done well, everything is not done well as opposed to a few states getting it right and others not. I think state by state is a little safer.”
