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THE RISE AND LEGISLATION OF SPORTS BETTING IN THE UNITED STATES

By Kendall Jenkins on 2019-12-14 09:23:00

Sports betting may just be the main future of gambling in the United States. In Europe sports betting makes up almost half of the gambling revenue that they make. This may eventually be the case for the US in no time.

Europeans wagering on sports and generally gambling isn’t really a shock. After all, most forms of gambling are legal in Europe. Meanwhile, the United States has a different story when it comes to gambling on casinos and wagering on sports.

Casinos are only legal to operate in some states and this is also the case for sports betting, whether it’s online or not. However, in May 2018, things started to change for the sports betting industry in the United States.

The Supreme Court of the US struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 last year. This means that sports betting can then be locally legalized. It’s up to the state’s government whether they will allow sports betting or not.

Technically, placing bets on sports isn’t completely illegal in the US even before PASPA was stricken down. Americans have always wagered on sports, but this isn’t illegal. It’s as long as they place their bets on offshore sportsbooks.

However, doing so includes the risks of fraudulent activities. When a problem is encountered with the offshore casinos or bookies, it may also be hard to have them resolved. Another issue is that all revenues will of course not go to the local state.

This is why many states were quick to act on regulating sports betting locally. Now, since there are still states that haven’t legalized and launched sports betting yet, punters are still expected to place their bets offshore. In fact, there are still some out there who would do so in the black market.

Responsible gambling is still key if this is the case. Locals of states that haven’t launched sports betting yet like Michigan can still wager offshore, but it’s still best to make sure that they are doing this with reputable and trust-worthy online casinos or bookies.

It’s a punter’s responsibility to check on a site and verify if it’s legitimate and licensed. Websites like SportsbookCasinos have great and through reviews of casinos and sportsbooks online. This is a good place to check the reputation of a gambling site.

Now what’s really illegal before was operating sports betting locally and now, some states can do this freely. However, even if some states have already legalized sports betting, some of them still has limitations.

In New York, online sports betting is still on the works. New Yorkers will still have to go to land-based bookies and casinos to wager on sports and this is one of the main opportunities that the New York government has regarding the legislation of sports betting.

The launch of sports betting in New York was indeed a big step but the locals still seem to be craving for the mobile convenience of betting. It’s just really better to place your bets anywhere they are and without having the need to travel to a bookie or a casino.

There’s still no update yet as to when online betting will be locally available for New Yorkers, but many are hoping that it should be good sometime next year. On the other hand, states like Illinois and Michigan already included the legislation of online sports betting even if they haven’t launched it yet.

Currently, states like New Jersey, Nevada, West Virginia, New York, Colorado, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Iowa, Virginia, and Mississippi has already legalized sports betting. Indeed, Michigan is already making a move towards its legislation. A bill that concerns legalizing sports betting in the state is now just waiting for the Governor’s signature.

There are only a few states left that remains unmoved about legalizing sports betting, but it’s a big possibility that these states will eventually decide on this. There are surely many factors to consider when it comes to legalizing sports betting in each state. 

Of course, not everyone will always be in favor of this. A solid argument of how it would benefit the state has to be presented and sometimes, researches and studies regarding this may take a while.

Overall, just the fact that more and more states are legalizing sports betting means that it could be very beneficial for the locals and the local government. This is why it’s not impossible that sports betting will also be the favorite way that the Americans gamble.

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