U.S. Supreme Court rules that federal ban on state-sanctioned sports betting is unconstitutional. SCOTUS decided the case in favor of New Jersey 6-3 ruling to lift the federal ban on sports betting.
The long-awaited battle in the case of Murphy vs. NCAA is finally over. And New Jersey has prevailed. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) which till now had made it unlawful for a State to offer sports betting has been deemed a violation of the Constitution on the United States. We can now except NJ betting sites to go live within the next 12 months.
It will now be left to the States to regulate sports gambling which would require many states to update their constitutions to give lawmakers the ability to legalize sports betting. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has said publicly that they could have regulations approved within 90 days of the Supreme Court Ruling and sites live before the end of 2018. So be on the lookout for New Jersey to be one of the first states to launch sports betting outside of Nevada. New Jersey and the DGE have been on the forefront of regulating online gaming, being the first state to legalize online casinos back in November of 2013. With sites such as Golden Nugget Online Casino leading the pack in NJ we can expect to see all the major casino brands in the State offer a sports betting solution in the near future.
Shortly after the decision, DraftKings, Inc. announced that the company will enter the sports betting market.
“Our mission has always been to bring fans closer to the sports they love and now, thanks to the wisdom of the Supreme Court, DraftKings will be able to harness our proven technology to provide our customers with innovative online sports betting products,” said Jason Robins, CEO and co-founder of DraftKings. “This ruling gives us the ability to further diversify our product offerings and build on our unique capacity to drive fan engagement.”
DraftKings is well-positioned to capitalize on sports betting, given that it already runs the world’s largest daily fantasy sports mobile platform that includes stringent consumer protections and transparency for nearly 10 million customers. Even with today’s announcement, DraftKings remains fully committed to its popular daily fantasy sports business, which will continue to be a major focus for the company.
“Today’s Supreme Court ruling is welcome news to the millions of Americans who currently wager $150 billion illegally each year through off-shore, black market bookies,” said Robins. “States are now free to allow their residents to place mobile sports bets with licensed, trusted companies based in the U.S. and that pay taxes here.”
