Anyone reading this publication likely knows that in Murphy v. NCAA, the United States Supreme Court (Supreme Court) held that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) is unconstitutional. Even before the decision was published, positive reviews of the Supreme Court’s grant of a writ of certiorari and questions at oral argument (which took place in December of 2017) set off a flurry of activity as companies positioned themselves for expansion of the U.S. sports betting market. For example, Scientific Games (SGI) completed its acquisition of NYX Gaming Group (NYX). One of the primary benefits SGI touted in announcing the deal was its ability to add NYX’s sports betting platform to its gaming and lottery systems. In March of 2018, West Virginia’s Legislature and Governor approved legislation authorizing sports betting at various venues in the State, in anticipation of a positive outcome in the Murphy case.

PASPA, is a federal law that prohibited expansion of sports betting beyond Nevada and four other states who had, as of the enactment of PASPA in 1992, previously had some type of sports betting or commercial casino gambling. One of those states, New Jersey, was given a limited opportunity for one year after the effective date of PASPA to “opt in” and allow sports betting at Atlantic City casinos, but did not avail itself of that opportunity when it was originally available. PASPA also prohibited sports betting on Indian lands, as defined in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, except for tribal lands in Montana, Oregon and Delaware (the three other exempt states who had previously had some form of sportsbetting). Delaware conducted a sports lottery prior to and after PASPA and was, therefore, one of the exempted states, but it was limited to parlay card wagers on NFL games by a previous decision of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Originally published in the Nevada Gaming Lawyer, September 2018.