[h=1]Book it: New casino will have sports betting[/h] [h=5]Updated 7:35 am, Sunday, December 21, 2014[/h]
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Here's one bet on the casino that's about to be built in Schenectady: Within the next decade, it will include a sports book.
It's only a matter of time before you can bet the horses all day in Saratoga and then wager on humans all night at the Rivers Casino and Resort.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie already is challenging a 1992 federal law that bans state legalization of sports wagering outside Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon.
But even if Christie fails to get sports books into Atlantic City during this legal go-round, there likely will be another state with casino gaming ready to pick up the baton.
Like, New York?
John Bonacic (R-Mount Hope), chairman of the state senate Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering, noted that if the federal ban were overturned, the legislation that allows for casino gaming in New York already makes sports wagering a possibility.
"People bet unlawfully on sports in New York every day, which provides a revenue source for criminal enterprises," Bonacic said through a spokesperson in response to a question about the future of sports betting in New York. "I believe this issue should be thoroughly reviewed, and the public should be given an opportunity to weigh in on it."
The public already has weighed in: By some estimates, $400 billion worth of illegal sports bets are made annually.
And in 2012, New Jersey voters supported a referendum to legalize sports betting by a 2-to-1 margin.
At the time, Christie brazenly was trying to legalize sports wagering in defiance of the federal ban. The courts ultimately denied him.
Undeterred, he tried an end-around: Instead of explicit legalization, he'd repeal New Jersey's own laws prohibiting sports wagering. (It's akin to legalizing marijuana only by no longer arresting people for possession and distribution.) The NCAA and major sports leagues sued and, for now, have won.
New Jersey will appeal, pushing the battle into 2015.
But meanwhile, this past month, NBA commissioner Adam Silver wrote a New York Times op-ed arguing that the federal ban ought to be overturned.
That may seem odd, considering the NBA remains a party to the lawsuit blocking Christie's move.
But Silver's op-ed explains that he's only against New Jersey legalizing sports wagering until there is a "federal framework" in place to regulate the industry.
In other words: Even the commissioner of a major sports league is in favor of legalized sports betting.
"There is an obvious appetite among sports fans for a safe and legal way to wager on professional sporting events," Silver wrote.
The business of sports and sports gambling are ever more intertwined. The NBA now is an investor in FanDuel, and the NHL is partnering with DraftKings; both companies offer online fantasy games that allow participants to win tens of thousands of dollars.
And does anyone think the NFL's RedZone channel, which shows every score in every game, isn't geared toward fantasy football players?
One note on fantasy sports: They're gambling, sure, but in the eyes of the law, they're much different than wagering on the outcome of games.
While the federal ban prohibits betting on the outcomes of games, a 2006 law that made most online poker games illegal did include allowances for certain fantasy games. The online fantasy sports industry since has boomed.
In fact, there's nothing stopping casinos from offering fantasy sports games. The problem is, there's no reason to go to a casino to play fantasy football. You have an iPhone for that.
But right now there are only two ways to bet on games: through a Las Vegas casino, or illegally.
That's untenable. The federal government won't continue to look the other way while a $400 billion a year underground economy flourishes.
So it has two options: The government can legalize more forms of gambling, or it could devote more resources to cracking down on illegal gambling.
"If I'm forced to guess between the two, I believe sports gambling will be legalized in the United States," said Marc Edelman, a professor of law at Baruch College's Zicklin School of Business. "There's a strong likelihood that in 10 years we'll have legal sports wagering in this country."
And when that happens, you won't have to fly to Vegas or find an underground bookmaker to get in your Giants bet. There will be a sports book open for business right in Schenectady
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Here's one bet on the casino that's about to be built in Schenectady: Within the next decade, it will include a sports book.
It's only a matter of time before you can bet the horses all day in Saratoga and then wager on humans all night at the Rivers Casino and Resort.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie already is challenging a 1992 federal law that bans state legalization of sports wagering outside Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon.
But even if Christie fails to get sports books into Atlantic City during this legal go-round, there likely will be another state with casino gaming ready to pick up the baton.
Like, New York?
John Bonacic (R-Mount Hope), chairman of the state senate Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering, noted that if the federal ban were overturned, the legislation that allows for casino gaming in New York already makes sports wagering a possibility.
"People bet unlawfully on sports in New York every day, which provides a revenue source for criminal enterprises," Bonacic said through a spokesperson in response to a question about the future of sports betting in New York. "I believe this issue should be thoroughly reviewed, and the public should be given an opportunity to weigh in on it."
The public already has weighed in: By some estimates, $400 billion worth of illegal sports bets are made annually.
And in 2012, New Jersey voters supported a referendum to legalize sports betting by a 2-to-1 margin.
At the time, Christie brazenly was trying to legalize sports wagering in defiance of the federal ban. The courts ultimately denied him.
Undeterred, he tried an end-around: Instead of explicit legalization, he'd repeal New Jersey's own laws prohibiting sports wagering. (It's akin to legalizing marijuana only by no longer arresting people for possession and distribution.) The NCAA and major sports leagues sued and, for now, have won.
New Jersey will appeal, pushing the battle into 2015.
But meanwhile, this past month, NBA commissioner Adam Silver wrote a New York Times op-ed arguing that the federal ban ought to be overturned.
That may seem odd, considering the NBA remains a party to the lawsuit blocking Christie's move.
But Silver's op-ed explains that he's only against New Jersey legalizing sports wagering until there is a "federal framework" in place to regulate the industry.
In other words: Even the commissioner of a major sports league is in favor of legalized sports betting.
"There is an obvious appetite among sports fans for a safe and legal way to wager on professional sporting events," Silver wrote.
The business of sports and sports gambling are ever more intertwined. The NBA now is an investor in FanDuel, and the NHL is partnering with DraftKings; both companies offer online fantasy games that allow participants to win tens of thousands of dollars.
And does anyone think the NFL's RedZone channel, which shows every score in every game, isn't geared toward fantasy football players?
One note on fantasy sports: They're gambling, sure, but in the eyes of the law, they're much different than wagering on the outcome of games.
While the federal ban prohibits betting on the outcomes of games, a 2006 law that made most online poker games illegal did include allowances for certain fantasy games. The online fantasy sports industry since has boomed.
In fact, there's nothing stopping casinos from offering fantasy sports games. The problem is, there's no reason to go to a casino to play fantasy football. You have an iPhone for that.
But right now there are only two ways to bet on games: through a Las Vegas casino, or illegally.
That's untenable. The federal government won't continue to look the other way while a $400 billion a year underground economy flourishes.
So it has two options: The government can legalize more forms of gambling, or it could devote more resources to cracking down on illegal gambling.
"If I'm forced to guess between the two, I believe sports gambling will be legalized in the United States," said Marc Edelman, a professor of law at Baruch College's Zicklin School of Business. "There's a strong likelihood that in 10 years we'll have legal sports wagering in this country."
And when that happens, you won't have to fly to Vegas or find an underground bookmaker to get in your Giants bet. There will be a sports book open for business right in Schenectady
