Nebraska and All 50 States Should Legalize Sports Gambling

This past May, The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) was unconstitutional. PASPA was the law that outlawed sports gambling in 49 states, the only exception was Nevada. When the decision was announced, many states began to try and pass regulations to legalize sports gambling in their states and many have either already began accepting bets or will in the near future. Those states will also generate a whole lot of income.  

Every year 5 billion is wagered on sporting events in Las Vegas, for many years it was the only major city in America where it is legal to bet on sports. But, in recent years, many offshore websites have begun to offer sports gambling to anybody over the age of 21, living in the United States. Is it legal? No. Do people still do it? Yes, in a major way. Around $400,000,000,000 was gambled by Americans on offshore online books last year. That is 2% of the entire American Economy, and yet it is happening under cover without any regulation and controlled by people not living in the United States. States cannot tax people on it either. 

All that has changed in many states. But somehow not all 50 states are working to legalize this massive money-making machine. If the $400,000,000,000 was not wagered under cover, but instead in a regulated, taxed environment, this country would be a whole lot richer. If every illegal wager placed last year, was taxed 0.05%, an extra $20,000,000,000 would be brought into this country. It does not take a genius to know that is a significant amount of money. There is no doubt that it would mean lower taxes, and better public services.  

Many people will argue that it is not morally right for the government to allow people to gamble on sports. The fact of the matter is, people are not going to stop putting skin in the game, so it is better for them to do it in a fully regulated market, than under cover with illegal offshore bookies. More people will argue that some gamblers will have a gambling obsession and will want to be treated for it by federal government services. Even if gambling became legal nationwide, it would be nowhere close to the effects that alcohol has on Americans. 

Nationwide legal sports gambling is something that needs to happen. It is better for gamblers to have rights and gamble in a regulated market, and it is better for non-gamblers because states would be getting much more revenue. It has been going on in Nevada and Europe for a long time, and there is not a major problem in any of those places, so there is no reason to believe it would be a problem here, and so it needs to happen. And, it can be quite fun to have something on a game, every now and then.