SCOTUS Legalizes Sports Gambling for States
CHARLOTTE, NC — You can bet on it!
A landmark ruling by the Supreme Court may change the landscape of sports betting in the Carolinas. And the decision may seriously boost the value of sports franchises, like the Panthers, for their owners.
“For so many years, sports gambling has taken place in the dark alleys, and across the internet,” says Todd Fuhrman, former Las Vegas odds maker and founder of the Bet the Board podcast.
Now the sun is shining on the sports gambling industry.
On Monday, the Supreme Court struck down the professional and amateur sports protection act, opening the way for individual states to decide if they want a cut of the nearly $150 billion wagered on sports, illegally, every year.
“I think they’re going to see the revenue that sports gambling can produce,” says former NC senator Malcolm Graham. “It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense that you can bet on a game in Las Vegas, but you can’t bet on the game in Charlotte.”
Graham was in office when North Carolina added the lottery in 2005. He says South Carolina, which proposed amending its state constitution to allow betting on pro sports in 2017, will make the move.
Graham says North Carolina will follow close behind.
“That’s what happened with the lottery, we were losing so much money to Virginia, as well as South Carolina, it made sense that we kept the money right here at home,” says Graham. “And I think you’ll see the same thing happening with sports gambling.”
Vegas insider Todd Fuhrman says at least ten states will have legalized sports gambling by the start of football season.
The professional sports leagues were hoping to help write regulation for legalized sports gambling at the federal level, but for now, it’s up to the states.
“I think everybody in and around professional sports, and even college athletics to a lesser extent, seems poised to benefit from a regulated, and legalized, sports betting marketplace here in the US,” says Fuhrman.
Graham says he expects state legislators to start discussing legalized sports betting in North Carolina in the short session, which starts Wednesday. And a bill could be proposed as soon as January.
