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ESPN has uncovered court documents revealing opinions by both the U.S. Justice Department and the NFL that sports betting is more a game of skill than chance, an important legal distinction that could shape the expanded legalization of wagering on American sports. Skill-based contests are also more likely to be permitted under U.S. law.
The statements by legal counsel of both entities were made in 2013, according to ESPN. That same year, the NFL sued New Jersey in an effort to prevent the state from offering legalized sports betting. Daily Fantasy Sports were also in their developmental stage in 2013. Two years later nearly half the NFL teams have partnered with one of two behemoth Daily Fantasy Sports sites, Draftkings and FanDuel.
In 2013, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch – then the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York - wrote in United States v. DiCristina:
"Sports betting ... involves 'substantial [not slight] skill.' Sports bettors can employ superior knowledge of the games, teams, and players in order to exploit odds that do not reflect the true likelihoods of the possible outcomes."
Lynch pointed to prominent Las Vegas sports bettor and businessman Billy Walters as an example of sports betting being skill. Lynch also explained how certain sports bettors move betting lines, a skillful technique analogous to bluffing in poker:
"While a sports bettor cannot [legally] influence the outcome of a game, sports bettors can and do influence the 'betting line' or 'point spread' in order to improve their odds of making a successful bet," she wrote. "Specifically, a gambler intending to make a large bet on one team may first place one or more smaller, strategic bets on the other team to move the betting line and make it more favorable for the ultimate intended bet."
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
