Federal Bills Introduced to Overturn Sports Betting Ban

Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ 2nd) and Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ 6th) have asked members of the US House of Representatives to support two bills introduced to roll back the Federal ban on expanded state-licensed sports betting.

In a letter to colleagues, Reps. LoBiondo and Pallone asked members to support H.R.3809, “the New Jersey Betting and Equal Treatment Act of 2012″, which seeks ”to exclude the State of New Jersey from the prohibition on professional and amateur sports gambling”; and H.R.3797 - “the Sports Gaming Opportunity Act of 2012″ , which would “permit a 4-year period [for] States to enact statutes…[for] wagering schemes involving professional and amateur sports.

Congress was asked to consider the economic benefits of rolling back the Professional & Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1991 (PASPA).  “Recent estimates have found that the sports gaming market could bring in billions of dollars in new revenue to New Jersey,” LoBiondo and Pallone wrote. “New Jersey’s regulation of sports betting promises considerable revenues that will benefit the state and provide funding for vital programs.”

The push on sports betting in the US Congress follows a move in the California state senate, where a committee this week approved a bill that would permit sports betting at the state’s tribal casinos, tracks and card rooms.

“Momentum is building for expanded, state-regulated sports betting in the US,” said Joe Brennan Jr., director of IMEGA. “With the success we’ve had in New Jersey, with voters approving sports betting in the November 2011 election by a 2-to-1 margin, lawmakers in Washington DC and elsewhere are taking a greater interest in the role that government can play in legalizing the activity, while protecting the integrity of the games through tight regulation and monitoring.”