Originally published at: How the Supreme Court Kicked Off America’s Sports Betting Addiction Crisis - TPM – Talking Points Memo
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It was originally published at Balls and Strikes. In 2017, Americans legally wagered $4.9 billion on sporting events. Last year, they bet over $165 billion. And the true costs of their bets were even higher: One-quarter of sports bettors, surveyed by U.S. News last summer, worried that they couldn’t control…
Interesting history. So, do we want a federal government which can block states from legalizing, say, abortions? From the context here, where as TPM readers we agree the Supreme Court is largely a bad, and bad faith, actor, I assume this article’s placement is meant to be yet more evidence for this obvious thesis. Yes, the Court’s rotten to the core. But is this in particular evidence for that, really?
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It really does just seem to be an interesting history, although I take your point.
left unsaid in the article is that if Congress wanted that second provision back in, they could legislate it separately…but I’m sure that with the sports book money flowing to them it never crossed their minds.
Never mind that sports betting ruined the Stanley Cup playoff system…cuz you can’t bet on the whole playoff table if the match ups change every round.
One irony here is that the anti-commandeering rule–made absolute by conservative justices (the Printz case)–is the main bulwark blue states have against ICE. If a state doesn’t like a federal policy, it doesn’t have to enforce it.
Sammy Alito and the Roberts Court screwing us, what a surprise.
I’m not a lawyer, so I am asking this question: Where does the Federal Wire Act fit into all of this? Is it no longer valid?
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Gambling is one of those things that’s elective.
No one is compelling people to gamble; no one is compelling people not to.
Sadly, addictive personalities were at this long before Draft Kings and the like came around. When I watch channels on TV that aren’t mainstream (the major networks), I also see a ton of commercials about on line slot machine gambling, which is equally addictive. There are apps on the various phone services that allow you to do this from the comfort of your home, office, bar or restaurant (even airplanes if you can get the WIFI to work).
Congress could do something about this. We did it with cigarette commercials.
It’s criminal to me that the major sports organizations are pushing these gambling services and take no responsibility for what happens. For the bootstraps folks out there (along with the 1st amendment folks), this is pretty much allowing high explosives exposed directly to their detonators.
Meanwhile, in Wisconsin…
The State of Wisconsin doesn’t allow online sports betting (or lottery). Atty General Josh Kaul is suing Kalshi.
In the meantime, the state legislature passed a bill that Tony Evers signed, redefining the word “bet” to allow the State to negotiate with various tribes who have casinos. It allows them to offer sports betting if the server handling the bets is on tribal land.
Evers (not anyone else involved) is being sued by a citizens group that says it’s illegal and…it’s racially motivated by only allowing Native Americans the authority.
“Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty is a radical, right-wing entity that is actively working to undermine the sovereignty of the tribal nations in Wisconsin, and @GovEvers will fight that effort every step of the way,” Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback said in a [statement on X
Everyone is suing everyone at this point
It’s not like anyone is being unreasonably inconvenienced by this rule:
With 26 tribal casinos throughout the State, if one really wants to bet, they could go there.
And there are buses from all over the State that head to these locations on a very frequent basis.
I’m not a lawyer, either, but I suspect this part is key:
Whoever being engaged in the business of betting or wagering knowingly uses a wire communication facility for the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of bets or wagers or information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest, or for the transmi…
Because Congress does have the authority to regulate interstate and international commerce.
Very similar thing happened in my area of professional expertise, namely cybersecurity, with the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and its various descendants. When people started to think they maybe needed some laws to deal with these computer thingamajigs at the federal level, that’s exactly where they started, too.
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There has always been betting on everything. I could get a bet down anytime. Now it’s legal but the leagues getting a cut is dangerous. The last kid on the bench who doesn’t have NIL is more dangerous.
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