Ryan Rodenberg, ESPN
The legacy of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), the federal sports betting ban enacted in 1992, will be at stake when the Trump administration soon makes its position known in a pending Supreme Court case that features the NCAA, NFL and other professional sports leagues against New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Parties for both sides are scheduled to meet Monday with the U.S. Office of the Solicitor General in Washington, D.C., to discuss the issues. Trump recently nominated Noel Francisco to be the new U.S. solicitor general, the administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer.
The solicitor general’s office will then submit a brief to the Supreme Court, which is expected to decide whether to hear the case by the end of its current term in June.
At stake is whether more states can offer legal sports betting without running afoul of federal law.
Sports leagues have largely resisted any such expansion thus far. States such as Jersey and about a half-dozen others are currently exploring options they hope will bring in tax revenue and address a vast illegal sports wagering market estimated to be worth more than $100 billion nationwide.
The Department of Justice (DOJ), a part of President Donald Trump’s executive branch, will chime in next.
The DOJ has taken a wide range of stances — some of which are in conflict with each other — on PASPA, according to documents reviewed by ESPN.
The documents, obtained after a search of public records, also reveal that Christie once defended the sports betting law in court while working at the DOJ. Since 2012, however, Christie has attempted to upend the federal sports betting ban — set forth in PASPA — in litigation against the NCAA, NBA, NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball.
With all three branches of the government primed to address sports betting — Congress will likely hold hearings later this year to “harmonize” the nation’s various sports betting laws — the solicitor general’s brief will likely be the next definitive step.
Francisco, if confirmed as solicitor general by the U.S. Senate, will have many options for his legal filing, as the DOJ has taken a number of positions on sports betting during PASPA’s 25-year lifespan.
The sports betting landscape in 2017 differs wildly from 1992, too: The Oakland Raiders are set to move to Las Vegas, an NHL franchise will begin playing in Vegas this year, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell recently acknowledged that legalized sports gambling could be “beneficial.”
Here’s a look at the evolution of PASPA over its 25-year existence:
Rest is here…
