Looking back at Congress’ Watergate-era sports gambling inquiry

by Ryan Rodenberg, ESPN

Throwing out the possibility of Congressional hearings on the issue of sports gambling seems to be a popular thing to do these days.

In November, NBA commissioner Adam Silver called for a “federal framework that allows states to authorize betting on professional sports.” Three months later, Major League Baseball’s new commissioner Rob Manfred said a federal-level solution of the type proposed by Silver “sounds like a good idea.” In January, Senator John McCain of Arizona offered up the possibility of hearings too, telling ESPN’s Andy Katz and ABC’s Rick Klein: “We need to have a talk with the American people, and we need to probably have hearings in Congress on the whole issue so we can build consensus.” Senator McCain doubled-down in April, reiterating his stance via a videotaped address at a gaming conference in Las Vegas.

Sen. McCain speaks from experience, as 15 years ago he led a Senate hearing narrowly focused on college sports wagering. The March 2000 inquiry did not result in any legislation.

The potential hearing being bandied about now promises to be quite different. Its breadth would be wide, involving amending or outright repealing the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (the federal statute at issue in the yet-to-be-decided New Jersey sports betting lawsuit). It would include a number of technology-related topics, including line monitoring, mobile betting and age verification protections. During testimony, the hearing may also pit a wagering-friendly sports league commissioner against another top executive who is more tethered to a historical anti-gambling position.

But what would a full-blown Congressional inquiry into sports gambling look like? Luckily, Congressional hearings that took place over the course of several weeks in 1976 provide an answer.

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