Sec. 2. Findings

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Congress makes the following findings: In 1992, Congress enacted the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act ( Public Law 102–559 ; 106 Stat. 4227) to ban sports wagering in most States, finding that sports gambling conducted pursuant to State law threatens the integrity and character of, and public confidence in, professional and amateur sports, instills inappropriate values in the Nation’s youth, misappropriates the goodwill and popularity of professional and amateur sports organizations, and dilutes and tarnishes the service marks of such organizations. .

On May 14, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States held in Murphy v. NCAA, 138 S. Ct. 1461 (2018), that the prohibition of State authorization and licensing of sports wagering schemes under the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act ( Public Law 102–559 ; 106 Stat. 4227) violates the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. After the decision in Murphy v. NCAA, 138 S. Ct. 1461 (2018), any State may legalize and regulate sports wagering, as determined by the State, consistent with section 1084 of title 18, United States Code (commonly known as the Wire Act ), section 1955 of that title (commonly known as the Illegal Gambling Business Act ), subchapter IV of title 31, United States Code (commonly known as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 ), and other Federal law.

Since the decision in Murphy v. NCAA, 138 S. Ct. 1461 (2018), the States of Delaware, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia have joined the State of Nevada in accepting sports wagers, and more than 2 dozen other States are considering legislation to legalize sports wagering. Even before the decision in Murphy v. NCAA, 138 S. Ct. 1461 (2018), there was a significant legal sports wagering market in the United States, with $4,870,000,000 wagered on sports in the State of Nevada in 2017.

The legal sports wagering market will continue to grow as legal sports wagering becomes more widely available. Overshadowing the legal sports wagering market is a much larger illegal sports wagering market that circumvents the taxation, anti-money laundering controls, and other regulations of the legal sports wagering market. The American Gaming Association estimates that people of the United States illegally bet over $150,000,000,000 annually on United States sporting events.

The estimated size of the illegal sports wagering market suggests that the laws and enforcement efforts that for decades have sought to curtail illegal sports wagering have come up short. The expansion of legal sports wagering after the decision in Murphy v. NCAA, 138 S. Ct. 1461 (2018), presents an opportunity to significantly reduce the illegal sports wagering market by pairing enhanced authority for law enforcement to shut down the illegal sports wagering market with policies that incentivize participants in the illegal sports wagering market to shift their activity into the legal sports wagering market, as available, so that such activity can be appropriately regulated and taxed.

All forms of gaming have historically been regulated predominantly at the State level, but sports wagering, which often involves individuals across numerous States placing sports wagers on a sporting event that takes place in yet another State, affects interstate commerce more than other forms of gaming that are generally contained within the walls of a gaming establishment. While each State may decide whether to permit sports wagering and how to regulate sports wagering, there is an important role for Congress to set standards for sports wagering and provide law enforcement with additional authority to target the illegal sports wagering market and bad actors in the growing legal sports wagering market.

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Pub. L. 102-559
106 Stat. 4227

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Sec. 2

Findings

Pub. L.Pub. L. 102-559

Stat.106 Stat. 4227

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