The nation’s capital was the focus of the US sports betting industry this week, via bills both at the federal and city level.
But there was also a lot of buzz around the country as legislatures prepare to address legal sports gambling in 2019.
Here’s a roundup of what went down around in the sports gambling industry this week:
DC sports betting
A long-promised sports betting bill surfaced this week in Congress from Sen. Orrin Hatch, although it was only a draft and not officially introduced.
Deep dive on the bills here and here from our John Holden.
The most problematic part of the bill would be the mechanism where state sports gambling laws have to be approved by the US Attorney General; this probably won’t be very popular with states’ rights advocates.
The smart money says the draft bill exists to appease lobbyists and will be going nowhere in the short term. But still, there’s been some amount of interest from a least a handful of lawmakers on the subject.
Anyway, a bill getting passed during the current session of Congress and before Hatch retires seems like a huge underdog right now.
And more DC sports betting
The other big movement in Washington DC came via the city council, which has been looking at legislation this fall.
Right now, it looks as if the DC Lottery is leaning toward using a single operator to run its sports betting operation (if a city bill passes).
That’s something Major League Baseball, the NBA, MGM Resorts, DraftKings and FanDuel want to avoid, and it was the impetus for all of them banding together to lobby in DC. Politics makes strange bedfellows.
Anyway, DC sports betting could be coming, and in an uncertain form. The details should come into focus in the coming weeks.
The rest of the sports betting world
- New York sports betting is going to get a serious look in 2018, but it’s still anyone’s guess if it will reach the finish line. Interview with Assemblymember Gary Pretlow here.
- Lots of interesting details about discussions in Colorado.
- The buzz in South Dakota continues to grow.
- Confusion reigns in the story about a possible ban on ads during matches in the UK.
- MGM wants to partner with tribal casinos on sports betting.
- Sports betting is coming to Hard Rock Atlantic City.
- The newest sports betting poll: People still like to bet on sports.
- An interview with the head of a new US sports betting integrity group.
