By Evan Weiner |
It appears Tennessee is the next state to step up to the plate and take a few hacks at sports gambling. Tennessee does not have any casinos which means there is nowhere to put a sportsbook. But brick and mortar buildings have disappeared in business for the Internet and that is apparently the only venue for people in Tennessee who want to bet will have. The phones and computers. Tennessee could have its betting apparatus ready to go by the start of the NFL season. Online, third party vendors will have to apply for a sports gambling license. Only seven states have opened up sportsbooks in the 11 months following the Supreme Court of the United States decision that legalized sports gambling. In 2018, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Mississippi, West Virginia and New Mexico allowed sportsbooks to open in casinos joining Nevada. Sports gambling has not produced the anticipated big revenues in the states that added sportsbooks in 2018.
Sports betting policy is not limited to state governments. Congress may want to put all sports gambling under a federal umbrella and impose laws limiting state powers on sports gambling. Of course that is what uncorked sports gambling in the first place. In 1992, Congress allowed sports gambling in Nevada with some limited forms of sports gambling in Delaware, Montana and Oregon. In 2011, New Jersey voters said yes to sportsbooks in the state. The National Football League sued to prevent sports gambling in both Delaware and New Jersey. The Supreme Court overruled the federal law in a case involving New Jersey. Sports leagues have figured out how to get money out of sports gambling by partnering with casinos that have sports books and fantasy leagues. Gambling is good when it suits sports owners’ needs by filling their coffers with casino advertising money.
This article was republished with permission from the original publisher, Evan Weiner.