Good Question: Why Can't We Legally Bet On Sports?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Most of us know our NCAA office pools are illegal, even if the chances of getting busted are very low. Sports betting is a multi-billion dollar enterprise that lies mostly in the shadows.
So, why can't we legally bet on sports? Good Question.
We allow racetrack bets, lotteries, pulltabs and even casino in some areas. But why can't we bet on our favorite teams?
"It's because when when states started legalizing gambling, mostly in the 1960s, sports betting was illegal," David Schwartz of the Center for Gaming Research at UNLV said. "They didn't really want to do it because it wasn't as lucrative as lotteries were."
Schwartz says lotteries can make between 40 and 50 percent of a gambling organization's money.
"Whereas sports betting, it's 5 percent," he said. "So it's harder to make money from it than the lottery."
In 1992, Congress passed a law banning sports betting in states that didn't already have it. Nevada legalized sports betting in 1931.
So why did Congress pass that law?
"I think it was the leagues -- the sports leagues at the time were very anti-gambling," Schwartz said. "Historically, there have been a lot of scandals with betting on professional sports."
The legal sports betting market in Nevada is around $4 billion per year. The American Gaming Association estimates it's around $150 billion when you include offshore bets, bookies and office pools.
Those numbers have spurred the NBA into re-thinking its previous opposition to gambling.
"In terms of next steps, I'm not looking to actively lobby on the issue," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told USA Today.
The NFL, meanwhile, says it's still strongly opposed. New Jersey is fighting the ban in court, and there hasn't been much movement in Congress.
"The odds of this happening still don't seem too big, but you never know," Schwartz said.
President Trump was asked about this issue right before the Super Bowl. He said he would study it with input from law enforcement and the commissioners, but that he wouldn't do it lightly.