Supreme Court makes national sports betting a possibility

The Supreme Court on Monday

ruled 6-3 to strike down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act.

The 1992 law barred state-authorized sports gambling with Nevada being the only state where a person could wager on the results of a single game.

One research firm estimated, before the ruling, that if the Supreme Court were to strike down the law, 32 states would likely offer sports betting within five years.

“The legalization of sports gambling requires an important policy choice, but the choice is not ours to make. Congress can regulate sports gambling directly, but if it elects not to do so, each state is free to act on its own. Our job is to interpret the law Congress has enacted and decide whether it is consistent with the Constitution. PASPA is not,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the court.

The court’s decision came from a New Jersey case that fought for years to legalize sports betting.

More than a dozen states had supported New Jersey, which argued that Congress exceeded its authority when it passed the law barring states from authorizing sports betting.

New Jersey said the Constitution allows Congress to pass laws barring wagering on sports, but Congress can’t require states to keep sports gambling prohibitions in place.

All four major U.S. professional sports leagues, the NCAA and the federal government urged the court to uphold the federal law.

The American Gaming Association estimates that Americans illegally wager about $150 billion on sports each year.