Morality a nonfactor in betting decision

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Now that the U.S. Supreme Court, at New Jersey’s behest, has cleared a path for states to make sports betting legal the way it is in Nevada, it’s not just fun and games around the sports department anymore.

We’ve always trafficked in financial news you could use when you’re debating what to do with your money. Now we can be out in the open about it.

Who needs day trading when you can take in a ballgame?

Illinois lawmakers have some matters to attend to before this state is ready to follow New Jersey in exploiting Monday’s Supreme Court decision.

Absent among obstacles legal gambling must clear here, however, will be hand-wringing and pearl-clutching in Springfield over its morality.

That riverboat already sailed, sister.

Illinois already has horse racing and off-track betting, casinos and video poker.

The 44th anniversary of Illinois’ state lottery is less than seven weeks away, and the only concern state government ever seems to have is when people wise up to the lousy odds, buy fewer tickets and revenue projections are missed.

On top of that, NCAA brackets, fantasy sports leagues, card games, parlay cards and sundry weekend wagers are accepted and acceptable in workplaces.

Then there are the estimates of illegal wagering far outpacing legal wagering in this country.

In other words, the so-called slippery slope to legalized sports gambling hasn’t been slippery in some time.

And now, thanks to the Supreme Court, it’s not even a slope.

New Jersey’s successful fight to strike down 1992’s Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) leaves it poised to have legal betting in a couple of weeks or so.

Its Monmouth Park racetrack already has the necessary infrastructure to turn a sports bar on the premises into a sportsbook. A handful of other states should follow shortly.

Former Gov. Chris Christie, who initially led New Jersey’s lawsuit against the NCAA that led to PASPA being invalidated, sees it as a windfall of “hundreds of millions of dollars a year” in tax revenue for the Garden State.

“It will be a great thing for the individual states that get involved,” Christie, a paid ABC News analyst, told ESPN. “This stuff is going on illegally every day.”

If state treasurers are excited about this, so are TV networks who will sell ads to reach wouldbe gamblers and hope legal betting makes games more vital viewing.

The leagues hope to recover some cut of the action and will do what they can to establish marketing deals, which may make the onslaught of fantasy sports commercials a few years ago look like nothing.

One industry analyst expects 32 states to have sports betting within five years.

Most, like Illinois, still have to pass the requisite legislation, ensure would-be operators meet state requirements and other advance work. The state coffers need the money, plain and simple.

Illinois’ world-famous pols still need to sort out the number, location, and type of venues and platforms that will be allowed to accept wagers. The state must ensure the cost of policing these sites doesn’t offset the expected revenue windfall.

Then there will be a discussion of how tightly to restrict sports gambling in terms of what contests may be bet on and how old one must be to do so, and so on.

The leagues are hoping Congress takes another shot at setting national standards for states that want to play, if only to make regulations uniform. We’ll see how that flies.

Gambling will not be a panacea. Not for bettors, and not for states, sports or even sports departments. Whether playing the Raiders or the stock market, a fool and his money probably were a mismatch to start.

But the Supreme Court took a multibillion-dollar industry out of the shadows so everyone can get a good look at it and place their bets accordingly.

Prohibition is over. Enjoy responsibly. And check back here frequently for investment ideas.