Sports gambling is coming; we need to do it right

Once again, Ohioans are about to engage in a great debate over gambling. That was assured on Monday, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a 1992 federal law that effectively banned commercial sports betting in most states.

The case stemmed from New Jersey, where voters in 2011 amended the state constitution to authorize sports betting. In 2012, the legislature passed a law allowing sports betting at the state’s struggling casinos and racetracks.

That prompted the NCAA and four professional sports leagues — the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB — to file suit, arguing the New Jersey law violates a federal law: the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act.

In his majority opinion, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote, “Congress can regulate sports gambling directly, but if it elects not to do so, each state is free to act on its own.” In the absence of a uniform federal law, PASPA is “a direct affront to state sovereignty,” he concluded.

With the ruling, it’s a sure bet many states won’t wait on Congress. Most states already sanction several forms of gambling, and polls say their citizens have grown increasingly tolerant of sports betting.

Last September, the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, with The Washington Post, released a poll showing 55 percent of Americans favor legalized sports betting, and only 33 percent oppose it. The survey found little difference in favorability between Democrats (57 percent) and Republicans (52 percent).

Then, of course, there’s the money. The American Gaming Association estimates that Americans bet $150 billion illegally each year on U.S. sporting events. Once legalized and made convenient, sports betting surely would generate multiples of that amount. Most politicians view taxes from gambling far more favorably than general tax increases.

And, not least among considerations, there’s the fact that Ohio is among 16 states empowering citizens with the direct constitutional initiative. That means any group of individuals, including commercial interests, can gather signatures on petitions, bypass the legislature and go straight to the ballot.

If the Ohio General Assembly fails to fashion a proposal, commercial gambling interests surely will, and will spend millions selling it to voters. That’s how casino gambling came to Ohio. After two decades of inaction by the legislature and four ballot failures sponsored by various gambling concerns, Penn National Gaming of Pennsylvania and Rock Ventures LLC of Michigan teamed up in 2009, wrote their own ballot issue and spent $50 million to win control of casino gambling in Ohio.

Nearly every Ohio politician believes the General Assembly — had it acted sooner — would have crafted a proposal that would have been more generous with tax revenues to state and local governments.

All of these factors surely influenced the reactions of Democrat Richard Cordray and Republican Mike DeWine — the two major-party nominees for governor — to the Supreme Court ruling.

Ohio should consider moving sports betting “out of the shadows and the black market so it can be regulated and used to generate revenue to invest in our communities,” Cordray said.

“I’m not a fan of gambling, but sports gaming is clearly coming to Ohio,” DeWine said. “We need to do it the right way.”

This game is on.