By Daniel Wallach and John Nucci
June 8, 2022
May 14th marked the four-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that struck down the federal ban on state-authorized sports betting. For the past four years, Massachusetts – home to one of the most sports-obsessed markets in the country in Boston – has watched from the sideline as nearly every other state in New England has passed sports betting legislation. Rather than wait for lawmakers to approve sports betting, many Massachusetts residents have opted to travel to nearby states just to...
By Daniel Wallach
April 15, 2022
The debate over whether participants in daily fantasy sports contests are the "actual contestants" in their own distinct game of skill or, as some have contended, are merely passive players whose performance is entirely derivative of the skill deployed by the real-life athletes in the underlying sporting events has finally been resolved in the DFS industry's favor. If you recall, during the early days of DFS, several state attorney general opinions expressed skepticism that DFS participants were the actual contestants in...
By Daniel Wallach
Updated: Nov 2, 2021
With legal sports betting in Arizona set to launch on Sept. 9, an Arizona Indian tribe is taking steps to try to prevent that from happening. Late last week, the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe (“YPIT”), a federally recognized Indian tribe located within the State of Arizona, filed a lawsuit in the Maricopa County Superior Court seeking a judicial declaration that...
Florida Lawmakers Given Misleading FAQs On Sports Betting Compact And Allowability Of Mobile Wagering
By Daniel Wallach
May 18, 2021
Florida lawmakers will be tasked with a very important decision this week. They are re-convening in Tallahassee for a one-week special session that will address the future of gambling in Florida. Of the 15 gaming bills that are under consideration this week, the most important by far is whether to ratify a new 30-year gambling compact with...
False Fears Over Florida Sports Betting Constitutionality Created A Bigger Legal Problem: A Federally Defective Gambling Compact
By Daniel Wallach
May 14, 2021
One of the main selling points of the new Florida gaming compact—which gives the Seminole Tribe of Florida complete control over all legal sports betting statewide (including all bets placed on mobile devices and at licensed pari-mutuel facilities)—is that it would provide a “safe-harbor” against any constitutional challenge to...
Florida’s Gambling Compact Set Up To Fail? Federal Rejection Of Mobile Sports Betting Likely To Trigger A Tribal Monopoly
By Daniel Wallach
May 10, 2021
When the Florida Legislature convenes next week for a special session, lawmakers will be asked to approve a new tribal-state gambling compact that veers decidedly and aggressively across tribal borders. The new compact gives the Seminole Tribe of Florida— the largest tribal gaming operator in the United States—exclusive control over all...
8 Reasons Florida’s Constitutional Amendment On ‘Casino Gambling’ Doesn’t Bar Legislative Authorization Of Sports Betting
By Daniel Wallach
January 5, 20
The debate over the legalization of sports betting in Florida intensifies next week when the Florida Legislature kicks off its 60-day legislative session. As the third-most-populous state, with a booming tourism industry (over 125 million visitors annually), and the added lure of year-round warm weather with over 650 miles of beaches, Florida could...
By Daniel Wallach
June 6, 2019
Will "The World's Most Famous Arena" soon have to change its moniker to "The World's Most Famous Sports Book"? Perhaps, if several New York lawmakers get their wish. In a bill amendment filed yesterday, New York State Senator Joseph Addabbo, who heads that chamber's Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee, revised his mobile sports betting bill (S 17) to include in-person wagering at professional sports stadiums and arenas located in counties that do not have traditional gambling venues. This language appears to...
By Daniel Wallach
November 19, 2018
Florida’s gubernatorial and Senate races are not the only ballot items from Election Day that underwent re-examination. It also turns out that the ballot question on the future of casino gambling in the Sunshine State is likewise the subject of some post-election intrigue. Amendment 3, which passed with more than 70% of the vote (considerably higher than the 60% threshold needed for passage), grants Florida voters the exclusive right to decide whether to authorize the expansion of casino gambling in Florida...
By Daniel Wallach
July 8, 2018
The Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Murphy v. NCAA dramatically altered the landscape for sports betting in the United States by declaring that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) is unconstitutional. As a result of this decision, States are now free to legalize sports betting without any federal interference. Previously, PASPA had prohibited most states from authorizing or licensing sports betting within their borders. But some legal commentators ...
By Daniel Wallach
April 23, 2018
As anticipation continues to build toward a decision in the New Jersey sports gambling case — with this week presenting yet another possibility that the Supreme Court will finally issue its long-awaited ruling — a variety of potential outcome scenarios have been debated. From my vantage point, the most likely outcome in the case — based on the justices’ questions and comments from the bench during the Dec. 4 oral argument — is that the Supreme Court will issue a ruling declaring PASPA to be ...
By Daniel Wallach
April 8, 2018
The parade of voices being heard in the ongoing sports betting legalization debate in the U.S. is as diverse as it is nearly endless. Nearly every obvious stakeholder has joined the debate: state governments (some 22 of which have enacted or introduced legislation to authorize sports betting), the U.S. casino industry, the U.S. professional sports leagues, sports data companies, and even the daily fantasy sports industry. But one of the most important constituencies has yet to be heard from (at least publicly): the thousands of...
By Daniel Wallach
December 11, 2017
Proponents of legalized sports betting had to be feeling confident after last Monday’s oral argument in NCAA v. Christie — the so-called New Jersey sports betting case, in which leagues including the NFL, the NBA and Major League Baseball are seeking to prevent the state from permitting such gambling. . The general consensus among those in attendance was that the Supreme Court appears poised to ...