Supreme Court Ruling Will Allow More States to Legalize Sports Betting

The ruling breaks up Nevada's monopoly on legal sports gambling.

Jake Sindberg of Wisconsin makes bets during a viewing party for the NCAA Men's College Basketball Tournament inside the 25,000-square-foot Race & Sports SuperBook at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino which features 4,488-square-feet of HD video screens on March 15, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Jake Sindberg of Wisconsin makes bets during a viewing party for the NCAA Men's College Basketball Tournament inside the 25,000-square-foot Race & Sports SuperBook at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino which features 4,488-square-feet of HD video screens on March 15, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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Thanks to a Supreme Court ruling that was handed down Monday, a legal sportsbook could be coming to a state near you.

In their ruling on a case that was brought by New Jersey and supported by 18 other states, the Supreme Court upheld the legality of a 2014 state law that permits sports betting at casinos in Jersey and made the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act null and void.

“The legalization of sports gambling requires an important policy choice, but the choice is not ours to make,” wrote Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. “Congress can regulate sports gambling directly, but if it elects not to do so, each state is free to act on its own.”

Now that New Jersey and other states are legally allowed to change their laws to allow sports gambling, dozens of states will likely try to cash in on the billion-dollar betting business.

Opposed by the NCAA, the National Football League, Major League Baseball and other pro sports leagues, the ruling breaks up Nevada’s monopoly on legal sports betting yet caused the stock price of many major casinos to rise.

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