AGA CEO highlights two-track strategy to legalized sports betting

At the first-of-its-kind conference in the United States, Freeman detailed AGA’s strategy that sets its sights on both the courts and Congress ahead of the December 4th oral arguments that pit New Jersey against the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) – legislation which currently bans full-fledged sports betting outside Nevada.

“AGA has long pursued a two-track strategy as a pathway to legalized sports betting,” said Freeman. “Working through the courts and through Congress, I am confident we can overturn this failed federal ban and give American sports fans the ability to legally wager on the teams they follow.”

Last November, AGA filed an Amicus brief calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to accept New Jersey’s challenge to PASPA. In September, AGA helped West Virginia recruit 19 other states to sign onto a brief arguing the federal ban on sports betting was unconstitutional.

In addition to the ongoing work in the courts, AGA has continued to pursue its legislative strategy. This includes educating members of Congress on the dangers of an illegal sports betting market and the benefits of a regulated market, building and expanding a broad-based coalition of supporters, and aligning key stakeholders who have a critical role to play in a regulated sports betting market.

Prior to PASPA’s 25th anniversary at the end of October, the Washington Post released new polling that shows a “55-percent majority approve of legalizing sports betting on pro sporting events, a flip from almost a quarter century ago.” According to the Post, “support for legalization is highest among those who’ve placed a sports bet in the past five years (84 percent), and its nearly as high among fans who have played in a fantasy sports league (79 percent), avid sports fans (70 percent), men (63 percent), people with household incomes of $100,000 or more (61 percent) and pro football fans (60 percent). There’s little partisan difference on the issue, with 52 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of Democrats in support of legalizing sports gambling.