State lawmakers ‘will have their say’ on a regulatory framework for legal sports gambling
Justin Martin, CDC Gaming Reports · November 20, 2017
A panel of state lawmakers reiterated the commitment their national organization to framework of acceptable sports betting legislation and regulatory best practices.
But they cautioned not all states would be supportive of legalizing the activity.
During a freewheeling panel discussion at the Sports Betting USA conference in New York City, Republican Ohio State Sen. William P. Coley II said he “wouldn’t bet on” on the Buckeye State being on the cutting edge of sports betting.
Coley was the panel’s lone dissenter.
Michael Pollock, executive director of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS), who chaired the panel, reminded the audience that state and federal lawmakers “are going to have their say” on legal sports betting.
However, the panel’s consensus was there is no way to tell what sort of legislation would be drafted. Much depends on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling following next month’s hearing in New Jersey move to toss out the 25-year-old Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA).
Depending on the outcome – repeal or modification – most of the states represented have at least some appetite for legal sports betting.
“When Maryland first authorized gaming, (it) offered five licenses,” Pollock said. “When they first started, there were four applicants for five licenses. I was asked, ‘what can we do to increase interest from the casino industry?’ I said, ‘the first thing you’ve got to do is lower that tax rate.’ There was a pause and he said, ‘What’s the second thing we can do?’”
Republican Maryland State Delegate Jason C. Buckel, chimed in and said, “That’s the state of Maryland in a nutshell. Although Maryland’s becoming a very large, growing gaming environment.”
Maryland now features six casinos, including MGM National Harbor, which Buckel said is “doing gangbusters,” and Maryland Live!, which has become one of the larger casinos on the East Coast.
“The biggest thing that we need is legislation that looks at how we would do this (legalize sports betting),” he said. “How would the lines be set?”
In talking about various potential frameworks for the post-legalization landscape, Colley raised the issue of sports betting in taverns, saying that “that’s where people are watching sports already” and mentioning that the biggest growing segment of Ohio’s lottery at the moment is Quick Keno, which is centered around bars and taverns.
“The notion that it’s going to naturally flow to the casinos and racinos… I don’t know that you have to subscribe to it that way,” he said.
West Virginia State Delegate Shawn Fluharty, a Democrat, outlined a scenario on how to sell a gaming bill – offer to raise taxes or find a way to generate new revenue.
“We have a budget fiasco in our state,” Fluharty said, “This is a jobs bill.”
He said West Virginia has lagged in diversifying its economy, although he cited gaming as one area in which the state was successful in diversifying.
“If everything lines up as we need it to, West Virginia would be on the short list to act on day one.”
New York State Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, a Democrat, echoed the same viewpoint, saying that if Supreme Court tosses PASPA, “there will be some quick regulatory changes. The legislation’s already drawn up.”
Buckel characterized the current landscape as a “friendly death match” between Maryland and the various other mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes states, and expressed some concern about Pennsylvania’s recent passage of a bill greatly expanding its statewide gaming footprint.
“The worst reason to expand gaming is to fill this year’s budget deficit,” Buckel said. He went on to speculate that any sports betting in Maryland would be tied to existing license holders.
Pretlow said that he believed that there is an appetite for legal sports betting in New York, as well, characterizing the potential revenue as “unimaginable” and saying that he favored the establishment of free-standing sports betting parlors in the state. New York, he said, sees the relationship between the state and the gaming industry as a partnership.
American Gaming Association Senior Director of Research Will Green said that there is a consensus within the group’s membership that legalized sports betting is a net positive, and for a repeal of the federal ban, but he took pains to emphasize the complexity of the issue and the various “fragmented elements” involved in the process.
He emphasized the need to incentivize, to “act now, and to ask the right questions,” likening PASPA to a wall that is rapidly eroding.
Justin Martin, CDC Gaming Reports · November 20, 2017
A panel of state lawmakers reiterated the commitment their national organization to framework of acceptable sports betting legislation and regulatory best practices.
But they cautioned not all states would be supportive of legalizing the activity.
During a freewheeling panel discussion at the Sports Betting USA conference in New York City, Republican Ohio State Sen. William P. Coley II said he “wouldn’t bet on” on the Buckeye State being on the cutting edge of sports betting.
Coley was the panel’s lone dissenter.
Michael Pollock, executive director of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS), who chaired the panel, reminded the audience that state and federal lawmakers “are going to have their say” on legal sports betting.
However, the panel’s consensus was there is no way to tell what sort of legislation would be drafted. Much depends on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling following next month’s hearing in New Jersey move to toss out the 25-year-old Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA).
Depending on the outcome – repeal or modification – most of the states represented have at least some appetite for legal sports betting.
“When Maryland first authorized gaming, (it) offered five licenses,” Pollock said. “When they first started, there were four applicants for five licenses. I was asked, ‘what can we do to increase interest from the casino industry?’ I said, ‘the first thing you’ve got to do is lower that tax rate.’ There was a pause and he said, ‘What’s the second thing we can do?’”
Republican Maryland State Delegate Jason C. Buckel, chimed in and said, “That’s the state of Maryland in a nutshell. Although Maryland’s becoming a very large, growing gaming environment.”
Maryland now features six casinos, including MGM National Harbor, which Buckel said is “doing gangbusters,” and Maryland Live!, which has become one of the larger casinos on the East Coast.
“The biggest thing that we need is legislation that looks at how we would do this (legalize sports betting),” he said. “How would the lines be set?”
In talking about various potential frameworks for the post-legalization landscape, Colley raised the issue of sports betting in taverns, saying that “that’s where people are watching sports already” and mentioning that the biggest growing segment of Ohio’s lottery at the moment is Quick Keno, which is centered around bars and taverns.
“The notion that it’s going to naturally flow to the casinos and racinos… I don’t know that you have to subscribe to it that way,” he said.
West Virginia State Delegate Shawn Fluharty, a Democrat, outlined a scenario on how to sell a gaming bill – offer to raise taxes or find a way to generate new revenue.
“We have a budget fiasco in our state,” Fluharty said, “This is a jobs bill.”
He said West Virginia has lagged in diversifying its economy, although he cited gaming as one area in which the state was successful in diversifying.
“If everything lines up as we need it to, West Virginia would be on the short list to act on day one.”
New York State Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, a Democrat, echoed the same viewpoint, saying that if Supreme Court tosses PASPA, “there will be some quick regulatory changes. The legislation’s already drawn up.”
Buckel characterized the current landscape as a “friendly death match” between Maryland and the various other mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes states, and expressed some concern about Pennsylvania’s recent passage of a bill greatly expanding its statewide gaming footprint.
“The worst reason to expand gaming is to fill this year’s budget deficit,” Buckel said. He went on to speculate that any sports betting in Maryland would be tied to existing license holders.
Pretlow said that he believed that there is an appetite for legal sports betting in New York, as well, characterizing the potential revenue as “unimaginable” and saying that he favored the establishment of free-standing sports betting parlors in the state. New York, he said, sees the relationship between the state and the gaming industry as a partnership.
American Gaming Association Senior Director of Research Will Green said that there is a consensus within the group’s membership that legalized sports betting is a net positive, and for a repeal of the federal ban, but he took pains to emphasize the complexity of the issue and the various “fragmented elements” involved in the process.
He emphasized the need to incentivize, to “act now, and to ask the right questions,” likening PASPA to a wall that is rapidly eroding.
