Time to Reconsider Ban on Sports Betting?

An advisory group put together by the American Gaming Association recently recommended ending the federal ban against sports betting.

Sports gambling outside of Las Vegas is currently prohibited by federal law, according to the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992. However, the time has come for an open and regulated sports betting market. “It’s time to reconsider that national ban,” said Tim Murphy, former deputy director of the FBI and Chair of the advisory group.

States should have the right to decide whether to offer sports betting, recently recommended the board. In a bid to repeal the current legislation the group is set to lobby on Capitol Hill.

The American Gaming Association formed in 2015 and was launched as an initiative to expose the massive illegal gambling market. Murphy, the former FBI Deputy Director, said findings will be shared with legislators and stakeholders “so we can at least spur the critical national dialogue on this topic and get people involved and give them insight into how and why this needs to be changed.”