Sen. Orrin Hatch plans to introduce legislation in Congress that would reassert federal influence over a sports betting industry that is expected to boom after Monday’s Supreme Court ruling overturning PASPA, a law he helped create more than 25 years ago.
In what was considered a major win for sports betting interests, the Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, finding the longtime sports betting prohibition (for all but four states) unconstitutional. The decision will allow states that wish to legalize the activity to move forward with with regulatory measures.
Federal Involvement
Hatch’s office put out a press release in which he outlined why he believed it was necessary for the federal government to have a hand in future regulation of the newly opened US sports betting market.
“At stake here is the very integrity of sports,” Hatch said. “That’s why I plan to introduce legislation in the coming weeks to help protect honesty and principle in the athletic arena. I invite stakeholders and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in addressing this important issue.”
The short statement didn’t provide many details as to exactly what Hatch’s bill might look like. However, it doesn’t appear as though his legislation will push for any sort of new ban on sports betting — something that was brought up as a possible response to the Supreme Court’s PASPA decision.
Instead, it appears that Hatch’s plan is to provide some national standards for betting on sports while still allowing states that want to allow the activity to move forward.
“Congress will seize this opportunity to establish fundamental standards for sports betting that will uphold the integrity of the game,” the press release read. The release also suggested that the legislation would be designed to “protect consumers [and] safeguard against underage and problem gambling.”
Hatch also emphasized a need to help protect states that choose not to take part in sports betting.
“The rapid rise of the Internet means that sports betting across state lines is now just a click away,” Hatch said in his statement. “We cannot allow this practice to proliferate amid uneven enforcement and a patchwork race to the regulatory bottom.”
Sports Betting, Revisited
Orrin Hatch has a history of working on legislation in this arena. He was one of the original authors of PASPA, the bill that has prevented new states from regulating sports betting over the past 25 years. At the time, the legislation enjoyed strong bipartisan support, with PASPA passing through the Senate by an 88-5 vote.
While the Supreme Court’s decision completely overturned PASPA, the opinion of the court made it clear that they had no issue with Congress passing laws related to sports betting. The issue with PASPA, the justices said, was that it commanded state legislatures not to act rather than providing any actual regulation.
“Congress can regulate sports gambling directly, but if it elects not to do so, each State is free to act on its own,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion.
The Supreme Court’s ruling has been referred to as either a 6-3 or 7-2 decision. The ambiguity comes from the opinion written by Justice Stephen Breyer, who agreed with most of the majority opinion but also believed that key parts of PASPA could have survived even if the offending sections were struck down, meaning only six justices agreed on striking down the law entirely.