States Tell Feds Stay Out of Sports Betting Regulation

sports betting regulationIn the wake of a United States Supreme Court ruling, state sports betting regulation is being challenged by major sports leagues that believe gambling should be overseen at the federal level.

A statement on Tuesday issued on behalf of four state regulators by the International Center for Gaming Regulation at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, concludes that “coordinated action among jurisdictions” — states and tribal agencies — is the key to stopping illegal betting and possible corruption of the sports themselves.

Although the regulators welcomed “strong support from federal-level enforcement agencies,” they took a direct swipe at the leagues, several of which have suggested that betting houses pay a fee to the leagues for the right to use their data for gambling. The leagues have suggested that the fee would also help pay for new measures to protect against things like match fixing and improper wagering.

“The so-called ‘integrity fee,’” the statement said, would “increase the costs of legal sports betting, siphon much-needed tax revenues away from state coffers, and increase state regulatory burdens.”

More about the debate over sports betting regulation at the New York Times