When PASPA was finally defeated in May, 2018 nobody hurried to speculate that casinos would be the place where most sports betting would take place anyway. Pennsylvania’s own casinos hadn’t submitted a sports betting license by June. Then some wondered – where else if not casinos? Sure, there were the race tracks, but would that suffice?
Today, three states are far less likely to introduce sports betting than casinos – California, Florida and Texas haven’t had the same luck as Pennsylvania when it comes to their wagering and casino industries.
The Keynote State got both operations under way, even though casinos in PA have been delayed until June, 2019. Meanwhile the state’s attorney general, Josh Shapiro, has warned the DOJ to tread carefully insofar the new Wire Act interpretation was concerned.
California and Florida, joined by Texas, have given sports betting the cold shoulder. Texas has been quite belligerent mostly against poker, but some of that bad blood has rubbed off on the prospects of sports betting as well. Florida and California in the meanwhile have had been receiving copious funding from the local tribes.
Florida – A Place for Family
Florida in particular has been dominated by rich donors, such as Walt Disney Company, who have done their best to keep any attempt at legalizing the industry at bay. The news that some states are less likely to pass legislation as a result of local opposition has been confirmed by a recent The Associated Press survey, which examined 50 states in the United States, trying to determine how likely the passage of sports betting bill in each would be.
Pennsylvania has done a good job balancing between legislation and local preferences. Even after the state has okayed the expansion of online gaming, poker, and sports betting, casino projects have been supervised by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) and locals have been interviewed to establish whether they would agree to having a casino property or other betting facility in their area.
Half of all Americans approve of sports betting and according to multiple sources, half of all US states will have legalized sports betting by the end of 2019. This comes at a time when the Department of Justice is pushing ahead with a rather restrictive legislation that could kill inter-state gaming.
PA Continues According to Plan
And while the prospects of developing their sports betting and casino industries have been dimming for some states, PA has adapted itself in the fastly-changing regulatory framework which is putting everyone to new and unexpected challenges.
Casinos still seem to be holding up well even against oppressive legislation. Still, 2019 is a long way from over and we can expect a number of new developments to arrive by the end of it.