In 2018, the federal ban that was placed on sports betting in the 1990s was lifted. Sports fans all over the United States have long awaited the day when they would be able to quickly and legally make bets based on their own understanding of how the game is played. This is something that many states have fought for, but most adamantly, the state of New Jersey has fought for the right for legal sports betting.
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Further, four other states never lost their right to run sports betting facilities. These states are Montana, Oregon, Delaware and Nevada. They were able to keep their betting options on sports because of the way their legislation was written when the federal law was passed. They could not, however, have live betting options.
What are the Legal Markets for Sports Betting
All legal gambling operations take place in very specific markets. It would not be legal anywhere to walk around running a gambling operation on the street or to host gambling parties in your home and expect it to be legal. However, Casino Hotels, casinos that are not hotels, state lotteries, and Native American casinos are the most widely known industries for legal gambling within any territory.
These places are well known for generating revenue within the state they reside in. Further, they provide countless jobs to people who would otherwise be unemployed. Needless to say, these operations are a vital part of our nation’s economy.
Now that the federal ban on sports betting has been lifted, billions of dollars are pouring back into the United States market. Some of this money is coming from online sports betting, which is complicated. Because online sports betting is not attached to any of the above-mentioned industries, it is harder to gain support for these mediums. Further, online sports betting does not provide the same number of jobs and is much harder to police than in-person gambling facilities. For all of these reasons, government officials are wary of allowing sports betting to happen in an online forum of any kind.
The Economy Needs Sports Betting
A lot of people who are pro the legalization of sports betting argue that sports will be the subject of betting whether these activities are legal or not like the different US-facing online casino issues. If this is true, then the government would be wise to allow themselves to benefit from such activities. After all, there is a ton of money in the market for sports betting.
It is estimated that even during the ban, billions of dollars were exchanged during a single super bowl game between under-the-table betting operations. Most of this happened using betting websites that are operated overseas. Money literally pouring out of our nation’s economy. This does not even take into account the bets that are happening under the table between friends and family that are completely unregulated.
Now that sports betting is legal allowing it to happen freely and easily is the best bet for building the United States economy. Further, tons of Casinos are struggling to keep doors open, and allowing these casinos to be one of the participating markets in legal sports betting would greatly benefit them and allow them to keep their doors open for longer.
Keeping the doors to these casinos open by allowing them to be an avenue for sports betting could be a crucial step to helping the economy flourish as well. When a casino shuts down, hundreds and sometimes thousands of US citizens find themselves without a job suddenly. That number does not go unnoticed in the grand scheme of things. Further, the state loses the gambling revenue from that establishment.
MGM has also done a great deal to advance the growth of the online betting industry. This is interesting and as we have already mentioned a bit of a controversial subject in the grand scheme of things. However, we might be surprised by the online communities' ability to build our economy through legalized gambling.
Gambling and Tech
If you take a look at the United Kingdom, you might be surprised by the benefits their economy has seen through online sports betting and even mobile betting apps. According to market research, this industry has more than doubled income for the UK in just over five years time, which is a monumental achievement for its economy.
This kind of impressive growth would be smart to look into for the United States to mimic this type of growth. Sports betting applications that are legal could bring billions of dollars in revenue into our markets as well. Just as they did in the UK, the US could seriously benefit from checking out what the UK did to see that kind of growth.
Applications that can be downloaded to your cell phone would create a gambling experience that is easy for the user. Think about how much more often people would participate in this type of betting if they could do it from their cell phone? Some consumers would even make a bet straight from their recliner. This would keep them from having to drive to a casino that could be hours away from some consumers.
The United States would be smart to think long and hard about how the gambling industry could grow through technology. Rather than turning down billions of dollars by spending time to regulate the industry, the Unites States says away from gambling apps. There is a perfectly acceptable model in the UK for the US to use to figure out how to regulate and keep up with this type of betting.
Final Thoughts
Sports betting has the potential to make serious benefits for the people who participate in sports betting across the United States. Overwhelmingly, the citizens of the United States agree that sports betting is something they would like to see happen through the use of technology. While there have been significant gains in the legalization of sports betting, the US still has a way to go.