The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee has put forward a draft of a measure that would establish a nationwide sports betting framework.

ESPN reported that the committee unveiled the proposal Thursday. It’s called the Gaming Accountability and Modernization Enhancement Act (GAME Act), and if enacted it would repeal the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) to allow sports betting both online and in the brick-and-mortar casino setting.

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) is the primary sponsor of the legislation. Pallone’s state has long tried to bring sports books to Atlantic City in an effort to shore up the gaming industry there. The feds told the Supreme Court this month not to consider New Jersey’s appeal arguing that PASPA is unconstitutional. The NBA, which was in a lawsuit to block New Jersey’s sports betting efforts, has been open to a federal bill.

“Despite the federal gaming laws in place today, Americans are betting up to $400 billion a year on sporting events alone,” Pallone said in a statement.

“It’s time to recognize that the laws are outdated, and the GAME Act will modernize them by increasing transparency, integrity, and consumer protections.”

According to recent study for the AGA conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, 55 percent of Americans support legalization on the federal level. Only 35 percent oppose. Ten percent are undecided on the issue. About 20 percent of Americans bet on sports in the last year.

In Nevada, the only state with traditional sports betting (thanks to a grandfather clause), a record $4.5 billion was bet at the state’s nearly 200 sports books last year.

Congress has tried before to pass legislation to establish some kind of nationwide framework for online gaming. Poker players will remember years of failed efforts to pass an online poker bill. Over recent years, sports betting and poker have gone in opposite directions in terms of popularity in Nevada. The industry wants to tap into the massive sports betting black market.

The casino industry is optimistic that a Trump Administration will approve of expanded sports betting. President Trump has said in interviews he is OK with sports betting. Trump is a former Atlantic City casino owner and still has ties there.

According to the AGA, it’s likely that every state with a casino industry would take a look at sports books should the federal government lift the decades-old ban.

“I would hope that just about every state is right there at the front leading the way on sports betting,” AGA President and CEO Geoff Freeman told Card Player.

 

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