By Flint Wheeler
“Gambling is so — the threat of gambling, and to create more threats, is to me — I’m stunned. … I’m appalled. I’m really appalled. … It’s beyond belief.” –MLB commissioner Bud Selig, December 2012
“Gambling in terms of our society has changed its presence on legalization, and I think it’s important for there to be a conversation between me and the owners about what our institutional position will be.” -MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, February 2015
Welcome to the dialogue, Commissioner. The conversation has begun, in earnest. An energized debate over legalizing sports betting in the United States is taking place, and experts believe it could become reality in as soon as five years.
“I do believe it’s coming,” said Sean Sullivan, G.M. of The Meadows Racetrack and Casino in North Strabane.
“No doubt about it,” said Las Vegas bookmaker Jimmy Vaccaro, “the walls are crumbling.”
John McCain in January said Congress should hold hearings on legalized sports betting, and the American Gaming Association, a national trade group representing the casino industry, for the first time formed a task force to study the subject. In November, a New York Times piece by NBA commissioner Adam Silver calling for legal sports betting caused waves.
“I think everyone realizes there has been a lot of discussion about this,” said task force head Sara Rayme, the AGA senior vice president for public affairs. “Everyone is questioning if the status quo works right now.”
Sports betting is legal in four states — Nevada, Oregon, Delaware and Montana — but confined mainly to Nevada. To the anti-gambling forces, what happens in Vegas (and within state lines) should stay there. But that’s hardly reality. The AGA conservatively estimated bettors illegally wagered $138.9 billion on sports last year. Other estimates reach as high as $380 billion, including $9 billion on March Madness (including office pools) and $3.8 billion on this year’s Super Bowl.
On both occasions, opponents — that is, the NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB and the NCAA — managed to send it back to the Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled against the bill the first time. It is expected to return another ruling by the end of the month.
Meanwhile, technology — primarily the Internet and smartphones — has made it easy to place a bet with any one of about 200 online sports books outside the U.S. This is illegal. However, to anyone’s knowledge, no bettor has been prosecuted.
With soaring participation by sites such as FanDuel and DraftKings, fantasy sports draw huge interest. The Fantasy Sports Trade Association estimated people spent $15 billion last year on various forms of the concept. That number likely is higher now. Legally, fantasy sports are not considered wagering. Practically, many see it differently.
“It’s real gambling,” said New Jersey lawyer Dennis Drazin, who is fighting for legalization in his state. “I don’t think it’s something else.”
The answer is no, thanks to a loophole in the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. 
The law makes it illegal to transfer funds to online sports books outside the country — which happens to be all of them — but exempts fantasy sports because they are considered games of “skill” as opposed to “chance.”
Many gamblers would beg to differ.
‘INEVITABLE’
“Gambling is something that is a lot more prevalent and accepted today than it was 20 years ago. It is more prevalent and accepted throughout the world.”
The speaker was Dan Spillane, NBA vice president and assistant general counsel. Spillane helped Silver draft what eventually might be seen as a landmark statement in the campaign to legalize sports betting.
Writing in the Times, Silver applied a full-court press to the 1992 law that prevents legal sports betting, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. The NFL and the other major sports leagues lobbied hard for its passage.
But times have changed, Silver noted. Acknowledging the vast sums illegally wagered in the U.S. and the legality of sports betting outside the country, and insisting on strict federal control, he wrote “the laws on sports betting should be changed.”
“I believe that sports betting should be brought out of the underground and into the sunlight where it can be appropriately monitored and regulated,” wrote Silver.
Several NBA owners, notably former Mt. Lebanon resident Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks, joined the chorus. Then Manfred went against his old boss, Selig, affirming the same viewpoint on behalf of MLB.
Cuban said he believes legalized gambling nationwide is “inevitable” in five to 10 years. “It’s time to bring it out of the closet,” he said.
