Americans will wager more than $4.6 billion illegally on Super Bowl 52, trade association estimates
The American Gaming Association (AGA) estimates Americans will wager approximately $4.76 billion on Super Bowl 52 between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles.
Due to a failed federal law, 97 percent of total wagers, equaling more than $4.6 billion, will be bet illegally across the United States, the trade body claims.
Only 3 percent, or $138.5 million, of Super Bowl bets are expected to be legally wagered through licensed sports books in Nevada, the only state exempted from the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act ban on full-scale single event sports betting.
Thanks to the failed federal ban on sports betting, Americans are sending billions of their hard-earned dollars to corner bookies, shady offshore operators and other criminal enterprises, said Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association. The big question were asking: Is 2018 finally the year when governments, sporting bodies and the gaming industry work together to put the illegal sports betting market out of business?
The AGA’s press release is part of its strategy to support the upending of PASPA in order to widen the US sports betting market and better protect consumers.
It has lobbied extensively for this over the past year or more, and like everyone else is awaiting the decision of the US Supreme Court on New Jerseys challenge to the PASPA.
Last week, the National Basketball Association (NBA) joined the gaming industry in supporting the elimination of PASPA (see previous InfoPowa report)..
The NBA also called for the government to mandate a 20 percent payment to the leagues on all legal betting revenue, before state taxpayers receive any proceeds.
The NBA is an important stakeholder and we are pleased to see their active engagement, said Freeman. Unfortunately, their proposal would replace a failed federal law with bad state policy robbing law enforcement, regulators and state taxpayers of additional resources. Eliminating the illegal market is in the public interest and it is incumbent on each stakeholder to prove how their proposals achieve that critical objective.