Within the US, there is a wind of change that is seemingly ready to blow through the online sports betting industry. Potential changes to online gambling laws have already been seen in some states of the US, including A recent US Supreme Court ruling in May 2018 declared the current sports betting laws unconstitutional and paved the way for legal online sports betting in New Jersey to be allowed as from August 2018.
This will enable NJ sports betting online for anyone in the state who wants to give it a try. And this leads many to see a potential for more to follow soon. This is a massive change from the recent past, where sports betting was banned totally, both online and in person.
What is classed as sports betting, and why was it banned for many years?
1992 – a landmark year
The story of when N.J. almost legalized sports betting in 1993
In simple terms, sports betting is the action of placing a wager on a certain outcome within a sports game. It could be baseball, basketball or football – if it is a sport and you are trying to make money by betting on an outcome, then it is sports betting.
1992 was the year that saw sports betting banned across the US as the professional football leagues and the NCAA feared that the activity could lead to match-fixing or other dangerous activities. The only exemption from this was the state of Nevada, where you could still bet on sports if you wished. This has remained the case until very recently. Thanks to a challenge from the state of New Jersey, sports betting online could be seen across the country again.
How have New Jersey Online Casinos ushered in potential change for the US?
Sports betting set to become legal across US after supreme court decision
Many US states felt that it was highly unfair that Nevada had been allowed to offer sports betting legally while they could not. The main cause of this envy was money – in 2017, Nevada was reported to have made over $4bn in sports betting taxes! This has led the state of New Jersey to challenge the laws around sports betting and win.
What has got many people excited is the precedent that this sets for other states to follow their lead.
How will the US economy be affected by legal online gambling overall?
Jackpot! Gambling’s impact on the US economy
If more and more states take advantage of what has happened in New Jersey, then the potential impact on the overall US economy could be huge. The main takeaways would be:
- More taxes generated – one big plus for the US economy would be the billions of dollars in extra taxes that would be levied from the online sports betting sites. This would give each state a massive influx of cash to carry out construction and town planning work while improving the facilities in their region.
- New businesses created – another very positive effect for the US economy could be the slew of new sports betting sites that spring up and the effect that this has on the associated industries with which they partner. New business is the backbone of any healthy economy for the jobs and wealth it creates, not to mention the taxes they all pay!
- More optimistic view of the US – though this is more of a social effect, it will still trickle down into US business. A more positive feel around the country from changes like the one in New Jersey will see the US dollar strengthen and more people globally interact with US companies.
- Elimination of the black market – one big factor to take into account is that sports betting goes on anyway in most states now – just illegally! This means that the US government is missing out on the money and taxes that could be made from all this illegal activity. If the online gambling laws changed, then this would not be an issue.
- Influx of global business – online sports betting is a massive business with big international players such as Betfair and bet365. These types of big companies could well be inclined to set up US offices if widespread changes to online gambling laws are made. This is great news for the whole US economy as they would bring an influx of jobs and money into it.
Potential changes to gambling laws could make a big impact
There is no doubt that the recent US Supreme Court ruling in New Jersey has opened up a great potential for change in the rest of the US. If all the other states were to follow suit and demand similar changes to online gambling laws, then sports betting online could be available anywhere you like in the near future. For the US economy, this would only be a good thing.