Figures once on the opposite side of the sports betting spectrum will be on panels at the upcoming Global Gaming Expo (G2E) October 13-16 in Las Vegas.
Gary Bettman, commissioner of the National Hockey League, will appear on October 16 as part of a sports betting symposium. Meanwhile, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, the man at the top of a state leading the charge to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the 1992 law prohibiting sports betting, will be the keynote speaker on October 15.
The NHL became the first of the four major U.S. professional sports leagues to locate a team in Las Vegas, breaking the city’s longstanding taboo. Bettman and the league awarded the expansion Vegas Golden Knights franchise in 2017.
During an American Gaming Association conference in March, as reported by the Washington Post, Bettman acknowledged times had changed.
“The concerns we had at 10,000 feet had nothing to do with the integrity of the game. It had to do with atmospherics and the like, and the practical element as to how this was all going to work. Once the Supreme Court ruled, we got with the program. And frankly, as a practical matter, I owed it to our fans, to our clubs, to embrace the evolving world, whether it’s sports betting or changes in technology.”
Bettman will take part with Joe Asher, CEO of William Hill US, Greg Carlin, co-founder/CEO of Rush Street Gaming, and Matt King, CEO of FanDuel. Here’s one topic the panel will discuss: How learning more about the gaming industry changed the perception of betting on sports for a league commissioner.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to hear from Commissioner Bettman and leading industry executives during this momentous time for the sports and gaming industries,” AGA President and CEO Bill Miller told Legal Sports Report. “With so many new partnerships between leagues, teams and gaming entities, it will be invaluable to hear the insights of our converging industries represented on a single stage.”
Thanks in some measure to Christie, New Jersey’s court battle culminated in a challenge to the constitutionality of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) and led to the U.S. Supreme Court’s May 2018 decision to overturn the ban.
To date, 13 states have launched sports betting operations through casinos, racetracks and mobile wagering applications since the Supreme Court ruling. Another five states, along with Washington D.C., could be in operation by the end of the year. Six other states have either active legislation or ballot initiatives in place.
“Governor Christie played an essential role in advancing legal sports betting in the United States,” Miller said in a statement.
Miller noted that more than $10 billion has been wagered in legal and regulated markets since the ruling.
“New Jersey was a trailblazer in paving the way for other states to have a say in whether they want to allow sports betting, and I am honored to have had a role in it,” Christie said in a statement. “More than a year after the Supreme Court struck down PASPA, it’s just as important as ever that stakeholders continue to collaborate to make the legal, regulated sports betting marketplace more robust and available to consumers.”
G2E is expected to attract 27,000 gaming industry professionals.
