As the drive to legalize sports betting gathers momentum across the United States, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas is organizing a two-day conference in April to help regulators and policy-makers understand its dynamics.
UNLV’s International Center for Gaming Regulation is hosting the April 6-7 event, which is described as “intensive” in local news reports.
“We did it last fall and recognized there was a need among a lot of the jurisdictions with the potentiality for sports betting to be legalized,” said Robert Horgan, the center’s operations director. “If you don’t live in Las Vegas, you don’t know a lot about sports betting. It’s basic 101 about sports betting, the legal and regulatory ramifications about it. I guess you would say it’s a professional development course.”
Jennifer Roberts, the center’s associate director and an adjunct professor at UNLV’s William S. Boyd School of Law, said the seminar is geared to gaming industry leaders with an interest in sports betting, legislators, policymakers, tribal and state government officials and gaming regulators.
As such, attendees will hear from experts on sports wagering covering topics such as the history of sports betting, federal sports betting laws and the impact of off-shore betting. Participants will also visit a Las Vegas sports book.
Several states have passed resolutions or legislation calling for the right to develop sports betting and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has urged Congress to adopt a federal framework allowing states to authorize betting on professional sports.
The Washington, D.C.-based American Gaming Association, the federal lobbying arm of the land-based casino industry, also has called strongly for legalization.
Current federal law, enshrined in the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, permits regulated sports gambling in only the four states?Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana?where it was legal when the act was passed in 1992.
But the prospect of nationwide sports gambling has gained traction as more states have called for PASPA to be amended or repealed.
New Jersey has been in the forefront of those efforts. The state’s case is now before the Supreme Court, which has asked the new Trump Administration to weigh in.
“Given the timeliness of it now, things after the election have changed that make it a little more likely,” Horgan said.
Daniel Wallach, a gaming and sports law attorney based in South Florida with the firm Becker & Poliakoff, said the seminar is an important and timely topic in an area of the law that’s going to be fluid.
“This course recognizes the increased interest nationally in the subject of legalized sports betting, and there are a lot of lay people who don’t understand how it works and the legal aspects of how it’s regulated. It’s a brilliant idea, and the timing is perfect for it.”
