Sports betting could be legal nationwide in time for March Madness

The Supreme Court of the United States has announced a date for its hearing of a challenge to the federal law that bans betting on sporting events.

If all the sports betting pieces fall into place just the right way, sports books across the United States of America could start taking wagers from fans on the next round of March Madness.

Christie vs. NCAA et al, the case that challenges the federal law that makes placing wagers on sporting events illegal in most of the country, has been on the short list of cases that will be heard by the Supreme Court for a few months now. On Friday, it was revealed exactly when that day in court will be. The timeline that it sets up in respect to March of 2018 is quite interesting.

Even given the fact that a date has been set, fans should be cautiously optimistic about the case’s chances. Not only will the Supreme Court have to rule a certain way in order for the legal barriers to sports betting to be removed, but various state governments would have to follow suit in their legislatures as well.

Under the premise that all those dominoes fall as they have to, the first one could fall in early December according to a reporter who covers the Supreme Court for The Washington Post.

Before the court is the issue of whether states are free to repeal their own laws that ban betting on sports. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) has been used to block such activity by state legislatures outside of the state of Nevada, most famously in New Jersey, where this case originated.

Attorneys for Governor Chris Christie will argue that federal law which bans states from repealing their own legislation is unconstitutional, in addition to questioning the constitutionality of a law that allows certain activity in one state but bans it elsewhere. In order for the process of nationwide legalization in time for March Madness to move forward, the Supreme Court would have to broadly rule that PASPA is unconstitutional. A narrower ruling that only applies to the state of New Jersey is a possibility, but that would significantly delay the possibility of nationwide legalization as it would require other states to file similar cases.

If the Supreme Court strikes down PASPA, the legality of betting on sports would then become a patchwork across the United States similar to current daily fantasy sports legality. Some states have no language on the matter whatsoever while others have bans on the practice in their state constitutions.

It’s likely that if PASPA is struck down, state legislatures regardless of their individual status quo will begin to draft legislature which not only regulates but taxes sports betting within their borders. Some states, like West Virginia, are already in the process of passing presumptive legislation to be prepared for the contingency of PASPA being declared unconstitutional.

It’s uncertain whether or not such legislation could get passed in all 50 states in time for March Madness, but with a potential January 2018 decision by the Supreme Court, it’s possible that in over two months’ time it could happen. If the process couldn’t be completed by late March, the advent of the 2017-18 NBA and NHL postseasons could mark the beginning of nationwide legalized sports betting.

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While there are still several things that have to go right and do so rather quickly, the fact that it’s theoretically possible for betting on sports to be legal in every part of the United States before March has the potential to significantly increase the madness.