The RPs Debate Gambling: Jason Grill Rebuts

Jason Grill: Rebuttal #3

[The RP’s Provocation, Artur Davis’s Rebuttal #1; Ron Granieri’s Rebuttal #2; Natasha Dow Schüll’s Analysis; Spectrum Gaming Group’s Analysis]

Lets change the direction of this debate a little bit.

It’s all about sports gambling ladies and gentlemen.

As a member of the Missouri House of Representatives, I sponsored a resolution calling on Congress to repeal the Federal Professional And Amateur Sports Promotion Act of 1992 (PASPA). The 1992 law prohibited all but four states from offering sports gambling. The four states exempted from this act were Delaware, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon.

Missouri currently allows twelve gambling casinos in the State. They should have the option to put a sportsbook in each one of them. The federal law is outdated and is truly discriminatory towards 46 other states. These states should have the option to share in the major economic and revenue benefits that sports betting can provide.

Guess what…The Super Bowl is this week. Lets take a look at a few stats…

• 2006 – $94.5 million was legally wagered in Nevada sportsbooks on Super Bowl
• 2007 – $93 million was legally wagered in Nevada sportsbooks on Super Bowl
• 2008 – $92.1 million was legally wagered in Nevada sportsbooks on Super Bowl
• 2009 – $81.5 million was legally wagered in Nevada sportsbooks on Super Bowl
• 2010 – $82.7 million was legally wagered in Nevada sportsbooks on Super Bowl
• 2011 – $81.7 million was legally wagered in Nevada sportsbooks on Super Bowl

Overall, legal sports wagering in Nevada represents less than 1 percent of all sports betting nationwide. Over 2/3 of all sports bets placed legally in Nevada are placed on professional, non-college related sporting events. Most importantly, it’s reported that illegal wagers are as much as $380 billion annually. Of the total amount bet on the Super Bowl in 2010, only about 1.5 percent is wagered legally. Lastly, nearly half of American adults bet on the Super Bowl in some shape or form.

Allowing states around the country to make the decision on sports gambling in their state is the right thing to do. Following Nevada’s lead across the country in a legal, regulated, and taxed way would lead to millions of new revenue, hundreds of new jobs, increased economic development, thousands of tourists from across the land, and cut down on all the illegal offshore and internet sports gambling.

States throughout this country are dealing with budget problems and cuts to vital services and education. The only moral thing to do is to repeal PASPA and allow states to have the option to legalize sports gambling.