The future has never looked brighter for the world of sports betting following the Donald Trump presidential nomination. Not only has Trump been a large figure on the United States gambling scene, but New Jersey governor Chris Christie has a good shot at being appointed the United States Attorney General as a result of this election. This puts sports betting in the hands of a few people that are likely to push in favor of its legalization.
Back in the early 1990s Trump had advocated for sports betting. He stated that it was important to legalize it and regulate it because it would put the underground bookies out of business. This happened during a time that he was running his Atlantic City casinos, so obviously he had some interest in lowering the competition and gaining some new avenues to boost his business. Sports betting has been a hot topic in the gambling industry within the United States for quite a few years and there have been some major push towards legalizing it, and if it gains Trump’s attention it’s likely that he would be favorable for it resulting from his history and former approval.
Before this election was even close to being wrapped up the American Gaming Association had announced that the next President of the United States was likely going to have a sports gambling bill on their desk and would be pressed to make that important decision. They cite that the black market sports betting industry is worth as much as $150 billion, and that’s a huge amount of taxable revenue that could go into both state and federal budgets. This is the exact same reason that Trump had been quoted as supporting its legalization all those years ago, and it just so happens that now he has taken the most important position in the country.
American Gaming Association President Geoff Freeman now believes that the gambling industry is in a prime spot to thrive and become less of a gray area in the United States. He believes that over the next few years there will be some major victories for the industry that is going to revolutionize it within the United States.
A poll that was taken by Fairleigh Dickinson shows that at least half of Americans are in favor of legalizing sports betting with only a minority of 40 percent being opposed to it. Furthermore, there are now 40 states that have at least one casino within their jurisdiction, so it’s likely that there will be some support from the states as well.
The reason that Chris Christie is such an important person for the industry to have as the US Attorney General is because he has continually pushed for a way to get around the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act setup in 1992. New Jersey has passed its own laws to legalize sports betting in their state following the act, but have failed to due so after opposition citing federal law.