Within the past year, we’ve seen a handful of interesting sports gambling shows appear on large networks. Showtime’s Action is one noteworthy example. And while these programs are interesting in their own right, it’s a decision made by the United States Supreme Court that made them possible. Let’s look at how this landmark legal case changed American gambling for the next generation, and how this is demonstrated by popular TV programs of the past year.
What is Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association?
Since 1992, the US Supreme Court had granted the Federal government permission to tell individual states what to do with regard to sports gambling. With Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, a decision made in May 2018, the Supreme Court gave those decisions back to the states.
Basically, this change made it possible for individual states to make their own sports gambling rules. Some, like West Virginia and Pennsylvania, started to allow sports betting companies to open up under state-wide guidelines. M v. NCAA doesn’t make it legal to gamble nationwide, but it has opened the floodgates on the state level.
It only took a few months for sports gambling to develop into a multi-billion dollar industry in this environment. With so much money changing hands so quickly, it was only a matter of time before this movement started being represented on new sports betting TV shows like Showtime’s Action and ESPN’s The Daily Wager.
How is Sports Gambling Different Than Casino Gambling?
The reason sports gambling laws took a different course than casino gambling is that the two models offer many different challenges to regulators. Casino gambling takes place within enclosed spaces. As such, it’s easy to regulate with regard to zoning, liquor laws, tax record-keeping, best practices, and other factors.
Online casino gambling is even easier to manage. Games with slots online never deviate from specific odds. Financial transfers, free spins, use bonuses, and payouts are all managed digitally. Regulators always have confidence that they know what’s going on, and players have the confidence that they are being treated fairly.
Sports betting has always been more nebulous. Sporting events are carried out by human athletes, who don’t perform with the statistical purity of a slot machine. Furthermore, sports betting can be carried out just about anywhere, not just within the four walls of a casino. States that have expanded sports betting rights typically still require high standards of behavior from companies granted the right to conduct these events.
Will Sports Gambling Become Truly Mainstream?
Perhaps sports betting’s most prominent appearance on TV was with James Holzhauer’s record-breaking run on Jeopardy. Holzhauer is a professional sports bettor, who used game theory and high level gambling practices to expose a new generation of winning strategy on the long-running TV game show.
Holzhauer gave America a friendly and successful face to associate with sports betting. This, along with the success of shows like Action and The Daily Wager, we expect even more stars to emerge on the national stage. As this happens, more states are likely to expand sports betting rights. We believe we’re witnessing a major transition that will have lasting implications for gambling rights in the United States. And we’ll see it all unfold on TV.