Expansion of sports betting in Supreme Court’s hands
By Jay Caspian Kang, New York Times
In the early 1990s, Bill Bradley, the New Jersey senator and former New York Knick, argued several times in front of Congress that legalizing sports betting would dehumanize athletes and lead to the rampant corruption of children. This was no cynical political crusade; Bradley was a true believer.
Bradley helped push through the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 1992, all but banning sports betting outside Nevada and driving a growing industry that employed hundreds underground.
As it turned out, the country’s millions of sports gamblers didn’t share Bradley’s concern for the sanctity of athletes like Bill Bradley or the children who might grow up to be just like him. In practical terms, the Sports Protection Act has mostly failed, and gambling has effectively grown to be an inescapable part of big-time sports.
Sometime in the next four months, the Supreme Court is likely to decide whether to hear an appeal by Gov. Chris Christie and the state of New Jersey that would essentially let states determine whether to allow sports betting within their borders.