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Who says one of the most powerful and influential forces in the USA (aka the judiciary) isn’t a big fan of gambling? And no, we’re not talking about federal judges who like blowing huge sums of money in Las Vegas, nor even about a current President of the United States who is the proud owner of gambling establishments (yep, he regained his ownership). We’re talking about America’s love of sports betting: that’s what the whole fuss is about.
Congratulations, guys, sports betting is officially legal in all fifty of the United States. Hold on; was it ever forbidden? You bet (just a little pun intended)! There were times when this type of gambling (FYI, it is indeed a variation of gambling) was only allowed within the borders of Nevada. All 50 states can get involved in this exciting activity from now on. Before you jump straight into impulsive decisions, let’s take a closer look at the reasons and consequences of the federal court’s decision.
Traditionally, gambling is associated with casinos, lights, chips, wagering, James Bond movies, and a rush of adrenaline. And when it comes to sports betting, this is not always the case. However, eager sports fans may disagree, because sports are an essential part of their life and they can’t imagine a single day without matches and games. And who can blame them? This is such an exciting industry that it’s almost a whole other universe with its rules, culture, and superstars. On top of that, sports are very profitable. Starting with World Championships and ending with betting, it’s a crucial part of the world’s economy. Surprisingly enough, it took quite some time for the USA to figure this out.
There are people who are wondering how sports betting constitutes a branch of the gambling industry? Well, think about it. You have a little control over your winnings. Obviously, if you’re a dedicated, passionate fan, you’ll be able to calculate the odds of a certain match, for example. You can take a whole bunch of factors into consideration, like possible athlete injuries that may influence their performance, their opponents’ potential, the location of a game (home-field matches often turn out to be more successful), or if you’re lucky enough, you can even get your hands on exclusive information from insiders.
So you can make an assumption, a prediction, call it what you wish, but you do at least have some control over a situation, unlike with slots. You can rely solely on good luck and this makes your hands tied. Nevertheless, sports betting is still a type of gambling. Of course, it’s not a lottery itself, but the two do share some features. A mechanism of earning money is pretty much the same.
Perhaps the government doesn’t like the fact that citizens earn money in a too simple way. However, they do pay taxes, so it’s kind of complicated. Let’s figure out why sports betting has been forbidden in the USA all this time.
The USA might have stepped away from the Crown in the eighteenth century, but long-lived British traditions haunted the nation for quite some time. The clearest example of such a tendency was horse-race betting, which was insanely popular among the Brits. In fact, this gambling activity played a crucial role in funding the Revolution, so Americans spent the nineteenth century embracing it.
It seemed to be working for all parties – citizens, bookmaking companies, and the government (because of good taxes, of course). But sooner or later this sphere, which wasn’t strictly regulated by officials, had to show some loopholes for better-earning opportunities, fixed games, and frauds. And one particular case changed a frivolous style of sports betting in the USA.
It was the year 1919 when one of the most talked-about frauds in the history of sports occurred. The strongest baseball team of that time, the Chicago White Sox, was caught throwing a series of super important games during the World Series. Bookmakers (who had a reputation as gangsters) bribed top players so they would lose to the Reds, which eventually happened. Newspapers placed photos of players on front pages which said: “Fix these faces in your memory. Eight men charged with selling out baseball.”
Was one unfortunate event enough to shut down a powerful sports betting empire? Of course not! This case was just a starting point. Sports betting was still flourishing. However, everybody kept the ‘Black Sox’ (as the group of disreputable athletes was called in the media) situation in mind and the field of betting wasn’t as strong and eminent as it used to be. The next turning point involved the rise of the Italian-American mafia in the 1960’s. These overly-influential mobsters practically occupied the market of sports betting and took full control of all gambling establishments. And despite the fact that all kinds of sports wagering were forbidden by a federal law in 1961, it didn’t help much.
People still were gambling, the only difference was that, from that moment, they were engaged in illegal activities. Only New Jersey decided that gambling was in their blood and held a referendum. It was agreed that gambling activities would be narrowed down to Atlantic City. Finally, the year 2018 greeted us with a full legalization of sports betting. Cheers to that!
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