Interest in US sports betting legalization increases

Last week Raymond Lesniak, a New Jersey state senator, filed a federal lawsuit to permit sports betting in every state. As the recession’s impact in the United States grows, it appears the interest in legalizing sports betting is also on the rise.

Currently, sports betting is legal in four states – Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon – but only offered in the first two. Lesniak is not alone in his quest. ESPN magazine reports that Jack Markell, governor of Delaware, will be introducing a proposal to legalize sports gambling east of the Mississippi River.

Joe Brennan, CEO of Interactive Media and Gaming Association, made an appearance on Fox Business to discuss the impending litigation as well as the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, a law that prohibits expanding sports betting to other states.

“(The law) hasn’t been challenged in court,” Brennan said on Fox Business. “And let’s face it, over the course of the last ten years or so, the states have been flushed with money as is the federal government. But now that times are a little tight, states need to find new sources of revenue.”