A bill which urges Congress to put an end to the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PAPSA), has been introduced by Pennsylvania House of Representatives Member, Nick Kotik. The bill, HR 619, seeks to legalize sports betting at licensed casinos in Pennsylvania and calls for Pennsylvania’s exemption from PAPSA which bans sports betting in the state. Kotik wants sports betting to be regulated by the state’s Gaming Control Board instead.
“The question is: if this is already going on, why not legalize it in such a way that it’s regulated while still profitable,” said Nick Kotik in a statement he issued this week.
Kotik is the chairman of the House Gaming Oversight Committee and said last month that he had plans to expand the state’s gaming industry.
On Tuesday, the committee voted 23-1 in favor of HR 619 which, according to OpenStates.org is a resolution “urging the Congress of the United States to lift the federal ban on sports betting and to allow states that authorize, license and regulate casino gambling, including the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to legalize sports betting through licensed facilities.”
PAPSA allows just four states to offer sports betting, namely Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana. These states were grandfathered in when the law was passed in 1992 and Nevada is the only one of the four which allows single game sports betting. A record-breaking $132 million was wagered on the Super Bowl at Nevada sportsbooks this year, with the state winning $231.8 million of the $4.2 billion wagered on sports overall in Nevada last year.
HR619 still has a number of steps to pass before it will be adopted as state legislation.
The bill is quite similar to legislation that passed in New Jersey in 2014 which lifted the Garden State’s prohibition on sports betting at licensed racetracks and casinos. Nothing has materialized from the bill, however, since it is being challenged by major sport leagues such as the NFL, the NBA and Major League Baseball that it is in violation of PAPSA.
Kotik said in an interview that Pennsylvania simply wants to be proactive “to the effect that if lightning strikes and somehow this ban is overturned, that we are in a unique position to move forward.”
Kotik noted that casinos are now a fully-fledged industry in the state, and the committee sees the introduction of sports betting as another avenue to keep them viable and competitive.
