Will an intrepid governor shake up sports betting ... and politics?
by Chad Millman
Coming to a Delaware gas station near you?
A prediction: Sometime soon—after Tim Tebow brings peace to the Middle East but before the Lions become contenders—you'll walk into your local deli and bet on sports. You won't get pinched. You won't go on the lam if you can't pay up. Seriously. It's a lock.
For this, you may have Jack Markell to thank. Which is funny because Markell, Delaware's governor-elect, is not a betting man. Hasn't been to Vegas in 15 years, can't remember ever playing one of his state's slot machines, never gambles on football or basketball.
And yet, soon after he's sworn in on January 20th, there's a chance he'll start an avalanche of unprecedented gambling reform, and become the betting man's biggest hero since Charles McNeil invented the point spread.
That's because Markell has a problem that needs solving, pronto. The brainy kid who went to Delaware's Newark High, married his high school sweetheart, got an MBA from the University of Chicago and spent 10 years as his native state's treasurer finally has his dream job. Only it comes with a $3.35 billion budget that is, oh, about $600 million short. "Right now," the Gov-elect says, "we've got to get our fiscal house in order."
"You look for places where you can differentiate yourself," says Markell. "And Delaware can consider sports gaming."
One way he may do that? Approve sports betting in his state. "You look for places where you can differentiate yourself," says Markell. "And Delaware can consider sports gaming."
Back in 1992, when Congress banned state governments from being in the bookmaking biz, it exempted four that already allowed sports betting: Nevada, Montana, Oregon and Delaware. Oregon's run began in 1989 and was handled by the state lottery, which sold parlay tickets from $2-$20. But the state killed the program in 2007, hoping to attract more NCAA events. Montana legalized a sports lottery in 1973, and this past NFL season started a weekly fantasy betting game that costs between $5 and $100.
Delaware toyed with a sports lottery in the 1970s, too, but quickly bailed. Turns out the state bookmakers weren't very good. Still, its law stayed on the books and last year, with the economy in a freefall, a bill to reintroduce sports betting passed through the Deleware House. Then it died in a senate committee when the outgoing governor said she'd put the kibosh on it. But, on the campaign trail, Markell said he was open to the idea.
Now that he's the boss I called to ask, what's up? He called me back—just him by the way, no aide telling me to standby for the Governor-elect—and he said all the smart things: He still has to do a lot of research. He wants to hear from proponents and opponents. He won't do it if the costs outweigh the benefits. But, he says, "I'm not philosophically opposed to it. We've already got gaming in the state and you can't be a little big pregnant. There will be a lot of interest in this idea fairly soon."
And not just in Delaware. Consider this: When Congress banned states from booking sports 17 years ago, gambling of any kind was legal in just a handful of places. Now, it's allowed in 37 states. That includes Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, all of which border Delaware or are a daytrip away. Markell's decision—and I'm betting NFL parlays are the rage from Dewey Beach to Wilmington by next season—will have his neighbors scrambling to keep up. With an estimated $5 billion bet on sports online every year, all that headed out of the country, you think any of them want to lose business to, and look less progressive than, a state the size of a thumbprint? Please.
But here's the rub: The only way these states can play Delaware's game is by getting the 1992 betting ban overturned. This is gonna take muscle. Which means it's time to call in the boys from Jersey. They're itching for a fight. Shocker.
Gambling options on the Eastern seaboard and on the Internet have been eroding Atlantic City's profits since Sinatra headlined the Sands. Now Delaware—a roll of the dice away from AC—may allow sports betting? When the boardwalk is empty on Super Bowl Sunday? That's just too much.
For months Jersey's state legislature has been leaning on its U.S. congressmen to challenge the ban. This past December, the state assembly passed a resolution making its opposition official. It sends a message, but has as much teeth as a newborn. "Really," says N.J. State Senator Raymond Lesniak, "we have no chance of getting it overturned in Congress."
In American politics sports betting is the third rail of vices. And the leagues lobby hard to oppose it, whether the state has a pro team or not. So, in late February, Lesniak says he's gonna kick the federal government in the shins, filing a lawsuit that claims the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act is discriminatory and unconstitutional. "When they banned sports betting we were living in a different world," says Lesniak, who pays the bills as a lawyer. "Now it's legal where there are other gambling options as well, it should be legal here."
And this is how change is started. It's a pragmatic governor getting smart about a budget crisis; a bunch of states trying to compete with him; an aggrieved state senator filing a lawsuit.
And, guarantee, one day, this is how it will end: You'll walk into a deli and order a small coffee, a donut, the Chargers plus-six and a pack of gum.
Hold the cuffs.
dick_grayson
01-14-09, 02:10 PM
I didn't think AC had sportsbooks in the casinos anyway.
Red Dog
01-14-09, 02:49 PM
I didn't think AC had sportsbooks in the casinos anyway.
They don't, but like the article said, the state legislature has been trying to gets its US congressman to try to overturn the US ban.
Delaware having a popular form of gambling that A.C. doesn't would do serious harm to A.C. casinos. The only lure that A.C. would have is table gaming.
dick_grayson
01-14-09, 03:06 PM
ah, I see what you meant. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. the thing that sucks about online sportsbooks is that the payout takes forever (at least the one I use).
Red Dog
01-14-09, 03:11 PM
ah, I see what you meant. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. the thing that sucks about online sportsbooks is that the payout takes forever (at least the one I use).
And it also ups the ante - it will enhance Delaware's gambling position relative to PA, WV, and MD (which just finally legalized slots). WV has already moved to table gaming, although Charles Town has refrained from implementing it. If DE puts sports gambling in, it may pressure PA, MD, and Charles Town enough to allow table gaming (which is really what I want to see).
El Scorcho
01-14-09, 04:23 PM
the eternal optimist in me hopes that this starts a domino effect and soon we'll be able to gamble on everything everywhere
Deftones
01-14-09, 05:55 PM
the eternal optimist in me hopes that this starts a domino effect and soon we'll be able to gamble on everything everywhere
god that would be great.
Red Dog
03-12-09, 12:20 PM
ESPN is reporting that the governor plans to introduce a bill next week that would allow parlay-only lottery-type sports betting in Delaware and that the plan will allow non-casino/racetrack sites (such as a sports bars) to be allowed to sell such lottery tickets.
El Scorcho
03-12-09, 01:28 PM
look at me, i'm in...
... delaware
Dean Kousoulas
03-12-09, 01:45 PM
They don't, but like the article said, the state legislature has been trying to gets its US congressman to try to overturn the US ban.
Delaware having a popular form of gambling that A.C. doesn't would do serious harm to A.C. casinos. The only lure that A.C. would have is table gaming.
You mean to tell me the boardwalk with it's 2,000 .99 stores isn't a lure to draw people in?
Damfino
03-12-09, 02:13 PM
ESPN is reporting that the governor plans to introduce a bill next week that would allow parlay-only lottery-type sports betting in Delaware and that the plan will allow non-casino/racetrack sites (such as a sports bars) to be allowed to sell such lottery tickets.
and what exactly does Lottery-type sports betting mean? If it means a huge hold percentage for the state and 3 team parlays paying winners even money, this will fail big time.
Red Dog
03-12-09, 02:33 PM
and what exactly does Lottery-type sports betting mean? If it means a huge hold percentage for the state and 3 team parlays paying winners even money, this will fail big time.
I assume it means that you'll fill out bubbles and hand it to the cashier. I also assume that if they have spreads, they will be locked.
Oh you can bet that you won't get 6-1 on a 3-teamer.
Deftones
03-12-09, 03:12 PM
awesome. i wish more states were this forward thinking. why should people that enjoy gambling be punished just because there's some stupid stigma attached by the religious right.
El Scorcho
03-12-09, 04:52 PM
Oregon had a "lottery" sports wagering system for about 20 years but finally got rid of it 2 years ago in order to lure the NCAA march madness tourneys to the state.
It worked pretty much like Red Dog said. Bets were always parlays starting at 3-teams and going up to 14-teams. Sometimes over/unders were on the slip. Betting lines were fixed and published on Wednesdays. And the odds were fucking atrocious.
Example program: http://www.oregonlottery.org/sports/pdfs/sapro061128.pdf
Example results: http://www.oregonlottery.org/sports/pdfs/sares061114.pdf
3 teamers paid 5-to-1 instead of 6.
4-teamers paid 10-to-1 instead of 11.
Anything with 5-teamers and up was parimutuel, so you never really know how much you got until it was over and the pool was paid out.
Red Dog
03-12-09, 05:26 PM
Those odds actually are not as bad as I thought they would be. Frankly, given that the masses play the lottery (scratch-offs, pick-3/4, lotto) with the most atrocious odds imaginable, I don't see any reason why they wouldn't take to sports lottery wagering. Plus remember that the vast majority of people, even sports fans, don't know what the usual parlay payoffs are.
I figured there had to be some parimutuel aspect to it.
Delaware lawmakers have voted down a bill that would have authorized sports betting in the First State.
Gov. Jack Markell had proposed expanding gambling in hopes of raising an estimated $55 million in revenue for the state. <b>But on Tuesday night, the measure fell two votes short of the three-fifths majority needed for the bill to clear the Delaware House of Representatives, with 23 votes in favor, 15 against and three abstentions.</b>
Markell proposed expanding gaming at the state's three racetrack/casinos and a larger state share of slot machine revenues to prevent additional cuts in the fiscal 2010 budget. Markell has already proposed an 8 percent salary cut for all state workers.
The bill drew opposition from the state's three racetrack/casinos, who said the proposal would drive them out of business. According to the News-Journal of Wilimington, Patti Key, the CEO of Harrington Raceway, told lawmakers Tuesday that the larger state take of slot machine revenue would cost the track $3.2 million -- and that it would not make any money from sports betting.
Representatives of the NFL and National Collegiate Athletic Association also lobbied against the bill last month.
<b>By virtue of a brief and unsuccessful experiment with a sports lottery in the late 1970s, Delaware is one of only four states, along with Nevada, Montana and Oregon, grandfathered under a 1992 federal law that bans sports gambling.</b>
Red Dog
05-06-09, 07:00 PM
The bill drew opposition from the state's three racetrack/casinos
Well I'm just shocked that they opposed it. ;)
El Scorcho
05-08-09, 11:30 AM
reworked 2nd attempt passes 30-4, now onto the senate
Delaware state senate approves sports betting
By A.J. Perez, USA TODAY
The Delaware state senate moved quickly Tuesday to approve a sports gambling bill, leaving only Gov. Jack Markell's promised signature as the final step before it becomes law.
Instead of sending the bill to a committee for a debate, the senators voted to suspend those rules and allowed it to be debated in the full chamber. A short time later, the bill passed 17-2 with two abstentions.
"I am very pleased that the senate acted so quickly to pass the sports lottery legislation and I very much appreciate the leadership from both sides of the aisle," Markell said in a statement. "In particular, I want to thank Senator (Tony) Deluca as the lead senate sponsor and the leadership in the house of representatives who came together to get us closer to our meeting our budget challenges."
Markell, who has been a major backer of the bill, is expected to sign the bill later this week and the target is to have the betting system in place for the start of the NFL season.
Whenever it's signed, Delaware will become the first state east of the Mississippi to allow sports wagering. It's estimated that sports betting will generate about $50 million annually for Delaware, which Markell said will help with a projected $755 million shortfall in next fiscal year's budget.
"This will generate critical revenue to fund our core commitments as a government, including public safety, education and economic development," Markell said. "Working together, this will also generate new revenue to our partners, Delaware's three (casinos)."
The format the of state's new sports betting system has still not been determined.
The bill allows for betting on single games, but it could be limited to parlay betting by the state's supreme court. After Markell signs the bill into law, the state supreme court will be able to determine which system complies with that state's constitution.
Delaware had a sports lottery briefly in the 1970s and was grandfathered in — along with Oregon, Nevada and Montana — under a 1992 federal law that bans states from establishing sports gambling.
The state's three casinos will get less of a cut of non-racing revenue, but the addition of sports betting is predicted to more than offset the reduction. The state will get 45% of the revenue generated from sports and electronic gaming.
In return, the bill approved a commission that will study whether it's feasible to bring live table gaming to Delaware, something the casinos have been pushing for.
The bill has been opposed by several sports leagues and organizations, including the NFL and NCAA. NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn called sports wagering "a problem, not a solution" to the state's to budget problems.
"We expect that everyone involved in the administration of sports leagues — professional and college — will review today's action and evaluate its impact as other decisions are made by Delaware officials and the Delaware Supreme Court,"NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement.
Bill text:
http://legis.delaware.gov/lis/lis145.nsf/2bede841c6272c888025698400433a04/f9ccce77c918ebe285257590004899cd?OpenDocument
Deftones
07-24-09, 02:42 PM
Ahhhh yes. Leave it to the sports leagues to having their priorities completely out of whack.
WASHINGTON - The four major pro sports leagues and the NCAA sued Delaware on Friday, seeking to block the state from implementing sports betting.
Delaware's sports betting plan "would irreparably harm professional and amateur sports by fostering suspicion and skepticism that individual plays and final scores of games may have been influenced by factors other than honest athletic competition," the leagues and NCAA say in a lawsuit filed in federal district court in Delaware.
Congress banned sports betting in 1992 but grandfathered four states - Delaware, Nevada, Montana and Oregon - that had already offered it. But the lawsuit argues that Delaware's plan to allow single-game betting would violate the legislation because Delaware has never offered single-game betting before.
Under the 92 law, the leagues and NCAA said, a state like Delaware may only reintroduce sports betting if it had been conducted between 1976 and 1990.
They also argue that Delaware's plan is illegal because it allows betting on all sports, going beyond the professional football betting program that constituted the state's brief failed experiment in 1976.
The suit was filed by Major League Baseball, the NFL, the NBA, the NHL and the NCAA.
Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, who proposed sports betting to help solve a budget shortfall, signed legislation authorizing it this year. State officials hope to have it in place for this year's NFL regular season in September.
Markell's office had no immediate comment on the lawsuit.
In May, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled that the new state law allowing sports betting didn't conflict with the state constitution, but the justices also said, "we cannot opine on the constitutionality of single game bets."
Red Dog
08-07-09, 05:11 PM
The leagues lose round 1.
August 5, 2009
Sports betting gets green light in court
By SEAN O'SULLIVAN
The News Journal
A federal judge today cleared the way for Delaware to start sports betting -- on schedule -- in September.
Chief District Judge Gregory M. Sleet denied an emergency request from the professional sports leagues and NCAA to stop the state from launching sports books at the state’s three racinos while a lawsuit challenging their legality moves forward to a December trial.
Attorney David J. Margules, representing Delaware, said the ruling removes any legal road blocks for sports betting.
Mike Barlow, Gov. Jack Markell’s legal counsel, heralded the ruling as a victory and said sports betting, including single-game wagers, will start by the kickoff of the first National Football League game in September.
Barlow said the state is working to ensure that casino employees operating the games are properly trained and that all regulatory measures are instituted.
The state penned a contract with Scientific Games last week to provide the computers and software for sports betting and Barlow said the state anticipates the kiosks to be set up by Sept. 1.
Kenneth J. Nachbar, the attorney representing the four major sports leagues and the National Collegiate Athletic Association, said they were disappointed with the ruling and will be considering their legal options.
The lawsuit, filed July 24, seeks to stop all sports betting in Delaware except multi-game “parlay” bets on football as was done briefly in Delaware in 1976.
The sports leagues could try to have the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals step in and overrule Sleet or impose a temporary stop while the case is pending.
Immediately after the meeting with Sleet, Nachbar said no decision on such an appeal had been made, but he also made clear that his clients disagree that the leagues will suffer no irreparable harm if Delaware is allowed to move forward.
Dover Downs, meanwhile, said it will have sports betting -- including single game wagers -- up and running by Sept. 1.
“Nobody is telling us we can’t, so we will,” said Dennis McGlynn, president of Dover Downs.
At the public portion of today’s scheduling meeting with attorneys, Sleet said the sports leagues had to prove one of three things for him to act, and they failed at all three.
First, Sleet said the leagues did not show they were likely to prevail at trial. He later added that it was also not clear at this point if Delaware would prevail at trial.
Second, Sleet said the leagues failed to show there would be irreparable harm to professional and college sports if action was not taken now.
Sleet said the sports leagues position was “ironic” given that -- as attorneys for Delaware noted -- a number of sports teams now have sponsorship deals with casinos and several owners of sports teams also own gambling establishments
Third, Sleet said the sports teams failed to show the defendant would not be irreparably harmed by the injunction. The judge said there was at least a potential harm to Delaware -- and the public in general -- in that Delaware is counting on millions in revenue from sports betting to balance its budget.
Sleet then went on to set a series of deadlines for pre-trial motions and discovery by both sides in anticipation of a five-day trial starting Dec. 7.
westleyDPR
08-24-09, 04:20 PM
sports leagues win round two with a knockout. courts kill single game betting! i for one am stunned!
UPDATED: Court kills single-game bets; state officials stunned
By SEAN O’SULLIVAN and CRIS BARRISH • The News Journal • August 24, 2009
PHILADELPHIA — Delaware’s proposal to launch single-game sports betting next week violates federal law and cannot proceed, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today.
The panel made its surprise ruling from the bench after a nearly two-hour hearing. Judge Theodore McKee said a written order outlining their ruling would be issued later today. Sports betting was set to start in Delaware Sept. 1.
Attorneys for both the state and America’s major sports leagues said they wanted to see the written ruling before making a final comment, but it seemed to be a complete victory for college and pro sports.
“We’re very disappointed with the ruling,’’ said a stunned Michael Barlow, legal counsel to Gov. Jack Markell, after the court’s verbal ruling.
Attorney Kenneth J. Nachbar, representing pro football, baseball, hockey, basketball and the National Collegiate Athletic Association, said after today’s ruling that he was “delighted’ with the result.
The panel was only expected to rule Monday on the issue of a temporary order to stop Delaware from launching sports betting with single-game wagers against a point spread and bets on all sports except pro football while the leagues’ federal lawsuit moved through the court system.
However, during the oral arguments, members of the three-judge panel indicated there appeared to be no factual dispute between the state and the sports leagues and it was a simple matter of law that they could resolve at this stage.
And after leaving the bench and conferring together for about 40 minutes, the three judges -- McKee, Julio Fuentes and Thomas Hardiman -- returned to the bench and announced that not only did they think there was a “likelihood” the leagues would prevail at trial, but had decided the state’s plan violated the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992.
The Bus
08-24-09, 04:23 PM
Damn it.
Deftones
08-24-09, 04:26 PM
jesus christ the government and the sports leagues involved here are fucking stupid.
Red Dog
08-24-09, 04:55 PM
The one silver lining is that this may hasten the introduction of table games.
El Scorcho
08-24-09, 05:01 PM
The NCAA continues to be one of the biggest monetary scams ever. Jesus.
El Scorcho
08-24-09, 05:13 PM
Also, thank god the integrity of these sports has been saved and that sports leagues and state governments are continuing to protect their families.
So could they still do parlays, etc. and just not do single game wagers?
Red Dog
08-25-09, 09:17 AM
So could they still do parlays, etc. and just not do single game wagers?
From my understanding, yes.
The Bus
08-25-09, 09:37 AM
The one silver lining is that this may hasten the introduction of table games.
:up:
Our state needs the revenue.
Red Dog
08-25-09, 09:42 AM
:up:
Our state needs the revenue.
You'd get some revenue from me. Harrington is a 2-hour drive (as compared to 4+ for A.C., which is a dump anyhow) and if there's a rainy day when I'm at the beach, it's only 45 minutes.
Red Dog
09-14-09, 10:27 AM
So based on the articles I read, sports gambling in Del. is limited to the NFL and relies on the Parlay, Teaser, and Super-Teaser cards. 3 team minimum and no totals offered.
westleyDPR
09-14-09, 02:57 PM
So based on the articles I read, sports gambling in Del. is limited to the NFL and relies on the Parlay, Teaser, and Super-Teaser cards. 3 team minimum and no totals offered.
Correct. The Delaware sports books are gonna be jumpin from February thru August :rolleyes:
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