NFL,NBA,NHL, MLB and NCAA will lose their case against Delaware - bet on it.

July 31, 3:33 PMSports Media ExaminerJim Williams

I bet you will never guess how much legal sports gambling accounts for in the total casino’s take in Las Vegas?

About 5% of the billions of dollars legally taken in at Nevada casinos come from sports bets.

So how many people will flock to Delaware to place a sports bet when they can get better odds and never leave home by betting online?

For Delaware sports gambling is part of the much larger table games like poker, blackjack and roulette a combination that along with sports betting will make the state a popular weekend stop for men 25 to 54.

I am constantly asked how is it that Delaware can have sports betting and other states can’t?
The state has a waiver under the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), a 1992 federal law that outlawed sports betting but grandfathered Delaware, Nevada, Oregon and Montana — all states that had some form of sports wagering in the prior two decades.
 

This whole sky is falling legal battle going on is absurd because Major League sports are up to their necks in gaming from ownership to sponsorships.

Led by the NFL, the four major sports leagues and the NCAA filed a lawsuit in federal court in an attempt to block Delaware's plan to introduce sports betting this fall.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, challenges the state's right to establish sports betting, specifically plans to offer single-game wagering. In a separate filing, the lawyers wrote they intend to file a motion for a preliminary injunction next week and asked the court for an expedited hearing.

"Delaware will not be intimidated by efforts to stop us from moving forward," said Joseph Rogalsky, spokesman for Gov. Jack Markell, who was named in the lawsuit, along with Wayne Lemons, director of the Delaware State Lottery Office. "The sports lottery means more jobs for our state and more funds for our schools and other services."

In a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell obtained by The Associated Press, Democrat Rep. Peter Schwartzkopf, the lead House sponsor of legislation bringing sports betting back to Delaware, mentioned:

-The annual Las Vegas Bowl college football game.

-The Maloof family, which owns both the NBA's Sacramento Kings and the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. (In an interview with USA Today Joe Maloof told the newspaper that “With all the different casinos in different states that have legalized gaming, why not legalize sports betting? Maloof went on to say to USA Today. "When it's regulated, it's safer. There's no hanky-panky.")

-A marketing and promotional partnership between the New York Mets baseball team and casino company Harrah's Entertainment at the Mets' new ballpark, CitiField. There are casino sponsorships in just about half of the ballparks, arenas and stadiums throughout all four major sports leagues.

-The NHL holding its annual awards ceremony at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. There is no way to count how many players from all professional teams who make regular trips to Vegas.

-Promotion of gambling on NFL games on the Web sites of networks that broadcast the games. Schwartzkopf's spokesman cited point spreads and game picks made on the sites.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in an e-mail that the league's contracts with its broadcast carriers prohibit references to betting on the outcome of games during NFL telecasts.

Meanwhile every NFL pregame show picks the winners each week during the season and makes a big deal out of who is the best prognosticator.

Truth is that sports owners are for gambling when it suits them and not the masses.
The Yankees boss George Steinbrenner for years owned Tampa Bay Downs and the squeaky clean Rooney Family owners of the Pittsburgh Steelers own Yonkers Race track in New York as well as a horse farm in Baltimore County where they breed race horses.

All by the way is perfectly legal and above board but does smack of hypocrisy.

Speaking of race horses I don’t have enough room in this column to cover everyone in sports who owns one but a couple of big names would be Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino and the Dolphins big Tuna Bill Parcells.

The NCAA loves to promote March Madness and office pools even within college athletic offices have become an annual tradition.
 

Fantasy sports which has become a billion dollar industry is encouraged by all the major sports leagues and there has been a long and heated debate over the question - if it is a form of gambling? The leagues and fantasy supporters have fought to make sure it is legal yet for the over 20 plus million players participating in what amounts to games of chance, not skill therefore fantasy sports could very well qualify as gambling.

OK I know that those who play fantasy sports take it seriously but players have no say over how often coaches do not play their team members, nor do they have any control over injuries so while skill might enter into it fantasy sports are still a game of chance.

Look for Delaware to start the sports betting the first weekend of the NFL season. Bet on it!