According to a recently-held poll which results were released today, approximately 50% of the American citizens support sports betting legalization in the US. The survey, conducted by the PublicMind, an independent research group of the Fairleigh Dickinson University, showed that the poll’s respondents think the gambling expansion must be made not only because of the additional tax revenue which is expected to be brought to the states but also because many people are already betting illegally.
PublicMind Poll revealed that its latest survey found that half of the American adults who took part in the survey backed the recent US Supreme Court ruling to allow sports betting across the country. The results of the survey also showed that a little more than one-third of the respondents (37%) were against sports betting expansion outside states of Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana.
As mentioned above, one of the main reasons for half of the Americans to back the decision of the US Supreme Court which favoured sports betting expansion was the expected additional tax revenue which is to be brought to states’ budget. In addition, part of them pointed out that many US citizens are already betting on illegal sports betting websites and it would be much more reasonable for the authorities to allow such type of gambling and regulate it, instead of suspending it for local customers who still go and use questionable websites to bet.
When it comes to the poll participants who do not back the expansion of legalised sports betting, these people have pointed out that their biggest conce4rns were related to increased number of gambling addicts. A total of 66% of these people said they opposed the US Supreme Court’s decision because they were afraid that more people would become victims of problem gambling behaviour. Other popular reasons for them not to back the Court’s decision is their belief that the addition of another type of gambling activity would spread organised crime or would affect the fairness of the games.
US Supreme Court Changes Local Gambling Market Forever
The beginning of the week saw the US Supreme Court overturn the existing Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) under which sports betting was banned in the country, with the only exception of a few states. The ruling in favour of the state of New Jersey in the latter’s sports betting case opened the door for the addition of sports betting to the gambling sector of the rest of the US states which might want to regulate and tax this form of gambling.
A number of US states already have laws that would allow them to move quickly and forge a legislative and regulatory framework on sports betting. More than ten other states have unveiled sports betting bills in their latest legislative sessions, claiming their interest towards gambling market expansion.
A number of other states have been considering possible addition of sports betting to their existing gambling sectors, so we would have to only wait and see what follows.
- Author
Daniel Williams
