Threat Seen to Nevada's Sports Betting Monopoly11/17/09 - Las Vegas Sun - View Source By Richard N. Velotta Nevada will face competition for race and sports books, a state gaming regulator predicts. “The most pent-up demand is for sports wagering,” state Gaming Control Board member Randall Sayre told more than 60 lawyers at the 2009 Gaming Law Conference on Nov. 6, sponsored by the State Bar of Nevada. Sayre said as more states struggle to develop revenue sources, some will look to race and sports books as a solution. “There will be intense revenue pressures, more than we’ve ever seen before. The profound impact of competition on the state is not going to go away,” he said. Nevada, the only state to offer legal wagering on sports, nearly got its first competition this year when Delaware proposed allowing sports bets at racinos. The move was blocked by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals when the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the National Collegiate Athletic Association filed a motion in opposition. Delaware was one of four states — with Oregon, Montana and New Jersey — exempted from legislation banning sports wagering in the United States, one of the last bills sponsored by former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, who played professional basketball before getting into politics. The four states had an exemption because they had lottery games tied to professional football results. Sports betting accounts for just 1 percent of the total gaming win in Nevada every year. |
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