Cody Allen

On May 14, 2018, the United States Supreme Court — via a 6-3 decision in Murphy, Governor of New Jersey v. National Collegiate Athletic Association (Murphy v. NCAA) — overturned the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), a longstanding federal prohibition on professional and amateur single-game sports wagering. The Murphy v. NCAA case was closely followed by state governments across the country, as ending the prohibition could open up an additional source of revenue. On September 5, 2017, West Virginia — joined by 20 other states — filed an amici curiae brief in support of New Jersey. Several signatories from SLC member states joined the brief, including the attorneys general of Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas, as well as the governor of Kentucky.

This SLC Regional Resource, current as of January 31, 2019, examines the status of active sports gambling laws in Mississippi and West Virginia, the two SLC states that currently authorize it. As additional data is gathered on the revenue gained from taxing sports wagering, it is anticipated many states will act during the 2019 and 2020 legislative sessions to bring this form of gaming to their states — especially those with a lottery or casino gaming infrastructure already in place.

Read the report