On Monday, May 14, the United States Supreme Court announced its eagerly awaited decision in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association and, as many expected, struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (“PASPA”), a federal law that prohibits states from authorizing and regulating sports wagering. In the wake of the decision, many states are looking at legalizing (and taxing) sports betting to raise additional revenue to fund state and local governmental operations. Pennsylvania is in an enviable position as it preemptively legalized (and taxed) sports betting in anticipation of the Court’s decision.
We previously covered Pennsylvania’s plans for sports betting on the blog. Of particular interest from that post:
Last October, the General Assembly passed Act 42 of 2017, a sweeping and comprehensive gambling expansion bill that addresses the issue of sports wagering. … As with previous gaming expansions, sports wagering, if legalized would result in a potential financial windfall to the state and local municipalities. Act 42 establishes a $10 million fee for casinos to add sports wagering, and taxes the activity at a 34% rate. In addition, Act 42 establishes a 2% local share assessment that is directed to the Commonwealth Financing Authority for projects across the state.
You can find the full commentary here.
Interested in learning more about what this means for Pennsylvania? Our colleague Sasha Sacavage, who prior to joining McNees served as Enforcement Counsel to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, has posted some commentary on what still needs to be done before sports betting can be implemented in Pennsylvania, and also what the decision may mean for the burgeoning e-sports industry in the state. You can read her commentary here.