PHILADELPHIA — An appeals court has ruled that Delaware’s plan for single-game sports betting violates the Professional Amateur Sports Protection Act, a federal statute prohibiting sports gambling.
The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled Aug. 24 that the sports lottery, which Delaware had planned to start Sept. 1, is not covered by an exemption the state received when the ban was enacted in 1992.
Along with Nevada, Montana and Oregon, Delaware was grandfathered in after the ban because it already had a form of sports betting. But the type of gambling Delaware started in 1976 — which later failed — only offered parlay bets on the results of three or more NFL games. The new plan would have allowed betting on single games and on sports other than professional football.
“A ruling like this often ends the case,” Michael Goldberg, a law professor in Wilmington, Del., told USA Today.
The NBA, NFL, NHL, Major League Baseball and the NCAA contended that widespread legalized gambling would threaten the integrity of their sports by creating incentives for cheating and game-fixing, and they asked federal District Judge Gregory Sleet to intervene in the Delaware case.
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