From the New York Times: Cigars, Booze, Money: How a Lobbying Blitz Made Sports Betting Ubiquitous

A good look at how gambling policy is set.

- Click here for the story.

Representative John Barker, a cattle breeder, retired judge and chairman of one of the most powerful committees in the Kansas legislature, had a glass of 30-year Redbreast Irish whiskey in his hand and a Don Tomas cigar from Honduras in his mouth.

Both had been passed to him as he entered a party a few blocks from the State Capitol. It was co-sponsored by lobbyists who had recently turned to Mr. Barker for help legalizing sports betting in Kansas.

“They keep a special bottle for me up there — they know I like it,” he said of the lobbyists as he surveyed the crowded room. “I’m in my element when I have a whiskey and a cigar.”

It was the eve of the vote on Mr. Barker’s long-debated gambling bill, a muggy spring night in April. This was the latest stop in a relentless nationwide campaign to bring sports betting to tens of millions of mobile phones, in what has been the fastest expansion of legalized gambling in American history.

Less than five years ago, betting on sports in the United States was prohibited under federal law except in Nevada casinos and a smattering of venues in other states. Sports leagues argued that the ban safeguarded the integrity of American sports, while consumer watchdogs warned that legal gambling could turn fans into addicts. In countries like Britain, sports gambling free-for-alls had left trails of addiction.

But in 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal prohibition was unconstitutional.

DraftKings and FanDuel, giants in the fast-growing field of fantasy sports, had already mobilized an army of former regulators and politicians to press for sports betting in state capitals. Soon, in a crucial reversal, sports leagues overcame their antipathy toward gambling, which they came to see as a way to keep increasingly distracted audiences tuned in. Casino companies also hopped on board.

It was a market, the industry hoped, that could be worth billions a year. And so they set out to seize it.

- From Wikipedia: Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association.

- From Oyez: Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association.

- From Scotusblog: Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association.

__________

For more on the industry: 

- American Gaming Association.

- American Gaming Association: Advocacy.

- American Gaming Association: Responsible Gaming: Regulations and Statutes Guide.