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How a 2018 Supreme Court decision paved the way for meteoric growth in legal sports betting

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### Supreme Court Decision on Sports Betting Explained

By Mark Sherman, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A 2018 Supreme Court decision opened the floodgates for the legalized sports-betting industry, now worth billions of dollars a year, despite controversy surrounding the ruling. This decision is back in the spotlight following arrests of more than 30 people, including an NBA player and coach, as part of investigations into criminal schemes involving rigged sports bets and poker games linked to Mafia families.

**What Did the Supreme Court Decide?**
The court struck down a 1992 federal law, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which barred betting on football, basketball, baseball, and other sports in most states. Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, stated that the way Congress prohibited states from authorizing sports betting violated the Constitution’s Tenth Amendment, which protects states’ powers.

“The legalization of sports gambling requires an important policy choice, but the choice is not ours to make,” Alito wrote. He added that the court’s role is to interpret whether the law Congress enacted aligns with the Constitution—and PASPA did not.

The trouble, Alito explained, was that Congress did not make sports betting a federal crime but instead barred states from legalizing it, infringing upon their authority.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy, Neil Gorsuch, and Elena Kagan joined Alito’s opinion.

**Dissenting Views**
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented, arguing that the court should have invalidated only the part of the law restricting states and preserved the rest, especially provisions affecting private parties and betting schemes. Writing for Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer, she highlighted that courts generally seek to salvage rather than demolish a law. Breyer agreed that parts of the law should be struck down but disagreed that the entire law should fail.

Alito countered that Congress did not intend for the provisions to be treated separately.

**Concerns About Corruption**
Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey, a former NBA star, sponsored PASPA to protect against the dangers of sports betting. Major professional sports leagues and the NCAA urged the court to uphold the law, fearing gambling would harm the integrity of their games. They also highlighted the additional resources needed to monitor betting patterns and investigate suspicious activity. The Trump administration supported maintaining the ban.

Alito acknowledged the controversy around legal sports gambling, citing historical scandals such as the 1919 “Black Sox Scandal” and 1950s college basketball point-shaving schemes as examples of risks to sports integrity.

Nevertheless, he concluded that Congress could not require states to maintain prohibitions against sports betting.

Originally published: October 24, 2025 at 11:10 AM CDT.
https://www.twincities.com/2025/10/24/sports-betting-supreme-court/

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