U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch - then the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York - and lawyers for the NFL have both said in legal arguments over the past decade that they consider sports betting as a game of skill, an important legal distinction that could shape the expanded legalization of wagering on American sports.
According to the documents, discovered by ESPN through searches of public records, both the Justice Department and NFL outside counsel made statements in support of traditional sports gambling as being skill-based in legal proceedings in 2013 and 2003. respectively. Skill-based contests are more likely to be permitted under federal and state law.
The position taken by the DOJ and NFL mirrored an argument in a 1999 United States Supreme Court case involving Louisiana's restrictions on gambling advertisements, where current U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, then in private practice, wrote a brief and touched on the skill versus chance issue.
"Betting on horse races, jai alai, and certain...sports betting may be advertised notwithstanding [the law's] ban because these are considered games of skill," wrote Verrilli and his co-counsel.
Ten years later, New Jersey brought the issue back in a long-simmering lawsuit pitting the Department of Justice, NFL, NBA, NCAA, NHL and MLB against Gov. Chris Christie over the Garden State's desire to offer Vegas-style sports betting. A decision in the case imminent.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has spoken out in favor of a federal framework for legalized sports betting. Sen. John McCain has called for Congressional hearings on the topic.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, talking to the Associated Press Sports Editors in April, said: "We oppose legalized sports gambling. We haven't changed our position on that, and I don't see us changing that going forward at all."
Goodell also said the league is studying daily fantasy games, but is approaching it cautiously.
Ref: ESPN
According to the documents, discovered by ESPN through searches of public records, both the Justice Department and NFL outside counsel made statements in support of traditional sports gambling as being skill-based in legal proceedings in 2013 and 2003. respectively. Skill-based contests are more likely to be permitted under federal and state law.
The position taken by the DOJ and NFL mirrored an argument in a 1999 United States Supreme Court case involving Louisiana's restrictions on gambling advertisements, where current U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, then in private practice, wrote a brief and touched on the skill versus chance issue.
"Betting on horse races, jai alai, and certain...sports betting may be advertised notwithstanding [the law's] ban because these are considered games of skill," wrote Verrilli and his co-counsel.
Ten years later, New Jersey brought the issue back in a long-simmering lawsuit pitting the Department of Justice, NFL, NBA, NCAA, NHL and MLB against Gov. Chris Christie over the Garden State's desire to offer Vegas-style sports betting. A decision in the case imminent.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has spoken out in favor of a federal framework for legalized sports betting. Sen. John McCain has called for Congressional hearings on the topic.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, talking to the Associated Press Sports Editors in April, said: "We oppose legalized sports gambling. We haven't changed our position on that, and I don't see us changing that going forward at all."
Goodell also said the league is studying daily fantasy games, but is approaching it cautiously.
Ref: ESPN