Four out of five Americans now believe that sports betting should be legal throughout the USA.
This was last week’s latest finding on the subject and it resulted from a new, nation-wide Seton Hall Sports Poll.
It was conducted via landline and mobile phone 17 months after the Supreme Court abolished PASPA in May 2018. Since 1992, this federal law had prohibited sports betting in most US states besides Nevada.
The result of the poll was almost a complete turnaround of a similar poll conducted in February 2017.
This was at a time when PSAPA still applied in more than 90% of US states and when only 46% of respondents supported sports betting.
With that figure now standing at 80%, support for as opposed to support against has almost doubled.
Supreme Court ruled PASPA unconstitutional
The Supreme Court ruled that PASPA was unconstitutional. It said the states should themselves decide whether or not to allow sports betting.
Thirteen states with New Jersey leading the way have already legalized sports-betting and a dozen more are busy processing the necessary legislation.
Fifty-five percent of those backing sports betting supported the ruling that states themselves decide on the legitimacy of it.
But an additional 25 percent wished the law had gone further. They would have preferred a ruling that instantly legalized sportsbetting nation-wide.
Against this, only 16% of the 714 American adults questioned in the poll believed sports betting should not have been legalized.
The Poll was conducted both on landline and mobile phones and was reported to have a +/-3.8% margin of era. The Sharkey Institute sponsored it at the Stillman School of Business at Seton Hall.
Punters want betting on all college sport
Another unexpected statistic coming out of the poll was that more (44% as against 35%) believed punters should be able to bet on all College sport. Presently same states like Indiana allow it but others like New Jersey have different rules.
New Jersey punters can bet on all NCAA events unless they involve college sport within its state boundaries. It is illegal, for example, for residents to place bets on Princeton.
“Public acceptance of legalized betting on sports is moving at a rapid pace,” Seton Hall Sports Poll director Rick Gentile said in a statement.
The significant change in sports betting approval, he added in a press statement, was likely because it was “tied to court approval.”
That’s only part of it. Also likely is the possibility that the public is beginning to agree that firmly controlled sports wagering will kill off illegal offshore betting.
