A Senate committee discussed the potential for federal regulation of sports gambling during a nearly two-hour hearing last week that focused on how the industry’s widespread legalization across the United States was affecting athletes, the general public and the integrity of amateur and professional sports.
Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said sports betting had become a public health issue since a Supreme Court decision in 2018 overturned a federal law that had effectively banned the practice outside Nevada. Sports betting is now legal in 38 states and the District of Columbia, with Missouri set to become the 39th state in 2025. This was the first Senate hearing focused on the possibility of national regulations for the multibillion dollar sports-betting industry.
