A new day is dawning in the world we call sports.
On Monday, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in the New Jersey sports gambling case declaring the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) is unconstitutional by way of a 7-2 vote. With what was a federal ban now struck down, it will now be up to each state to individually decide whether or not to allow sports gambling.
One research firm estimated before the ruling that if the Supreme Court were to strike down the law, 32 states would likely offer sports betting within five years.
Whether or not Ohio jumps on the sports gambling train remains to be seen. Ben Axelrod reports that the state seems to be well behind many others in terms of having legislation on the table and ready to go.
All four major U.S. professional sports leagues, the NCAA and the federal government had urged the court to uphold the federal law. In court, the NBA, NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball had argued that New Jersey's gambling expansion would hurt the integrity of their games. Outside court, however, leaders of all but the NFL have shown varying degrees of openness to legalized sports gambling.
With that in mind, Jim Donovan brought up a couple of important points in his 'Jimmy's Take' on Monday evening:
- Sports leagues are going to see the money that is made by legalized gambling and will want a cut of the profits. The NBA, for example, has talked about getting a 1 percent cut of the profits.
- What will happen with college sports if states start adopting legalized gambling? If the NCAA starts to get their portion of the gambling pie, does this mean that student-athletes finally have to start getting paid?
Soon, Jimmy believes you'll see the day when you're sitting in a stadium or arena watching the game and there will be a betting machine next to your seat that will allow you to play along as the action is taking place on the field.
Watch Jimmy's Take in the player above.
WKYC's Ben Axelrod and the Associated Press contributed to this report