Sports Betting Lawsuit Leads to Delaware Lawmaker Shaming NFL
Even honest and thoughtful opponents of Delaware's expanded gambling, including sports betting, are skeptical of the motives behind a sports league lawsuit to block the law. One Delaware politician called out the NFL, NCAA, and other leagues, saying he respected legislators opposed to the wagering plan, but not the sports organizations.“What I do not respect is the blatant hypocrisy of the professional sports leagues like the NFL," said Peter Schwartzkopf, the state House majority leader, in a letter to the NFL. "But the stance taken in these legal filings is belied by the close nexus between gambling and the leagues themselves."
"Las Vegas has promoted sports betting for many years, so Delaware is not covering new ground here," Schwartkopf continues. He says "the self-serving, hypocritical pronouncements and legal threats by these for-profit sports leagues that have sued Delaware should be rejected."
The leagues are arguing that, if Delaware is allowed to take single-game sports betting, public confidence in the integrity of game results will erode. The leagues have chosen to disregard the existing Las Vegas sports betting industry, or the illegal sports books that dwarf the Nevada regulated wagering.
"Shady characters can come from Las Vegas as well as they can come from Delaware," says NASCAR racer Jeff Burton. NASCAR, which has operated in Las Vegas for over a decade, sees no problem with Delaware's sports gambling measure.
"We also learned that the NCAA sponsored the Las Vegas Bowl last year, housing its players in hotel casinos where bets are taken on games," says Schwartkopf, demonstrating further inconsistency and hypocrisy among the leagues.
