The results of the 2024 presidential election are in, with Donald Trump set to return to the White House to serve his second term. But the outcome has left U.S. bettors asking an important question: What does Trump’s presidency mean for the future of legal gambling, particularly sports betting?
The legality of sports betting has rested with individual states since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2018, during Trump’s previous tenure. After Missouri voters approved Amendment 2 in this week’s election, 39 states have now taken action to legalize sports betting, while Utah and Hawaii remain the only two states with no legal gambling at all.
As of right now, regulatory clarity is minimal in the industry. Although federal legislation has been introduced, it hasn’t made any headway. Congress has not enacted restrictions on advertising or specific wager types, for instance.
'You’re gonna have corruption'
On the eve of Election Day, Trump appeared on the SiriusXM podcast “Let’s Go!” hosted by legendary football coach Bill Belichick and the Emmy Award-winning journalist Jim Gray. The interview featured a broad discussion on the state of sports in America, including how to fight corruption in sports gambling.
“Well, there’ll be corruption, and the only question is will it be massive corruption or will it be, you know, regular, standard corruption?” Trump commented, as reported by NBC Sports.
“It’s very interesting that they’ve gone from one extreme to the other. They kept Pete Rose out of the Hall of Fame for, I mean, like a ridiculous – in my opinion – a ridiculous situation. It was – I mean, I grew up watching that guy. He was great. But, no, I think you’ll have – you’re gonna have corruption. When you have gambling, you have a lot of it.”
Rose, known as the MLB’s hit king, was banned from baseball for life in 1989 after betting on baseball games while he played for and managed the Reds. Such incidents of athletes betting on sports still go on today. For instance, former NBA player Jontay Porter recently confessed to his role in a betting scandal. He was banned from the league for life and will be sentenced in December.
Recent developments in sports betting legislation
In September, two members of Congress proposed the SAFE Bet Act. Democratic Rep. Paul Tonko, who won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing New York on Tuesday, and Richard Blumenthal, who was not up for reelection this year, proposed measures to restrict sportsbook advertising to adult hours, limit sportsbook deposits to five times per day, ban college player props nationally, and more.
NCAA president Charlie Baker called for all states to ban college player prop betting earlier this year to protect athletes from harassment and because it threatens the integrity of competition. Maryland, Ohio, Louisiana, and Vermont have been the only states to ban prop bets. Other states, like Connecticut, have restrictions in place, but such bets aren’t banned outright.
