Sports

Sports / sports betting legalized / 521/500

Supreme Court Strikes Down Federal Law Prohibiting Sports Gambling

By: Jonathan Cham

On May 14th, 2018, the Supreme Court officially legalized betting on sports as they struck down the federal law that had been prohibiting sports gambling. This ruling widely affects the state of New Jersey, who presented the lawsuit to the Supreme Court in the first place. New Jersey is now poised to take the lead in the world of sports betting, and is expected to be the first state outside of Nevada with casinos and racetracks offering bets on America's favorite sports by June. Now, New Jersey, along with many other states, has the ability to encourage an influx tourism and billions of dollars in tax revenue.

Photo Courtesy of the Daily Hampshire Gazette

It goes without saying that sports betting was already a very lucrative industry, and it’s only going to get bigger from here on out. Immediately after the ruling, the stock price for Caesars Entertainment rose 6%, and DraftKings said it will enter the sports betting market. With this being true, it is important that regulations are put in to allow fair and safe betting on all levels. The three major American sports leagues, the National Football League (NFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Baseball (MLB), all released statements following the Supreme Court ruling that offered cautious reactions to the news and saying that they plan to take steps to protect the integrity of the games and will call for regulatory framework. Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL went on to say, “These efforts include supporting common sense legislation that protects our players, coaches and fans and maintains public confidence in our games.”

With such a major decision like this being made, many changes will soon be seen around the sporting world. For one, sports leagues and their television partners will, one way or another, be further enriched, with the attention already paid to their games and broadcasts almost certain to grow exponentially as more people place legal bets on the various outcomes. More people watching and consuming means higher ratings, and more advertising dollars.

Many took to Twitter to celebrate the Supreme Court’s ruling to lift the ban on sports betting. Former Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, who has been on the forefront of the case that was brought to the United State’s supreme Courts tweeted, “great day for the rights of states and their people to make their own decisions. New Jersey citizens wanted sports gambling and the federal Gov't had no right to tell them no. The Supreme Court agrees with us today. I am proud to have fought for the rights of the people of NJ.” Current Governor of New Jersey also tweeted out on May 13th saying, “Today the Supreme Court sided with New Jersey in striking down the arbitrary federal ban on sports betting.

Today’s ruling will finally allow authorized New Jersey facilities to take the same bets that are legal in other states.” This ruling is a hue someone like Murphy as the projected amount of tax revenue that is to come from sports betting will be able to contribute to the $37.4 billion state budget that he proposed earlier this year.

Sports / nfl rule change / 460/400

NFL’s New Anthem Rules

By: Jonathan Cham

Photo courtesy of ABC News

Following a year full of players protesting the National Anthem by taking a knee on the field, the NFL has decided to take measures against players exercising any form of protests during any and all games. Announced lase Wednesday, May 23, the NFL in a new policy that, which was unanimously approved by NFL owners, starting that players are now required to stand if they are on the field during the performance of the anthem. Now if players wish to protest in any way they will be required to stay in the locker room, and if any personnel on a team does in fact take a knee on the field they will be subject to fines by the owner. Commissioner Roger Goodell made a statement on the new policy as he said, “We want people to be respectful of the national anthem. "We want people to stand -- that's all personnel -- and make sure they treat this moment in a respectful fashion. That's something we think we owe. [But] we were also very sensitive to give players choices."

Being said that NFL owners and the Commissioner highly consider this new policy, the same can’t be said about the players themselves. Tyrod Taylor, the quarterback of the Cleveland Browns is just one player who has shared his opinions regarding this new policy. Taylor said, “To make a decision that strong, you would hope that the players have input on it, But obviously not. So we have to deal with it as players, for good or a bad thing.I think the main thing out of all of it is that each ballclub is having open communication with the players and ownership about the issues that are going on in the community and trying to change it." The executive director of the National Football League’s Player Association (NFLPA), DeMaurice Smith, also expressed his displeasure with the policy in a series of tweets as he said, “History has taught us that both patriotism and protest are like water; if the force is strong enough it cannot be suppressed. Today, the CEO’s of the NFL created a rule that people who hate autocracies should reject.” Smith didn’t stop there as he went on to tweet, “The sad irony of this rule is that anyone who wants to express their patriotism is subject to the whim of a person who calls himself an Owner. I know that not all of the NFL CEO’s are for this and I know that true American patriots are not cheering today.”

It goes without saying that there is still much quarrel between NFL players and owners despite the new anthem policy, and this upcoming season will prove whether this new policy will help mend the disputes between the two sides.