NFL Drops Strong Hint At Lawsuit Attacking Delaware Sports Betting
Posted by Mike Florio on May 22, 2009, 11:33 p.m.
On Thursday, the Delaware Supreme Court conducted a one-hour hearing on the thorny question of whether the state’s new gambling law complies with the terms of the Delaware Constitution.
The NFL, which previously submitted a brief urging the Court to decline to rubber-stamp the measure, used five minutes to make its case.
During the 300-or-so seconds, attorney Kenneth J. Nachbar of Wilmington suggested that formal enactment of a law allowing betting on sports will trigger a quick lawsuit.
“I think that it may not have such a long wait,” Nachbar said regarding the possibility of a legal challenge to the gambling measure.
We recently summarized the issues based on the contents of the brief submitted by the league, and here’s an even simpler breakdown of the situation.
First, the league thinks that sports betting violates the Delaware Constitution, because it relies on skill, not chance.
Second, the league believes that a brief 1976 experiment with sports betting in Delaware does not qualify for the exception to the 1992 federal law generally banning sports betting.
As to the first point, Delaware Supreme Court Justice Henry du Pont Ridgely asked the league’s lawyer whether he agrees with the notion that one team can beat any other team “on any given Sunday.” Nachbar said in response, “I’ll invoke the Detroit Lions exception.”
Nachbar’s crack at the Lions (who are paying 1/32nd of his fee) misses the mark. The use of the point spread makes the Lions’ 0-16 record meaningless. Even though they didn’t win a game straight up, the Lions were 7-9 against the spread.
So the cliche, as it relates to betting, is that on any given Sunday the underdogs essentially can “win” via the application of the line.
Nachbar should have explained that, in this specific context, skilled bettors will know when the spread is skewed in one team’s favor. And for that reason alone the Delaware Supreme Court should find that sports wagering relies on skill, and thus runs afoul of the Delaware Constitution.
|
Linear Mode
