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    American Gaming Association CEO Highlights Two-Track Strategy to Legalized Sports Betting at National Conference

    Press Release
    November 14, 2017

    Washington, DC – American Gaming Association (AGA) President and CEO Geoff Freeman outlined AGA’s two-track strategy to a regulated sports betting market in the United States today at the Sports Betting USA Conference in New York.

    At the first-of-its-kind conference in the United States, Freeman detailed AGA’s strategy that sets its sights on both the courts and Congress ahead of the December 4th oral arguments that pit New Jersey against the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) – legislation which currently bans full-fledged sports betting outside Nevada.

    “AGA has long pursued a two-track strategy as a pathway to legalized sports betting,” said Freeman. “Working through the courts and through Congress, I am confident we can overturn this failed federal ban and give American sports fans the ability to legally wager on the teams they follow.”

    Last November, AGA filed an Amicus brief calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to accept New Jersey’s challenge to PASPA. In September, AGA helped West Virginia recruit 19 other states to sign onto a brief arguing the federal ban on sports betting was unconstitutional.

    In addition to the ongoing work in the courts, AGA has continued to pursue its legislative strategy. This includes educating members of Congress on the dangers of an illegal sports betting market and the benefits of a regulated market, building and expanding a broad-based coalition of supporters, and aligning key stakeholders who have a critical role to play in a regulated sports betting market.

    Prior to PASPA’s 25th anniversary at the end of October, the Washington Post released new polling that shows a “55-percent majority approve of legalizing sports betting on pro sporting events, a flip from almost a quarter century ago.” According to the Post, “support for legalization is highest among those who’ve placed a sports bet in the past five years (84 percent), and its nearly as high among fans who have played in a fantasy sports league (79 percent), avid sports fans (70 percent), men (63 percent), people with household incomes of $100,000 or more (61 percent) and pro football fans (60 percent). There’s little partisan difference on the issue, with 52 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of Democrats in support of legalizing sports gambling.”

    About AGA: The American Gaming Association is the premier national trade group representing the $240 billion U.S. casino industry, which supports 1.7 million jobs in 40 states.  AGA members include commercial and tribal casino operators, suppliers and other entities affiliated with the gaming industry.  It is the mission of the AGA to be the single most effective champion of the industry, relentlessly protecting against harmful and often misinformed public policies, and paving a path for growth, innovation and reinvestment. 


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