After winning office in an epic November 2020 Presidential Election battle with controversial Former President Donald Trump, President Biden appears set to free up online sports and casino wagering and will not impose any, as he puts it, ‘unnecessary’ restrictions. Sites that carry sports betting information, including blogs, sports predictions and guidance and self-education information like online sportsbook reviews do not contravene the U.S. Wire Act of 1961, and President Biden has already mentioned that any online sports and online casino wagering sites, not in breach of the Wire Act will be left to operate as per usual.
What appears even more promising for the online wagering industry is that the Biden Administration will not look to introduce a Federal Online Sports & Casino Wagering Act either, particularly since the Democratic Party has also won power in the U.S. Senate after the Georgia run-offs. The President says that he “believes states and federal authorities should cooperate to ensure that gaming is safe, fair, and corruption-free” and followed that up with, “I don’t support adding unnecessary restrictions to the gaming industry as the Trump Administration has done”.
Biden’s words are precisely what online sportsbooks and casino operators across the nation will want to hear right now.
Sports Betting Popularity Makes Up Biden’s mind for him
It certainly assists the Biden Administration in pursuing its online gaming goals that on the same day they were voted in, voters in the states of South Dakota, Nebraska, Louisiana and Maryland all voted to expand their gaming options (including sports betting). Since that time, Wyoming and New York have also found online sports wagering.
President Biden did not make sports betting legalization an issue during the campaign and has left it to the states to self-determine, which is precisely what the U.S. Supreme Court intended when finding against the federally controlled PASPA Act. Cleverly, Biden communicated his disagreement with the Trump Administration’s interpretation of the Wire Act, leading to the current more industry-friendly approach. It’s been a brilliant ploy from President Biden, with his Democratic Party’s control of both houses razor thin. By playing into the State-centric interpretation of the U.S. Wire Act and supporting the Supreme Court’s state-empowering PASPA finding before the mid-terms in 2022 may give President the impetus needs to keep the control of both houses in the Democratic column.