Indiana Wants Legalized Sports Betting
When Chris Christie legalized sports betting for New Jersey, it was an amazing moment and a huge step forward in the world of online gambling. When Adam Silver, commissioner of the NBA, announced his support for online gambling, the country waited with anticipation. Then, like a meteor shooting quickly across the night sky, the quest to legalize online sports betting was quickly snuffed out – for 2014, at least.
As predicted, other states took notice. It wasn’t California or New York that took notice, though – it was Indiana, and you can probably guess why.
This weekend is the NFL playoff weekend, and guess who made the playoffs (again) this year? That’s right, the Indianapolis Colts, who are scheduled to take on the Denver Broncos.
Officials now realize that illegal sports betting is a huge business, and they want to give people a legal way to bet money on their favorite sports teams. Not only that, but once legalized, sites will undoubtedly run no deposit promotions, ensuring that players could have the largest payouts possible.
State Representative Alan Morrison turned to Fox 59 to say that Indiana needs to stay ahead of the curve. He realizes that sports betting is an eventuality, and that there’s a huge opportunity for the state to gain a ton of money.
“All I’m trying to do with this is basically set up the infrastructure so that when the Feds say ‘OK’, and the Indiana Gaming Commission says alright, that we’re kind of first to the table with it and not stuck on the sideline waiting on our opportunity,” he said.
He’s not all talk, either. He’s filed for two bills. The first would allos racinos to conduct leagues based on fantasy sports, such as fantasy football. The other bill that State Representative Alan Morrison filed would permit sports wagering at betting houses, racinos, or riverboats.
He then went on to suggest that online sports betting and gambling could actually save the state. He said that the current land-based casinos are bleeding money, similar to how they’re bleeding money in New Jersey, and that revenue is down nearly 10% in comparison to last year.
Dr. Jay Gladden, Dean of the IU School of Physical Education and Tourism Management, seems to think that if sports betting were to become legalized, we’d see a much different game.
“They would become professional wrestling is what they would become. They would no longer be real. They’d be fake, and the competition on the field would be fake versus real. People say the Colds won’t go out to Denver and win, but we’re all going to watch because we think there’s still a good chance they could win. And you never know what happens.”
If anything, it feels like the exact opposite would happen – that legalized sports betting would make the competition much more fierce, as it would mean a lot of people in their home state would win money. That would then turn into team support, which would lead to sold out games, higher merchandise sales, and more.
The big leagues (NFL, MLB, NHL, and MLB) blocked sports betting in New Jersey (for now) – will they do the same for Indiana?
It’s thrilling to see an emphasis on safety and infrastructure planning for online sports betting. Indiana’s forward-thinking approach has me excited for the potential positive impacts!
The excitement around sports betting is palpable; it’s amazing to see influential figures like Christie and Silver driving change! Can’t wait for broader acceptance! 😊