The
National Indian Gaming
Association has joined a coalition whose goal is to repeal a ban on sports betting.
But the organization doesn't support sports betting at this point, Chairman Ernie Stevens, Jr., said in a
statement. Joining the
American Sports
Betting Coalition will allow tribes to monitor the effort, he wrote.
"I want to clarify that the NIGA board has not taken a position on the issue of sports betting legalization," Stevens, who is a citizen of the
Oneida Nation, wrote in the statement. "We realize that legalizing any new form of gaming, at any level of government, impacts our tribal gaming industry’s economic interests. NIGA also realizes that as a national organization, taking a position on a particular form of gaming requires input from all of our member tribes."
The
Professional
and Amateur Sports Protection Act bans sports betting except in a small
number of states. Regardless of NIGA's position, some individual tribes support a repeal of the law, Dave Palermo writes on Legal Sports Report.
The
Mashantucket Pequot Tribal
Nation and the
Mohegan
Tribe are among those in that camp,
The New London Day reported last month. The tribes are watching the outcome of a
pair of sports betting cases that will be heard by the
U.S. Supreme Court in the fall.
In most states, tribes have entered into Class III gaming compacts that offer them some forms of exclusivity. Attempts to legalize online gaming, sports betting and other types of gaming always draw tribal interest.
Read More on the Story:
Dave Palermo: Tribes Split On Whether To Embrace Sports Betting: No ‘One-Size-Fits-All’ Answer
(Legal Sports Report 8/7)
Dave Palermo: Tribes Scramble To Figure Out How Sports Betting Can Fit Into Indian Gambling Under Federal Law
(Legal Sports Report 8/3)
Gaming tribes back campaign against ban on sports betting
(The New London Day 8/1)
Related Stories
National
Indian Gaming Association backs effort to legalize sports betting (August 1, 2017)
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