Since Heitner Legal specializes in Sports Law, it is no surprise that Darren Heitner was asked to provide his thoughts on what would be a key sports law case and/or development to watch in 2017. The website LawInSport organized responses to that question from a variety of Sports Law practitioners, choosing to highlight Heitner’s contribution near the top.
Heitner stated,
One issue that should certainly be a key sports topic in 2017 deals with the landscape of legalized sports betting in the United States. For over twenty years, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) has prohibited states from permitting sports gambling within their borders. Four states had previous sports betting schemes grandfathered and thus protected, with the State of Nevada being the only that has been able to offer full-fledged sports betting to its residents and visitors.
Challenges to PASPA have thus far yielded no fruits by those states bold enough to take action, the most recent of which has been the State of New Jersey. 2017 could see other states join New Jersey in an effort to overturn PASPA and we may see new legal challenges of the law through the judiciary.