The Landmark Supreme Court Case That Legalized Sports Betting in the United States
The Background: PASPA and Its Restrictions
In 1992, the U.S. Congress passed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), a federal law designed to prohibit states from authorizing sports betting. The law effectively made it illegal for most states to offer legal sports wagering, with a few exceptions. Nevada, which had already established a regulated sports betting market, was grandfathered in. Other states such as Oregon, Delaware, and Montana had limited forms of betting and were partially exempt.
The intent behind PASPA was to protect the integrity of sports and prevent the expansion of gambling. However, in practice, it created a monopoly for Nevada and pushed a vast amount of sports wagering into the illegal black market.
New Jersey’s Legal Challenge
By the early 2010s, many states began reconsidering their stance on legalized gambling, driven by the need to generate new revenue streams. New Jersey was at the forefront of this movement. In 2011, voters in New Jersey approved a referendum to legalize sports betting. The state passed legislation in 2012 to implement this, but was immediately sued by the NCAA and the major professional sports leagues—NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and the NCAA—who claimed that the new law violated PASPA.
New Jersey argued that PASPA was unconstitutional because it commandeered state governments by preventing them from modifying or repealing their own laws, which is a violation of the Tenth Amendment.
The Supreme Court Case: Murphy v. NCAA
The case eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court under the title Murphy v. NCAA (previously Christie v. NCAA, after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie). The core legal question was whether PASPA violated the anti-commandeering doctrine of the Constitution by preventing states from legalizing sports betting.
In May 2018, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that PASPA was unconstitutional. Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion, stating that “Congress can regulate sports gambling directly, but if it elects not to do so, each state is free to act on its own.”
This landmark ruling did not itself legalize sports betting nationwide but gave individual states the authority to legalize and regulate sports wagering if they chose to.
Aftermath and Rapid Expansion
The Supreme Court’s decision in Murphy v. NCAA marked a seismic shift in American gambling law. Following the ruling, dozens of states moved quickly to legalize sports betting. As of mid-2025, over 30 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws allowing sports betting, either in-person, online, or both.
The market has seen explosive growth, with billions in wagers being placed each year. States have generated significant tax revenue, and new jobs have been created in the tech, media, and hospitality sectors. Sports leagues and broadcasters have entered into lucrative partnerships with sportsbooks.
The Legacy of the Supreme Court Decision
The 2018 Supreme Court ruling has reshaped the legal landscape of sports betting in America. It affirmed the principle of state sovereignty in regulatory matters and sparked a national conversation about responsible gambling, consumer protection, and the role of sports integrity in a legal betting environment.
The Murphy v. NCAA case is now seen as one of the most consequential sports law decisions in U.S. history, laying the foundation for a multi-billion-dollar industry and setting a precedent for how states can reclaim regulatory control over contentious policy areas previously dominated by federal law.
