How did sports betting take off in the US after the 2018 Supreme Court ruling?
For 26 years a federal law kept sports betting out of nearly every US state, until New Jersey took the fight all the way to the Supreme Court.
Guess first
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Which one is it?
It took off because the Supreme Court removed the federal ban in May 2018, and states were then free to legalize sports betting for themselves. Dozens did.
Until then a federal law, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (), effectively outlawed sports betting nationwide, excluding a few states. Sports lotteries in Oregon, Delaware and Montana and licensed sports pools in Nevada were exempt. The law reflected a worry that Congress heard in a 1991 hearing: "Sports gambling is a national problem", said the subcommittee's findings, with harms felt beyond the states that sanction it.
New Jersey fought back. From 2010 the state challenged the law, partly because it saw potential revenue going to the four exempt states and to illegal offshore operators. In 2011 its voters backed betting in a nonbinding . The leagues sued, and the case eventually became Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, named for Governor Phil Murphy. On May 14, 2018, the Supreme Court sided with New Jersey by 7-2 on the key principle, and by 6-3 declared the entire law unconstitutional.
The ruling did not make betting legal everywhere. It said Congress cannot order states to keep a ban, so each state is free to regulate or prohibit gambling inside its borders. What followed was widespread state-level legalization: by 2026, 27 states had legalized online sports gambling. As of January 2024, in less than six years since the repeal, regulated had taken in over $300 billion in bets, and paid local and state governments over $2 billion.
1992
effectively outlaws sports betting nationwide, with a few exempt states
2011
New Jersey voters back sports betting in a nonbinding
May 14, 2018
Supreme Court strikes down , 7-2 and 6-3
January 2024
Over $300 billion taken in by regulated since the repeal
2026
27 states have legalized online sports gambling
Quiz me
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Recap
The Supreme Court did not legalize betting: it gave each state the choice, and many chose yes.
💡 A trick to remember it · The court did not open the door; it handed every state its own key.
Surprising fact · As of January 2024, regulated US sportsbooks had taken in over $300 billion in under six years after the ruling.
Sources (3)
No source, no claim. Every fact in this lesson (14 claims) cites at least one of these.