Updated: 1:50 p.m. Associated Press reports a federal appeals court has ruled that a plan to offer sports betting in Delaware would violate a federal ban. The plan was opposed by the professional sports leagues and the NCAA. The ruling came Monday after a three-judge panel in Philadelphia heard almost two hours of arguments from attorneys for the state and for the sports leagues. This means that Delaware cannot begin single game sports betting at all unless it wins on an appeal.

Sports betting room in Las Vegas / Image by JaviC

The four major leagues and the NCAA hope to convince a judge today to delay Delaware’s plan to start single game betting on September 1. Delaware has always had the ability to offer sports betting because it is one of four states exempted under a federal 1992 sports betting ban. The sports leagues argue that exemption only allows for “parlay betting” which means you have to pick winners from a number of games. This parlay stuff is for hardcore fantasy league kind of guys and as a result it’s not going to be as profitable for the casinos or for the state.

The clock is ticking for Delaware because it wants sports betting up and running smoothly before the NFL’s first regular season game on Sept 10 between the Tennessee Titans and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

If you’re curious to know more about this, tune in tomorrow morning on WHYY radio at 10:00 a.m. Marty Moss-Coane will be discussing the current legal dispute over Delaware’s sports gambling plan and how Delaware got exempted from the federal sports betting ban.