Senators oppose Delaware sports betting

Senators Orrin Hatch of Utah and Jon Kyl of Arizona want Attorney General Eric Holder to weigh in on a new Delaware law that allows sports betting.

Senators Orrin Hatch of Utah and Jon Kyl of Arizona want Attorney General Eric Holder to weigh in on a new Delaware law that allows sports betting. The 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act banned sports gambling but grandfathered in four states, including Delaware. The Senators say Delaware’s plan to allow single-game betting violates the legislation because such betting was never available in any state.

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Delaware Republican State Senator Colin Bonini doesn’t like the Delaware law, but says he believes it’s legal.

Bonini: There is some interpretation of what exactly we’re allowed to do – are we just allowed to have a lottery, are we allowed to have direct bets. So that is the big legal question. The Delaware Supreme Court has said we pretty much have carte blanche – we can do whatever we want. We have some pretty sharp guys here. My guess is we’re going to be able to do pretty much whatever we want come the fall.

New Jersey lawmakers say Delaware and the other grandfathered states are given unfair potential revenue opportunities. The veteran Senators also called on the Attorney General to defend the federal anti-sports betting law from a legal challenge brought by Garden State politicians.