Most Americans support legalizing sports betting, according to a new poll conducted by the Washington Post and University of Massachusetts Lowell.
The poll found that 55 percent support legalized sports gambling, while 33 percent disapprove. The poll’s results mark the first time that a majority of Americans favor making betting on professional sporting events legal.
Nearly 25 years ago, public opinion was almost exactly opposite, with 56 percent of Americans surveyed opposing legalization and 41 percent approving in a 1993 Gallup/CNN/USA Today poll.
The new poll comes as the Supreme Court is preparing to hear oral arguments in a potential blockbuster case that could change sports betting rules nationwide. Christie v. NCAA pits New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie against all of the major American sporting leagues in a battle over whether the Garden State can repeal certain prohibitions on sports gambling, which the leagues oppose.
The high court has not set a date for oral arguments in the case.
The poll surveyed 1,000 adults with a 3.7-percentage-point margin of error from Aug. 14-21.
