About 97 percent of the $10 billion people are expected to wager during March Madness will be illegal, according to an American Gaming Association study issued Monday.
Only 3 percent, or $300 million, of the money gambled on the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s basketball tournaments will be done so legally. Nevada is the only state that allows legal bets on NCAA games.
“Our current sports betting laws are so out of touch with reality that we’re turning tens of millions of Americans into criminals for the simple act of enjoying college basketball,” AGA President Geoff Freeman said in a statement.
The AGA, a lobbying group that represents the U.S. casino industry, said even filling out an NCAA tournament bracket and wagering money in connection to one’s chart is illegal in two-thirds of states.
Despite laws forbidding this type of gambling, 24 million people, or 10 percent of U.S. adults, are believed to have committed a crime by betting on college basketball pools last year. Americans illegally bet a total of $150 billion in 2017.
The 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act banned single-game sports betting. Currently, the Supreme Court is considering a challenge over the law by New Jersey, which has the possibility of expanding the sports betting industry.
“The failed federal ban on sports betting has created an illegal, unregulated sports betting market that offers zero consumer protections and generates zero revenue for state and tribal governments,” Freeman added.
AGA added that 48 sports gambling bills are currently active in 18 states.
