The president of the American Gaming Association (AGA) came out in favor of regulated US sports betting in a major way this week, according to an article from the Associated Press.
While addressing an AGA gathering in Biloxi, Mississippi, the group’s president, Geoff Freeman, unloaded with both barrels on the, “hypocritical,” and, “antiquated,” behind the notorious US sports betting prohibition.
And while he was on the subject, Freeman took a few shots at the troubled US-facing daily fantasy sports industry, an industry he says is no different than traditional sports betting saying:
It begs the question, what’s the difference between that and betting on sports? And why do we have the antiquated models we have?
Freeman went on to share his thoughts on the overall effectiveness of the US Government’s decades old war on sports betting in its borders and why it’s a matter best left in the hands of the states.
This law has failed miserably…If they (the States) wish to offer it, tremendous. If they choose not to offer it, that’s OK, too. But let’s give them the decision to make and get this out of Washington.
Later in his speech, Freeman pointed out that, unlike the people who are writing their laws, most Americans have no qualms about regulated sports betting. He backed up his claim by pointing out that Americans spend around $150 billion a year on sports betting, but only about 3% of that passes through the regulated sports books in Nevada.
Despite his rage against the machine, Freeman ended on an optimistic note, saying that he’s never been more optimistic about the chances of regulated sports betting becoming a reality in the US in the near future.