The News Journal is spinning today’s Supreme Court decision 7-2 decision throwing the sports-betting decision back to the states as a loss of Delaware’s East Coast monopoly on sports betting, but that’s misleading. Delaware could only offer NFL parlay bets, greatly limiting public interest. If the state now moves to legalize other forms of bets, it will probably reap more vigorish than it was doing under its highly restrictive “monopoly.”
According to TNJ, Delaware might not need any further legislative approval to expand its offerings, because the law legalizing the NFL betting in the state was originally much broader; only a court order brought about the restrictions. Because the original law is still on the books, the state might be good to go.
I haven’t seen much analysis from SCOTUS reporters yet, but this is precisely what conservatives want to do with Roe v. Wade — toss regulation back to the individual states. It should also mean big bucks for lobbyists, as all the professional leagues and the NCAA continue to oppose legal betting.