“The expression by the professional leagues of shock at the notion that people would actually bet on games was one of the least persuasive emotional outbursts I have encountered, but we acknowledged the reality of it, no one will be betting on professional sports games.”

- Barney Frank, 5/7/09

By now you’ve heard the bad news: The long-awaited legislation introduced by Rep. Barney Frank to repeal the UIGEA does not include the removal of the online sports betting ban. After fierce lobbying by the National Football League, Frank concluded that he couldn’t realistically expect the bill to pass with sports betting legalization on the agenda. There is an excellent article with some great analysis on the issue by Hartley Henderson out today at Major Wager. The article touches on many of the reasons why this bill is just unacceptable, and Henderson sums up the problems with it quite nicely:

To those in the sports betting industry, however, the bill falls far short, and most would prefer no bill at all to this one. Not only does it throw sports betting under the bus, but it tries to legitimize the leagues’ stance that it is superior to other forms of gambling and hence deserves an exemption. It’s ironic as well that other countries view sports betting as more civil than other forms of gambling because it helps legitimize games and also because it doesn’t take advantage of the bettors like casinos and lotteries do. Good handicappers can win against the house in sports betting, but it is impossible for anyone to win in the long run on slot machines, roulette or lotteries because they are totally random and based on luck with the house edge built in. Australia has recognized this and told its citizens that they are permitted to bet sports online, but it doesn’t want them wasting money on gambling where they can’t win. In America (and Canada) the states would rather citizens only bet on games where they can’t possibly win, hence essentially making the legalized gambling a hidden tax. It’s truly unfortunate, but is also a sign of the times.

There is another good article covering the basics of the issue over at Covers.

Although this is a discouraging turn of events for advocates of legalized sports betting, there is potentially some light on the horizon. The announcement of Frank’s legislation may serve to bring more attention to the issue of online gambling in general. In addition, despite some opposition, the Delaware State Senate just passed their own legislation to legalize sports betting in that state, setting up a possible Constitutional “battle royale” between neighboring state New Jersey and the United States Federal Government. Sports betting advocates may have lost a battle with this latest setback, but the war is far from over.