Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee is facing some tough opposition on his proposed bill which would regulate online gambling in the United States. The heat comes unsurprisingly from the Professional Sports Lobby (specifically NFL lobbyist Martin Gold) and essentially aims at invalidating Frank’s bill citing an unsustainability that would result from making sports wagering online equal to that of its offline counterpart. I know, it doesn’t make sense to me either.
The first statment by Gold and the five major sports league organizations who signed off on the email stated that they, “very strongly oppose any effort to legalize any online sports gambling.” The justification for this according to the email was that, “We would also oppose any legislation that would legalize and regulate any non-sports gambling online, because we do not believe that differential treatment of sports gambling and other gambling online would be sustainable in the current environment.”
In addition to the Sports Lobby’s comments, NFL Vice-President Joe Brown offered his support of Gold stating, “Marty Gold’s views represent the position of amateur and professional sports leagues as well as the more than 300 members who voted for the Unlawful Internet Gambling Bill last year. That number included majorities in both parties. I am certain that Congressman Paul’s views were expressed by his staffer.”
It should also be noted that Martin Gold helped attach the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) to the Port Security Bill in a sneaky last minute tactic which almost ensured it would pass which it consequently did.
Editor’s Note: It is pretty obvious to me why this is happening being that the pro sports leagues do not see a piece of the action with this proposed legislation. They do have a valid point in that aspect, so maybe eventually the laws could be written to incorporate a licensing fee for pro sports betting to satisfy the interests of all parties. We will see what happens with Barney Frank’s current piece of legislation and will inform our readers as soon as there is more information to report.
