Abstract
Change is coming to sports gambling in the United States. No longer is it restricted to Nevada casinos or your “friendly” neighborhood sports bookie. The individual states have spoken, with state after state passing legislation authorizing legalized sports betting. It is clear that there is an appetite for legal sports gambling in this country. But how did we get here? And what will the ramifications be? This Note first analyzes the keystone sports gambling case, Murphy v. NCAA, and its impact on the destruction of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which was commonly viewed as a federal ban on sports gambling. With states now able to create their own unique laws authorizing sports gambling within their borders, it is imperative that the legislation protect arguably the most vulnerable group affected by the Murphy decision: NCAA student-athletes. There are likely many problems, issues, and harms that current NCAA student-athletes will now face, including temptations to fix games. These new concerns create a duty for Massachusetts to enact sports gambling legislation with NCAA student-athletes in mind. This Note will conclude with solutions to these newly raised issues, including proposed changes to NCAA amateurism rules as well as proposed legislation which Massachusetts must adopt to protect this vulnerable group of individuals.
Recommended Citation
Wilson, Dave
(2020)
"Massachusetts at the Forefront: How to Protect the Most Vulnerable Group in a Post-Legal Sports Betting World—NCAA Student-Athletes,"
University of Massachusetts Law Review: Vol. 15:
Iss.
1, Article 3.
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.umassd.edu/umlr/vol15/iss1/3