NFL Could Be Battling Delaware

For years, American corporations have filed their primordial documents in Delaware, due to the business-friendly laws that Delaware passed for the very purpose of attracting such activities. But now there’s one fairly major American business that isn’t happy with Delaware. And said American business could be doing something about it. Delaware is moving toward legalizing sports betting, and the NFL’s opposition to it ultimately could take the form of a lawsuit. Delaware Governor Jack Markell is expected to sign the bill into law today. But none of it will be finalized until the Delaware Supreme Court determines the specific types of gambling that federal law and the Delaware constitution will permit. The NFL recently submitted a brief to the Delaware Supreme Court explaining that betting on sporting events falls beyond the scope of what the Delaware constitution allows. Basically, the NFL takes the position that “‘skill’ plays an impermissible role” in sports wagering, and the league explains that it’s a far cry from a lottery determined by chance. This suggests to us that the legal standard the Delaware Supreme Court will be applying is whether and to what extent the proposed gambling activities constitute a lottery determined by chance. A hearing on the issue will be held on May 21, and a decision likely will come not long thereafter. Meanwhile, folks who support betting on football and other sporting events are taking the position that the NFL is publicly opposing the move because it has to -- even though the NFL and the other pro sports associations realize that gambling generates more interest in the sport. “The leagues know they need the gambling, yet they have to appear as if they’re completely against it,” gambling expert Steve Budin tells Thursday’s edition of the Wilmington News Journal. Budin explained that, late in a game during which the outcome is decided but the question of whether the favored team will beat the point spread isn’t, the gamblers will continue to watch -- even though the non-gamblers have long since changed the channel. “The only people watching and seeing the beer commercials or the car commercials [at that stage of the game] are the bettors,” Budin said. Still, once the NFL unleashes the folks from Covington & Burling, the NFL typically prevails. Even if the NFL doesn’t really care whether it wins. Besides, the current issue in Delaware is only whether gambling will be legalized. Everyone with any common sense realizes that, regardless of whether it’s legal, folks who want to gamble will still find a way to do it. In Delaware, the only question is whether the government will get a piece of the action.