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May 30, 2025

Reviewing PASPA? DC Suit Tests the Limits of Murphy and the Home Rule

In this EGR North America article, Whitney Fore and David Ward examine a recent legal challenge to Washington, D.C.’s authority to regulate sports betting. The lawsuit claims that the Sports Wagering Lottery Amendment Act violates federal law, although it appears set to face significant legal obstacles. One of which involves the plaintiffs’ invocation of an 18th-century British statute that limit wagers to $25, a theory the authors suggest is unlikely to succeed given modern legislative principles. The article also explores the 2018 Supreme Court decision in Murphy v NCAA, which effectively dismantled the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act nationwide, and why Congress’s passive acceptance of D.C.’s sports betting framework since then further undermines the lawsuit’s prospects. Please note that this article is paywalled.

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