Also, Nevada was made exempt from PASPA, as were Delaware, Montana and Oregon.Īnother piece of federal legislation was passed in 2006, the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act. It merely made it illegal for a “governmental entity” to run or authorize sports betting. However, PASPA did not explicitly make it illegal to bet on sports. The Federal Wire Act of 1931 and the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992 were both intended to make all forms of sports betting illegal across the USA. The complex relationship between betting and the US legal system has its roots in the fact that each individual state has the power to allow, or disallow, gambling. However, this is not a simple question as there is no federal legislation that specifically makes it illegal to place a bet online. As of January 2021, USA online betting has been legalized to some extent in 18 states.
