Is our Vegas Watch series about to become Detroit Watch?
With Monday’s news that the Supreme Court of the United States has overturned the federal ban on sports gambling, Lions fans might be thinking they’ll head to one of Detroit’s casinos to put down some cash on their favorite team.
Not yet.
SCOTUS’ ruling only overturns the federal ban, allowing states to choose for themselves when and how they legalize sports gambling. Several states have already passed legislation set to activate if and when this ruling came down.
Michigan isn’t one of them; per Legal Sports Report several such bills have recently been introduced but only one even made it out of committee.
With only six weeks left until the legislature breaks for summer, it seems unlikely a bill could be passed quickly enough to allow Michigan’s three commercial casinos (and many tribal casinos) to accept legal sports bets in time for Week 1 of the NFL season.
The casinos themselves have infrastructure to put in place, staffing to line up, etc. Even some of the states that have passed legislation already still have weeks, even months of negotiations with sports leagues to allow their state lottery agencies to incorporate legal sports wagering.
The bottom line? Lions fans might have to wait until next season to put their money where their mouth is—or travel to a state that’s further along in the process.