Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/17pdf/16-476_dbfi.pdf
Page Number: 7

Cite as:  584 U. S. ____ (2018) 

3 

Opinion of the Court 

casinos,11  and  thus  for  a  while  the  Atlantic  City  casinos
had  an  east  coast  monopoly.    “With  60  million  people
living  within  a  one-tank  car  trip  away,”  Atlantic  City 
became “the most popular tourist destination in the United
States.”12    But  that  favorable  situation  eventually  came 
to an end. 

With  the  enactment  of  the  Indian  Gaming  Regulatory
Act  in  1988,  25  U. S. C.  §2701  et  seq.,  casinos  opened  on
Indian  land  throughout  the  country.    Some  were  located 
within  driving  distance  of  Atlantic  City,13  and  nearby
States (and many others) legalized casino gambling.14  But 
Nevada  remained  the  only  state  venue  for  legal  sports
gambling  in  casinos,  and  sports  gambling  is  immensely 
popular.15
  Sports  gambling,  however,  has  long  had  strong  opposi­
tion.  Opponents argue that it is particularly addictive and 
especially attractive to young people with a strong interest 
in  sports,16  and  in  the  past  gamblers  corrupted  and  seri­
ously damaged the reputation of professional and amateur 
sports.17    Apprehensive  about  the  potential  effects  of 

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11 Clary 146. 
12 Id., at 146, 158. 
13 Id., at 208–210. 
14 Casinos  now  operate  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and 
Maryland.  See American Gaming Assn., 2016 State of the States, p. 8, 
online  at  https://www.americangaming.org/sites/default/files/2016%20 
State%20of%20the%20States_FINAL.pdf (all Internet materials as last 
visited May 4, 2018). 

15 See, e.g., Brief for American Gaming Assn. as Amicus Curiae 1–2. 
16 See,  e.g.,  Final  Report,  at  3–10;  B.  Bradley,  The  Professional  and 
Amateur  Sports  Protection  Act—Policy  Concerns  Behind  Senate  Bill 
474,  2  Seton  Hall  J.  Sport  L.  5,  7  (1992);  Brief  for  Stop  Predatory
Gambling et al. as Amici Curiae 22–23. 

17 For  example,  in  1919,  professional  gamblers  are  said  to  have  paid 
members  of  the  Chicago  White  Sox  to  throw  the  World  Series,  an
episode  that  was  thought  to  have  threatened  baseball’s  status  as  the 
Nation’s  pastime.    See  E.  Asinof,  Eight  Men  Out:  The  Black  Sox  and