Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/17pdf/16-476_dbfi.pdf
Page Number: 1.0

(Slip Opinion) 

OCTOBER  TERM,  2017 

1 

Syllabus 

NOTE:  Where  it  is  feasible,  a  syllabus  (headnote)  will  be  released,  as  is
being  done  in  connection  with  this  case,  at  the  time  the  opinion  is  issued.
The  syllabus  constitutes  no  part  of  the  opinion  of  the  Court  but  has  been
prepared  by  the  Reporter  of  Decisions  for  the  convenience  of  the  reader. 
See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

Syllabus 

MURPHY, GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY, ET AL. v. 

NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSN. ET AL. 

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR 
THE THIRD CIRCUIT 

No. 16–476.  Argued December 4, 2017—Decided May 14, 2018* 

The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) makes it
unlawful  for  a  State  or  its  subdivisions  “to  sponsor,  operate,  adver-
tise,  promote,  license,  or  authorize  by  law  or  compact  . . .  a  lottery, 
sweepstakes,  or  other  betting,  gambling,  or  wagering  scheme  based 
. . .  on”  competitive  sporting  events,  28  U. S. C.  §3702(1),  and  for  “a
person  to  sponsor,  operate,  advertise,  or  promote”  those  same  gam-
bling  schemes  if  done  “pursuant  to  the  law  or  compact  of  a  govern-
mental entity,” §3702(2).  But PASPA does not make sports gambling 
itself a federal crime.  Instead, it allows the Attorney General, as well 
as  professional  and  amateur  sports  organizations,  to  bring  civil  ac-
tions to enjoin violations.  §3703.  “Grandfather” provisions allow ex-
isting  forms  of  sports  gambling  to  continue  in  four  States, 
§3704(a)(1)–(2),  and  another  provision  would  have  permitted  New
Jersey  to  set  up  a  sports  gambling  scheme  in  Atlantic  City  within  a
year of PASPA’s enactment, §3704(a)(3). 

New Jersey did not take advantage of that option but has since had
a change of heart.  After voters approved an amendment to the State
Constitution  giving  the  legislature  the  authority  to  legalize  sports 
gambling schemes in Atlantic City and at horseracing tracks, the leg-
islature  enacted  a  2012  law  doing  just  that.    The  NCAA  and  three 
major  professional  sports  leagues  brought  an  action  in  federal  court
against  New  Jersey’s  Governor  and  other  state  officials  (hereinafter
New Jersey), seeking to enjoin the law on the ground that it violates 

—————— 

* Together  with  No.  16–477,  New  Jersey  Thoroughbred  Horsemen’s 
Assn., Inc. v. National Collegiate Athletic Assn. et al., also on certiorari 
to the same court.