Abstract

Gambling, and in particular sports gambling, is big business. In 1996, due to the rise in legalized gambling at the state and local level, the growth of Internet gambling, and questions regarding the social and economic impacts of gambling, the United States Congress enacted the National Gambling Impact Study Commission Act (Pub. L. 104-
169, 110 Stat. 1482, 1996). This legislation established the National Gambling Impact Study Commission. The Commission’s role was to conduct a comprehensive legal and factual study of the social and economic impacts of gambling in the United States. In its 1999 report, the Commission estimated that Americans illegally wager between
$80-380 billion annually on sporting events (Nat’l Gambling Impact Study Comm’n, 1999, pp. 2-14). Although this is the last national study of sports betting within the United States, this number has surely increased in the past decade. Verf.-Referat