By — William Brangham William Brangham By — Connie Kargbo Connie Kargbo Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/gambling-mad-america-betting-sports-still-illegal Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Here’s why your March Madness pool is illegal Nation Mar 21, 2015 7:13 PM EDT If you’re a college hoops fan, you’ve likely been waiting all year for the NCAA’s March Madness tournament. You made your picks, filled out your bracket, wagered a few dollars. But it turns out, you’re also breaking the law. Because of a 1992 law called The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PAPSA), betting on any almost any sporting event outside of Las Vegas is illegal. Making it against the law, however, hasn’t stopped it from happening: the federal government estimates that anywhere from 80 to 300 billion dollars is illegally bet on sports every year in America. Most of that action happens via bookies or on a number of offshore sports gambling websites. But in a nation that seems increasingly comfortable with legal gambling — witness the national explosion of casinos, state lotteries and video poker, which are legally available in nearly every state in the country — why has betting on sports remained illegal? The mafia might be part of the answer. NewsHour Weekend sat down with Chad Millman, editor of ESPN The Magazine, who says that since organized crime was linked with sports betting back in the 1950s, it’s never lost its stigma. Watch the video in the player above. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now By — William Brangham William Brangham William Brangham is an award-winning correspondent, producer, and substitute anchor for the PBS News Hour. @WmBrangham By — Connie Kargbo Connie Kargbo Connie Kargbo has been working in the media field since 2007 producing content for television, radio, and the web. As a field producer at PBS NewsHour Weekend, she is involved in all aspects of the news production process from pitching story ideas to organizing field shoots to scripting feature pieces. Before joining the weekend edition of PBS Newshour, Connie was a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand where she trained Thai English teachers.
If you’re a college hoops fan, you’ve likely been waiting all year for the NCAA’s March Madness tournament. You made your picks, filled out your bracket, wagered a few dollars. But it turns out, you’re also breaking the law. Because of a 1992 law called The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PAPSA), betting on any almost any sporting event outside of Las Vegas is illegal. Making it against the law, however, hasn’t stopped it from happening: the federal government estimates that anywhere from 80 to 300 billion dollars is illegally bet on sports every year in America. Most of that action happens via bookies or on a number of offshore sports gambling websites. But in a nation that seems increasingly comfortable with legal gambling — witness the national explosion of casinos, state lotteries and video poker, which are legally available in nearly every state in the country — why has betting on sports remained illegal? The mafia might be part of the answer. NewsHour Weekend sat down with Chad Millman, editor of ESPN The Magazine, who says that since organized crime was linked with sports betting back in the 1950s, it’s never lost its stigma. Watch the video in the player above. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now