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Sports Law

A Big Parley (NFL + NBA + MLB + NHL + NCAA) v. Delaware

On Friday of last week, the NCAA, along with “The Big Four” American professional sports leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL (side note: I recently heard a professor refer to them as the Big 3.5), filed a federal suit against the state of Delaware.  The leagues + NCAA are concerned over Delaware’s new declaration to allow people to make individual wagers on the outcomes of professional and collegiate games.

For a long time now, Delaware has allowed parley bets (a single bet based on two or more individual bets, that only pays out if all individual bets are in favor of the bettor), which was initially permitted by Delaware as a form of lottery.  The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) prohibits sports bets, but allowed Delaware to continue permitting parley bets, as they existed before the federal legislation was enacted.  Does a single bet not fall into the category of a “lottery”?  It is harder to win a parley than a single bet, but either both are games of chance or neither are games of chance…I don’t see how one is and one is not.  Personally, I believe that it’s all based on luck, and that very little skill is involved in making any type of sports wager (unless you have inside information).

The best analysis I have read concerning the pending litigation was written by Jeffrey Standen: NFL v. Delaware: Round II.

By Darren Heitner

Darren Heitner created Sports Agent Blog as a New Year's Resolution on December 31, 2005. Originally titled, "I Want To Be A Sports Agent," the website was founded with the intention of causing Heitner to learn more about the profession that he wanted to join, meet reputable individuals in the space and force himself to stay on top of the latest news and trends.

Heitner now runs Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., which is a law firm with many practice areas, including sports law and contract law. Heitner has represented numerous athletes and sports agents as legal counsel. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington from 2011-2014, where he created and taught a course titled, Sport Agency Management, which included subjects ranging from NCAA regulations to athlete agent certification and the rules governing the profession. Heitner serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he teaches a Sports Law class that includes case law surrounding athlete agents and the NCAA rules.