What Happens in the Mid-Atlantic, Could Stay in the Mid-Atlantic

A recent movement in the body of Delaware's legislative branch could result in -- *gasp* -- legalized sports gambling throughout the state, according to the Washington Times. Already a home for degenerates looking to get their tax free shopping fix, the state could have sportsbooks on the books as soon as 2009, with New Jersey potentially beating it there.

The cause of the legislation, passed by the House and now in front of the Senate, is apparently a fear that with surrounding states making the lottery, slots and horse racing legal, the Little D loses much of its cache with northeastern gamblers.

Pennsylvania last year legalized slot machines, with 14 casinos approved for more than 70,000 slot machines. And now you have the battle taking place in Maryland, where voters will decide in November whether to approve slots.
[...]The New Jersey State Assembly passed a bill in February allowing legalized sports betting in Atlantic City casinos despite the federal ban. That measure hasn't gone anywhere, but once Delaware approves sports betting, everyone will want into the game.

That's right, America. You are going down. And you can blame it all on the Mid-Atlantic.

Delaware might get away with this, if Gov. Ruth Ann Minner doesn't lay her veto-hand down. That's because they were grandfathered in, along with Nevada, Oregon and North Dakota, when the federal legislation prohibiting sports betting passed in 1993.

Sadly, the state university Blue Hens will be excluded from any bets made, so fixing the upper echelon of the FCS is out, bookies.

There is plenty of national opposition too, including the NFL, who has been running the awkwardly contradictory "Keep Vegas in Vegas" and "Sports Betting = More Problems, Not More Revenue" ads in the state.

Atlantic City on the other hand, is taking a more aggressive approach. A group of senators want to legalize sports betting there and one of them is talking about suing the federal government. They cite the dying industry of horse racing and point out that slots and casino gambling alone are not enough to actually bring people inside the New Jersey state line.

We're not going to stop sports betting, so we might as well make some money off of it. Kudos to Delaware and Atlantic City for making a play and actually trying to generate some government approved revenue.