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Originally Posted by likes
It's an interesting legal question.
There is (currently) no business nexus between the contest and the wager. If the leagues got a piece, then it's different. But I expect that the leagues have a significant interest in erecting a firewall between the gamblers and the contests. If that firewall exists, defining the act of wagering as interstate commerce becomes a real question.
That said, the courts usually strain to find most commerce to be interstate.
The leagues are trying to get paid a so-called "integrity fee". Far from a building any "firewall", they are looking for around 1% of the wagering handle.
Congress has already regulated interstate wagering in the Wire Act, 18 USC Sec 1084 (b):
"Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the transmission in interstate ... commerce of information ... assisting in the placing of bets or wagers on a sporting event or contest from a State ... where betting on that sporting event or contest is legal into a State ... in which such betting is legal."
So, while it is true that the language last week regarding "Congress can regulate directly" is dicta, it is pretty strong.
If some wagering activity were deemed to "affect interstate commerce", that would suffice, even if that wagering were wholly between two intrastate parties.