PASPA and Murphy v NCAA explained

PASPA and Murphy v NCAA in brief

For a generation, a federal law called the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) kept state-licensed sports betting confined to a handful of grandfathered states. New Jersey spent years fighting it. In Murphy v. NCAA, the Supreme Court sided with New Jersey and struck the law down.

The case wasn't really about whether sports betting is good or bad. It was about federal power: whether Congress can tell state legislatures which laws they must keep on the books. The Court said it can't. The result is today's state-by-state sports betting map, explained further on our sports betting laws page and the US gambling laws hub.

What was PASPA?

PASPA was codified at 28 U.S.C. § 3701 and following. It didn't make sports betting a federal crime. Instead, it stopped states from authorizing it and stopped private businesses from running sports betting under state authority.

That missed one-year window is part of why New Jersey later had to fight in court. The Senate committee report behind the law is S. Rep. No. 102-248, from 1991.

New Jersey's challenge: from Christie to Murphy

The case reached the Supreme Court as Murphy v. NCAA, named for New Jersey's governor, after an earlier round under his predecessor, Chris Christie. The sports leagues, led by the NCAA, sued each time.

New Jersey's clever move was the 2014 "repeal". If PASPA stopped the state from authorizing sports betting, could it at least stop banning it? The lower courts said that was still forbidden authorization. That set up the constitutional question the Supreme Court took. See our New Jersey guide for how its markets work today.

What the Supreme Court decided in Murphy v NCAA

Justice Alito wrote for the Court, joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Kennedy, Thomas, Kagan and Gorsuch. Justice Breyer joined all but one part and wrote separately; Justice Ginsburg dissented, joined by Justice Sotomayor and in part by Justice Breyer. The official opinion is on the Supreme Court site (opens in a new tab), and a full-text copy is also available (opens in a new tab).

• Anticommandeering: PASPA's ban on states authorizing sports gambling violated the Constitution's rule that Congress can't command state legislatures, a principle drawn from the Tenth Amendment and earlier cases such as New York v. United States and Printz v. United States.
• Licensing too: the ban on state licensing had the same defect.
• Not preemption: PASPA wasn't a valid preemption provision, because it didn't regulate private conduct directly.
• No severability: no part of PASPA could survive on its own, so the whole statute fell.

The practical effect was simple: states may legalize sports betting. What Congress can't do, under this ruling, is order states to keep their own bans.

Sports betting after Murphy: how states responded

New Jersey and Mississippi launched sports betting in 2018, and other states followed year by year. These launch dates come from state regulators and, where marked, third-party trackers.

Models vary widely. Tennessee is online-only, with no physical sportsbooks. Oregon and New Hampshire run sports betting through their lotteries with DraftKings. Florida's only lawful online sportsbook is the Seminole Tribe's Hard Rock Bet. Nevada's sports betting long predates Murphy. Explore Michigan sports betting or New Jersey sports betting for two mature markets.

Where sports betting is still not legal

Murphy gave states a choice, and some have chosen no, or not yet.

• California: no legal sports betting; bills were inactive in 2026.
• Texas: no authorization found.
• Georgia, Alabama, Hawaii, South Carolina, Utah and Minnesota: not legal.
• Idaho: not among the gambling exceptions in its constitution.
• Wisconsin: AB 601, signed April 9, 2026, would let bets be placed statewide on tribal servers, but it needs compact amendments, faces a lawsuit, and hadn't launched.
• Nebraska: in-person only at licensed racetrack casinos; an online sports wagering initiative petition targets the November 3, 2026 ballot, though its qualification wasn't confirmed.
• South Dakota: retail only in Deadwood and at tribal casinos; a 2026 statewide mobile amendment died in a House committee.

Tribal compacts matter in many of these states, which is why our tribal gaming page is worth a read alongside your state guide on the states hub.

What Murphy v NCAA did not change

Murphy removed one federal law. Everything else stayed in place, and some popular claims about the ruling are wrong.

Read our explainers on the Wire Act and UIGEA, and see is online gambling legal in the US? for how the pieces fit together.

Prediction markets: the newest fight over sports wagering

A new question has replaced PASPA in the headlines: are sports event contracts on federally regulated exchanges a form of betting that states can police? States increasingly say yes.

• Maryland sent a cease-and-desist letter to Kalshi on April 7, 2025.
• Connecticut ordered Kalshi, Robinhood Derivatives and Crypto.com to stop unlicensed sports wagering on December 3, 2025.
• Nevada's regulator told licensees in late 2025 that sports event contracts are wagers.
• Kentucky's attorney general sued Kalshi and others in a complaint dated June 17, 2026.

In Congress, the Congressional Research Service counted a long list of 2025–2026 bills on prediction markets and the SAFE Bet Act (S. 1033 and H.R. 2087), which would set federal standards for state-regulated sports betting. None of the prediction-market bills had been enacted by August 2026. Our prediction markets page follows this.

How to check if sports betting is legal where you are

1. Open your state's guide on the states hub and look at its sports betting section.
2. Go to your state regulator's list of licensed sportsbooks; if a brand isn't on it, it isn't licensed in your state.
3. Check the age limit, which is 21 in most licensing states; see gambling age by state.
4. Note any limits, such as mobile betting only on casino premises in Mississippi or no college bets in Oregon.
5. Remember that winnings are taxable federal income; see gambling taxes.

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