Bill Pascrell III: Legalising sports betting, one un-subtle brick at a time
Before 2018, sports betting in the United States was, for the most part, something that happened in the shadows. You could bet in Vegas or through a “friendly” neighbourhood guy if you knew one, but other than that, you were either doing it offshore, illegally, or not at all.
The federal law blocking progress was PASPA, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which had banned states from legalising sports betting since 1992.
It didn’t stop betting, though. It just stopped regulation. And revenue. And reality.
To get the real story behind the battle to legalise U.S. sports betting, SiGMA News spoke with Bill Pascrell III (or ‘BP3’ if you prefer more Star Wars-esque nicknames), who, since the 2000s, was one of the loudest voices fighting for the repeal of PASPA.
This is a story of one man’s mission to end imperial hypocrisy and bring regulated sports betting to the galaxy United States.
A long time ago, in a political landscape far, far away…
In 2009, the political landscape in New Jersey was charged. John Corzine, a wealthy Democrat and former Goldman Sachs executive, was running for re-election as governor, leading in the polls by ten points.
“New Jersey is a very Democratic state, but it’s a competitive election and Corzine’s up by ten points in all polls 30 days before the election,” says Bill.
At that moment, Bill received a call that would change the course of his career and the future of sports betting in America.
“I get a call from a guy by the name of Joe Brennan, he had left Google to start an organisation called iMEGA: The Interactive Media Entertainment Gaming Association, which was made up of 37 offshore sportsbooks,” he says, ”I didn’t even know who he was. I thought he was a fraudster. He tells me he wants to hire me to bring sports betting to America.”
At first, Bill was understandably sceptical.
“I said, what are you talking about? I go to Vegas all the time. I can bet on sports. He goes, ‘But Bill, should you have to get on a plane every time you want to place a bet?’”
Do or do not. There is no try.
In a surprise upset, Corzine lost the election and Chris Christie became governor.
“I’m hungover from the sad losing party from the night before,” says Bill. “Brennan calls me at 9:00 am, and a week later, I’m in Vegas with him visiting all the sportsbooks. They’re educating me on how books get made, and then when Christie got sworn in in January of 2010, we decided to start the campaign to repeal PASPA.” – a campaign that was to ultimately last 10 years.
Bill knew that nothing short of a coordinated, long-game strategy would bring it down, and by the late 2000s, the push to repeal PASPA was finally gaining traction, but Congress wasn’t budging. So Pascrell and his allies took a different route: the courts. And New Jersey, with its existing gambling infrastructure and political appetite for disruption, became the ideal testing ground.
“Congress wasn’t going to touch it,” Pascrell says. “So we had to find another way in. That meant getting the right case in front of the right court.
“But this wasn’t just a courtroom battle, it was trench warfare,” he says. “You needed the legal angle, the legislative angle, the media, the governors, the regulators. All of it.”
At the core of the strategy was a simple insight: New Jersey was the weak spot in PASPA’s legal armour, the one state that might just blow the whole thing open.
The force awakens
Bill Pascrell worked closely with New Jersey lawmakers, regulators, and two successive governors, first Chris Christie, then Phil Murphy, to build momentum for a legal challenge. The argument was simple but powerful: PASPA violated states’ rights by preventing them from making their own decisions on sports betting.
In 2012, New Jersey passed legislation directly challenging PASPA. The leagues sued, and the battle began.
The case bounced through the courts for years. At every stage, the leagues pushed back, arguing that legalising sports betting would damage the integrity of their games. But Bill and the New Jersey team pushed just as hard, contending that regulation would protect integrity by bringing transparency and oversight to something already happening.
“The NFL was against it because they wanted money out of it,” Bill says, “For the previous 40 years, when you bet on a football game, at the top of the ticket was the NFL logo. So for every bet, the NFL got a percentage of the ticket. But they’re arguing publicly that they’re concerned about the integrity of the game.”
Despite the opposition, the case reached the Supreme Court in 2017, and on 14 May 2018, in a landmark 6–3 decision, the Court struck down PASPA, declaring it unconstitutional.
States were now free to legalise and regulate sports betting as they saw fit.
A new hope for New York
After the successful repeal of PASPA, it didn’t take much to get New York onside.
“The evidence was everywhere,” Bill says, “You just needed to go to the George Washington Bridge to see what was happening. I had friends of mine, blue-collar guys, setting up hotdog stands and beer carts because people were walking, cycling, and driving to get across the bridge to New Jersey to open up accounts and place bets for the Super Bowl.
“We just told the New York legislature: they’re doing it anyway.”
Additionally, the impact that the New Jersey campaign had was undeniable.
“Jersey has created over 23,000 jobs, which is quite significant for a population of 9 million people. And they’re well-paid jobs in iGaming, online sports betting and retail, and the number of jobs is growing.”
But not every state was ready.
“California. That ballot referendum in 2023 just got awful,” Bill says, “DraftKings and Fanduel spent half a billion dollars for it only to get 18% of the vote. The American tribes have power in California, and they didn’t work with them on it.”
And as for federal involvement to legalise sports betting across all states?
“I hope not,” says Bill without hesitation, “The federal government couldn’t run a one-car funeral. I want them to stay out of sports betting completely.”
I find your lack of faith disturbing
For Bill, the battle to repeal PASPA and legalise sports betting in the U.S. wasn’t just about business or revenue.
“It wasn’t even about creating something new,” he says. “It was about acknowledging reality and giving it structure. It was about fairness, transparency, and bringing an underground industry into the light.“
“I never had an ethical quandary. I always felt like I was fighting for the good guys. And the NFL, by the way, they are a despicable organisation, even though I like football. What they’ve done with sports betting is reprehensible, but because they have so much money and it’s so popular, it gets glossed over.”
Legalisation, Bill argues, was common sense. If they’re gonna do it anyway, would it not make more sense to just legalise it so that you, a) get the tax from it and b) put that money towards whatever morally amazing thing you want?
“You know, hospitals, education, would it not be better to legalise it and use that money for good?”
You don’t know the power of the dark side
The story of legal sports betting in America is one of persistence, principle, and a belief that the law can, and should, catch up to reality. But in Bill Pascrell’s view, the battle isn’t over just because PASPA is gone.
“If we only have a half dozen books, ultimately that’s gonna quash innovation. Startups won’t be able to get into the market,” he says. “And you need to be careful not to over-regulate. All you’re doing is benefiting the black market and the two top operators, right? You want innovation because otherwise you’re gonna lose all your licensing fees.”
Pascrell points out that in some states, the black market is still thriving, not because betting is illegal, but because the legal version isn’t competitive. High tax rates, limited licences, and clunky regulation make it easier for players to just keep doing what they were doing before.
“You can’t just say it’s legal and walk away,” he says. “You have to monitor it, adjust the model, keep the player safe. If not, they go back offshore.”
For BP3, the job was never just about legalising sports betting. It was about building a system that actually works and making sure it doesn’t collapse under its own complexity. And judging by the state of play, this might just be the Jersey Jedi’s toughest battle yet.
