March Madness Wagering Affected By Archaic Rule

With 21 states now allowing residents to wager on sports legally, the ramifications of certain state laws are now coming into sight. In what has to be a major disappointment to confused sports bettors, it turns out that residents in some states won't be able to wagers on their favorite local sports teams because of some rather archaic rules.

At issue is the college basketball championship tournament, which is affectionately and historically called "'March Madness."

Unfortunately, some states have a dirty little secret that is likely to shock the novice sports bettor who generally focuses their sports wagering on special events like the Super Bowl and the aforementioned March Madness. The dirty little secret is the sports betting laws in some states were written in such a way that it is illegal for a resident to wager on college and high school teams from their own state.

Imagine for a moment that you are an avid fan or alumni of the Illinois Fighting Illini, and you live in Illinois. Your team is currently ranked #2 in the nation and holds a #1 seed in the South Region of the National Championship tournament. As much as your heart desires, you go to place a legal wager on Illinois only to discover you can't because you actually live in the state. What a shame.

For regular sports bettors who have already been active betting on sports in states where this is happening, the fact they can't bet on teams from their own states is already common knowledge. The hurt and disappointment are going to go directly to the fans who don't yet know about this archaic rule.

This is currently happening in 13 states. The reason it's happening is because of the ignorance of state lawmakers who believe they protecting the integrity of high school and college sports by restricting sports betting on local teams. Is this really about protecting student-athletes from the temptation to take bribes to illegally try to influence the outcome of games against the point spread?

Nevada had a similar law in place for decades. The law even went so far as to restrict wagering on any sporting events that were being played within the state's boundaries. The law in Nevada has since been changed, but 13 states apparently didn't get the memo.

Here is a list of the 13 states where betting on local teams is currently illegal:

• Arkansas
  
• Delaware
  
• Illinois
  
• Mississippi
  
• Montana
  
• New Hampshire
  
• New Jersey
  
• New Mexico
  
• New York
  
• Oregon
  
• Rhode Island
  
• Virginia
  
• Washington D.C.
  

Thirty years ago when the internet was still in its infancy, there were cases where local athletes needed protection from the local criminal element. However, the advent of the internet has made state borders irrelevant. There was a time when this kind of law made sense, but those days are long gone.

The reality is the sports betting industry is better off being consistent as a whole. Does it really make sense that Michigan residents can wager on the Michigan Wolverines, #1 seed in the East, while Illinois fans have to sit on the sidelines?