Could Oregon See The Return Of Sports Action?

Sports Action, a parlay style game introduced by the Oregon Lottery in 1989, was banned in 2007 following heavy scrutiny from the NCAA. Ironically enough, the potential return of Sports Action could lie with the same group responsible for its initial downfall.

Oregon is one of only four states that were grandfathered in under the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992. PASPA banned all legalized sports betting in 46 states and the only reason Oregon could keep Sports Action is because it was introduced before the bill came into law. When Sports Action was first introduced it only allowed bets on NFL games. After some time, NBA games were added to the betting options. The NBA filed a lawsuit against Oregon which forced the state to remove NBA games from the ticket. The NCAA also decided to step in, as they too had issues with the state profiting from professional games. The NCAA refused to hold any tournaments in the state of Oregon as long as Sports Action was alive.

The downfall of Sports Action in Oregon shouldn’t be attributed to people having problems with the moral values associated with gambling, but more so wanting an adjustment on where revenue was coming from. Oregon wanted to host the first two rounds of the NCAA’s March Madness tournament, which brings in money for the state and for local businesses. The NCAA is happy to have it there, so long as the state isn’t profiting from betting on the games.

At the time of the bill that got rid of Sports Action’s passing, the Oregon Sports Authority was hoping to negotiate with Major League Baseball in bringing a team to the state and the MLB would’ve rather not put a team where sports betting was legal. Despite losing Sports Action, Oregon still wasn’t able to get a franchise. While Sports action removed the only state licensed opportunity for OR residents to bet on sports, there are still a few alternatives for legal sports gambling in Oregon.

Now, NCAA President Mark Emmert has gone on record saying how they’ve had “robust” conversations about playing NCAA tournament games in Las Vegas, Nevada. Obviously, this is a contradictory stance since Las Vegas is the heart of legalized sports betting in the United States. While nothing has come to fruition yet, if the NCAA decides to host tournaments in Nevada, this could open the door for the return of Sports Action. It would certainly be hard for the NCAA to justify banning tournaments in Oregon while they had sports betting, then later having tournaments in Nevada. There’s also the legislative red tape to deal with in bringing Sports Action back.

Sports Action was written out of the legislation in Oregon, so for it to come back it would have to be written back in. This decision falls on Oregon legislatures and taxpayers. While Sports Action was in effect, the profits were directed to supporting local education. Taxpayers could see that as an incentive to bring Sports Action back. The leagues would also have to support the move, although the NFL seem to be the only league that would be against it.

Perhaps bringing back Sports Action would sound more farfetched in the past, but in today’s world, with Daily Fantasy Sports groups like DraftKings and FanDuel becoming more and more popular, it seems sports betting is gaining some traction. This traction could very well be what brings Sports Action back to Oregon. As of now, it seemingly rests with the NCAA and how they handle the Vegas deal. If it goes through, you can expect Oregon—who would still be eligible to host sports betting thanks to their PASPA exemption—to hold conversations on Sports Action again.