Congress is preparing a 37-page, multi-faceted legislation to regulate sports betting.

According to new proposed legislation drafted by senator Orrin Hatch, Congress wants to legislate sports betting.

These new sports betting laws would require U.S. states with sports betting services to apply for approval from the U.S. Attorney General in order to continue organizing betting events.

The proposed legislation seeks to put in place a federal regulatory framework that would add another step to states’ sports betting legalization process.

This matter even goes back to the month of May when the Supreme Court struck down the PAPSA (a longstanding federal law that banned sports betting in most states), leaving the decision to legalize the practice up to individual states.

What’s at stake for the country’s major sports league

According to Business Insider, here’s what this proposed legislation could mean for key stakeholders in the sports and live events realm:

• Traditional sports leagues | Pro sports leagues like the NFL and NBA would suffer on one hand because the legislation could mute the bump that legalized betting was expected to provide sports broadcasts. MoffetNathanson last year estimated that about 10% of nonbettors would be likely to bet on sports if the US legalized sports gambling, and bettors are more likely to watch sport events that they have put money on. That said, another aspect of the legislation would require gaming organizations to use official league data, which leagues could charge for, so entities like the NBA and the NFL may ultimately support the law.
• Esports leagues | Betting on esports leagues like the Overwatch League and the 2K League, which center on video games “Overwatch” and “NBA 2K,” may not be immediately impacted by the legislation if passed, as Hatch doesn’t define what constitutes a sport in the document, per Legal Sports Report. As it stands, it’s currently up to states to decide how to categorize esports — forward-thinking states that legalize sports gambling are likely to count esports the same as traditional sports to drum up tax revenue.
• Daily fantasy sports companies | Companies like DraftKings and FanDuel have so far capitalized on SCOTUS throwing out PAPSA — FanDuel in July launched its first-everretail betting location in New Jersey, a month after the state legalized sports betting, for example. However, Hatch’s proposed legislation could slow down these daily fantasy sports companies’ ability to expand brick-and-mortar locations if states face difficulties enacting sports betting laws. Increased barriers to expansion could harm DraftKings and FanDuel, which are already barred from operating in nine states that deem fantasy contests as illegal gambling, per Yahoo Finance.