Gambling

With casinos struggling, some advocate sports gambling

Legalizing sports betting
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Legalizing sports betting

As another casino in Atlantic City, N.J., plans to close its doors, some believe allowing sports betting could help invigorate a struggling industry.

Most states don't allow wagers on sporting events, thanks to a federal ban. In Nevada, where sports gambling is legal, it accounts for $4.25 million of the $11.2 billion in statewide gaming revenues.

"Sports betting unregulated is a debacle. It's horrible because it puts money into the wrong people's hands," said Bill Pascrell III of Princeton Public Affairs Group.

"Why should Nevada and Delaware have a monopoly? … It's a state's rights issue," he said in an interview with CNBC's "Power Lunch."

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The NFL has fought attempts to allow gambling on its games, arguing that it would put too much pressure on officials to get calls right and that too many people involved in sports betting could cause legal problems, said Scott Spreitzer, sports betting analyst at Pregame.com and a radio host at ESPN.

"I take the opposite view when it comes to that. The more it's regulated, the more it's on the up and up, the less chance for people to get involved with unscrupulous people," he said.

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Atlantic City's bankrupt Revel Casino Hotel is set to close by Sept. 10 after its owner failed to find a buyer for the 1,400-room resort. It will be the third of four city casinos to shut down this year. The Atlantic Club closed in January, the plans to shut down Aug. 31, and the is also expected to close its doors in September.

New Jersey recently attempted to get a sports betting law on the books, but Gov. Chris Christie vetoed it after the state's court challenge to the federal ban failed.

The only opposing argument to sports gambling that Spreitzer thinks "has legs" is the issue of whether it is financially feasible.

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"We have to find out if as much money can be made on the world of sports betting as we do believe it has the potential to do so," he said. "We have to factor in whether making the changes financially from the government and the money they have to put into it would be able to equate what they would be able to make back."

—By CNBC's Michelle Fox. CNBC's Morgan Brennan and Reuters contributed to this report.