One of the US Representatives and fervent supporters of regulating Internet gambling in the US, Jim McDermott, predicts that the interest of the public to legalize sports betting can be seen with the enormous number of wagers placed on the Super Bowl. He recently told the Congressional paper Roll Call that the approval of fellow Congressman, Barney Frank’s bill on legalizing and regulating internet gaming would be major step taken towards legalizing sports betting in the country.

He further added that around 99% of bets placed on the Super Bowl are either illegally placed through the internet or a bookmaker, where people have no legal security and are left helpless to exploitation.

While online casino games and internet poker sites are the main subjects of discussion, with the US Department of Justice stating that such activity is illegal gambling regardless of the court decisions that say otherwise, there have been no discussions held on legalizing sports betting activities in the country. However a federal law that was passed in 1992 clearly stated declared sports gambling activities to be illegal in most of the United States.

McDermott stated that more than thousands of American citizens support the idea of internet gambling sites and also request for the support of the government, regardless of whether they prefer casino gambling or sports wagering.

McDermott also commented that the present status of online gambling has failed, opening doors for illegal practices like fraud, identity theft, money laundering, and lots more casino crimes while millions of dollars flow out of the American economy into the hands of land based gambling operators who go against the U.S laws.