Leagues Seek Expedited Appeal Schedule To Halt Delaware Betting

Leagues Want To Stop Scheduled Sept. 1 Start Of Delaware Sports Betting

Attorneys for the four major U.S. sports leagues and the NCAA yesterday filed a motion and briefs "asking the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia to speed up the process to attempt halting sports betting in Delaware," according to Esteban Parra of the Wilmington NEWS JOURNAL. The leagues "want to stop the scheduled Sept. 1 start of Delaware sports betting, saying they will suffer irreparable harm if betting is allowed." The leagues proposed a schedule that "had them filing their opening brief Monday and asked the state to respond by Aug. 17." The leagues "would then have three days to respond to Delaware, giving the 3rd Circuit seven business days to come up with an opinion before the September deadline -- if it accepts the case." Parra notes usually after filing a notice of appeal, a plaintiff "has 40 days to file opening briefs," and the defendant "would then have 30 days to respond." The plaintiff "would then get 15 days to reply to that." Without the expedition, attorneys "would be filing briefs and responses for the next dozen weeks before a judge even considers whether to accept the case." Delaware Gov. Jack Markell's office said that they were "expecting the leagues' motion," but that the matter "should not be made in haste." Parra notes the leagues "made a similar argument in Wilmington's U.S. District Court last week, but Chief District Judge Gregory M. Sleet denied the emergency request to delay sports betting while a lawsuit challenging single-game wagers moves to a December trial." Widener Univ. School of Law professor Larry Hamermesh "expected the sports leagues to have better luck with the 3rd Circuit in getting the hearing than they did with Sleet." Hamermesh said that the "only way ... he doesn't see the 3rd Circuit agreeing is if they are persuaded that there will be no irreparable harm" (Wilmington NEWS JOURNAL, 8/11).

USE POWER FOR GOOD: In Columbus, Michael Arace writes of the leagues, "Just imagine what might happen if they joined together to fight for a single just cause. They could crack down on the performance-enhancing drugs that have cast a dark shadow over all of them. They could create a system to repay taxpayers for the billions of dollars that were earmarked for their stadiums. They could police the netherworld of predatory agents and invest more in grass-roots development programs." But instead, the "NFL wants to keep Delaware from making a buck off its games" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 8/11).