Otter Says There’s a Long Way to Go Before Sports Gambling Comes to Idaho

Boise (670 KBOI News) – Now that the Supreme Court of the United States has struck down the federal law prohibiting states from making sports gambling legal, might you be able to gamble on the Broncos, Bengals or Vandals one day?

Governor Otter thinks maybe, but he tells 670 KBOI’s Nate Shelman it’s going to be quite the undertaking to make it legal.

“Article 3, Section 20 of the Constitution forbids that kind of activity, you’d have to change it,” said Otter.  “But you’d also have to change Title 18, the statute that the legislature would have to repeal, and the governor would have to sign it, in order to have sports booking in Idaho.”

He says he doesn’t particularly want to see sports gambling in Idaho, but he does want to see the horse industry survive and thrive.

He said he’s not sure what he’ll do after leaving office next January, but some of his colleagues advised him to not make any commitments until after he’s out of office.