Sports betting could be operating at Delaware's three racetrack casinos in time for the NFL season if the bill to be voted on this week passes. The governor wanted to have the bill before lawmakers in time for a House committee hearing that has been moved up from Wednesday to Tuesday in hopes of passing a bill in the Senate as early as Thursday. Most lawmakers are eager to pass the bill and it seems that the only debate is whether to expand it to allow sports betting at places in addition to the Racinos. The most opposition to legalize sports betting is coming from the NCAA and NFL who are opposed to the idea of expanding legalized sports betting.

The NCAA and NFL are both lobbying against the proposal. The NCAA has threatened to prohibit Delaware from hosting tournament games in any sport and the commissioner of the NFL said that sports betting in Delaware would threaten the game's integrity and suggested the league might pursue legal action to stop it.

House Minority Leader Dick Cathcart is not concerned with either organization's threats. He noted that Montana has sports betting and the University of Montana hosted a football playoff game last year. He said, "The NCAA is blackmailing the state of Delaware into not going with sports betting. I can't wait for someone from the NCAA or the NFL to get up in front of us, so we can make fools of them."

In other sports betting news, New Jersey Democratic Senator Raymond Lesniak announced his intentions to sue the federal government in a bid to overturn a 17-year-old ban on sports betting. He said the law that allows some State to have sports betting while denying other States the right is unconstitutional.