Ofc Comm Baseball v. Markell

• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit
• Writing for the Court: Hardiman
• Citation: Ofc Comm Baseball v. Markell, 579 F.3d 293 (3rd Cir. 2009)
• Decision Date: 31 August 2009
• Docket Number: No. 09-3297.,09-3297.
• Parties: OFC COMM BASEBALL, an unincorporated association doing business as Major League Baseball; Natl Basketball Assn, a joint venture; Natl Collegiate Athletic Assn, an unincorporated association; Natl Football League, an unincorporated association; Natl Hockey League, an unincorporated association, Appellants, v. Jack A. MARKELL, Governor of the State of Delaware; Wayne Lemons, Director of the Delaware State Lottery Office, Appellees.

579 F.3d 293

OFC COMM BASEBALL, an unincorporated association doing business as Major League Baseball; Natl Basketball Assn, a joint venture; Natl Collegiate Athletic Assn, an unincorporated

association; Natl Football League, an unincorporated association; Natl Hockey League, an unincorporated association, Appellants, v. Jack A. MARKELL, Governor of the State of Delaware; Wayne Lemons, Director of the Delaware State Lottery Office, Appellees.

No. 09-3297.

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Argued August 24, 2009.

Filed: August 31, 2009.

Kenneth J. Nachbar [Argued], Pauletta J. Brown, Megan W. Cascio, Susan W. Waesco, Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell, Wilmington, DE, for Appellants.

Andre G. Bouchard [Argued], Joel E. Friedlander [Argued], Sean M. Brennecke, David J. Margules, Bouchard, Margules & Friedlander, Wilmington, DE, for Appellees.

Before McKEE, FUENTES and HARDIMAN, Circuit Judges.

OPINION OF THE COURT

HARDIMAN, Circuit Judge.

In this interlocutory appeal we review an order of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware denying a motion for preliminary injunction filed by the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (collectively, Leagues). The Leagues sought to enjoin Delaware state officials from implementing certain elements of its Sports Lottery Act (Act), Del. Laws Ch. 28 (H.B. No. 100) (2009), 29 Del.Code § 4801 et seq., on September 1, 2009. As we shall explain, we need not decide whether the District Court's denial of the Leagues' preliminary injunction was proper because we hold as a matter of law that elements of Delaware's sports lottery violate federal law.

I.

In March 2009, the Governor of Delaware, Jack Markell, proposed legislation authorizing sports betting and table gaming at existing and future facilities in Delaware. On March 19, Governor Markell sought an advisory opinion from the Delaware Supreme Court pursuant to 10 Del. Code § 141 and 29 Del.Code § 2102, regarding the constitutionality of his proposal under the Delaware Constitution. In a letter to the Delaware Supreme Court, Governor Markell described three types of proposed sports gambling: (1) point-spread bets on individual games; (2) over/under bets on individual games; and (3) multi-game parlay bets.¹ On May 14— while the request for an advisory opinion from the Delaware Supreme Court was pending—Governor Markell signed the Act into law. In re Request of Governor for an Advisory Opinion (In re Request of Governor), ___ A.2d ___, No. 150, 2009, 2009 WL 1475736, at *2 (Del. May 27, 2009).

After hearing oral argument, the Delaware Supreme Court issued an opinion on May 29, which found that multi-game betting would not violate state law. In analyzing the legality of the Act and the "lotteries" proposed pursuant to the Act, the Delaware Supreme Court relied heavily on Judge Stapleton's decision in National Football League v. Governor of the State of Delaware (NFL), 435 F.Supp. 1372 (D.Del. 1977). That case concerned the NFL's challenge to a sports betting scheme known as "Scoreboard" that Delaware conducted during the 1976 season. Scoreboard was comprised of three games: Football Bonus, Touchdown, and Touchdown II. In Football Bonus, the State offered two pools of seven NFL games each and bettors had to predict the winners— without a point spread—in one or both of the pools. In Touchdown, bettors selected both the winners and point spreads for either three, four, or five NFL games. Finally, Touchdown II—which replaced Touchdown midway through the season— required bettors to pick the winners, against the point spread, for between four and twelve NFL games. All of the Scoreboard games conducted in 1976 were confined to betting on the NFL, and all required that the bettor wager on more than one game at a time.

In NFL, Judge Stapleton held such wagering was permissible under the Delaware Constitution because chance is the "dominant factor" in multi-game (parlay) betting. The Delaware Supreme Court reached the same conclusion in its advisory opinion, In re Request of Governor, 2009 WL 1475736, at *8, but did not decide the constitutionality of single-game betting, except to recognize that it differs from the parlay games addressed by Judge Stapleton. Id. The Delaware Supreme Court did not address the federal statutory question presented in this appeal.

Following receipt of the Delaware Supreme Court's advisory opinion, on June 30 the State published its proposed regulations to implement the Act (Regulations). According to the Regulations, Delaware intends to implement a sports betting scheme that would include wagers "in which the winners are determined based on the outcome of any professional or collegiate sporting event, including racing, held within or without the State, but excluding collegiate sporting events that involve a Delaware college or university, and amateur or professional sporting events that involve a Delaware team." A168. Delaware's proposed sports betting scheme includes single-game betting in addition to multi-game (parlay) betting, as the Regulations define the term "maximum wager limit" to include "the maximum amount that can be wagered on a single sports lottery wager be it head-to-head or parlay. ..." A168 (Regulations § 2.0, definition of "maximum wager limit") (emphasis added).

Delaware intends to commence its sports betting scheme on September 1, 2009, in time for the start of the upcoming NFL regular season. Though the NFL is its focus, Delaware intends to conduct— and the Regulations sanction—betting on all major professional and college sports.

II.

On July 24, the Leagues filed a complaint against Governor Markell and Wayne Lemons, the Director of the Delaware State Lottery Office (collectively, Delaware or State), claiming that elements of Delaware's proposed sports betting scheme violate the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), 28 U.S.C. § 3701, et seq.² Although PASPA has broadly prohibited state-sponsored sports gambling since it took effect on January 1, 1993, the statute also "grandfathered" gambling schemes in individual states "to the extent that the scheme was conducted by that State" between 1976 and 1990.

Four days after filing their complaint, the Leagues filed a motion for preliminary injunction, requesting that the District Court enjoin the State "from commencing, instituting, operating and maintaining a proposed `sports lottery' to the extent that such lottery permits (i) single-game sports betting, (ii) betting on sports other than professional football, or (iii) any other sports betting scheme that was not conducted by the State of Delaware in 1976" pending final adjudication of the Leagues' action.

The District Court held a scheduling conference on July 29 at which it urged the parties to reach an agreement by which the State would "stand down" pending an expedited adjudication of the merits. A268. The parties could not reach such an agreement, however, so the District Court asked for written submissions and held a conference on August 5. Following the conference, the court orally denied the Leagues' motion and scheduled a trial for December 7. On August 10, the District Court issued a 13-paragraph memorandum order explaining its reasons for denying the injunction.

In its memorandum order, the District Court found that the Leagues had not shown a likelihood of success on the merits. Office of Comm'r of Baseball v. Markell, 2009 WL 2450284, at *1 (D.Del. Aug. 10, 2009). Noting that "both sides vigorously and ably contend that they are entitled to win on the merits," the District Court stated: "On the current record, the court is simply not in a position to give either side a nod on the merits. Indeed, there may exist factual disputes as to what, if anything, the State of Delaware actually did in the past with respect to sports gambling; or as to what, if any, proposed sports betting activities are exempted by the federal statute at issue." Id. at *2. The District Court also noted that the Leagues suggested in their letter brief that the court treat their motion for preliminary injunction as a motion for summary judgment and questioned whether the Leagues had demonstrated both the requisite irreparable harm and that the balance of the equities fell in their favor. See id. at *2-4.

On August 7—prior to receipt of the District Court's memorandum opinion— the Leagues filed their notice of appeal. Three days later, the Leagues filed a motion to expedite their appeal and their opening brief. On August 12, Delaware filed a motion to dismiss the appeal and its opposition to the Leagues' motion to expedite. On August 13, we granted the Leagues' motion to expedite, issued a briefing schedule, and set oral argument for August 24.

It is often noted that the wheels of justice move slowly—and for good reason. As the procedural history of this case demonstrates, however, that is not always the case. When a party seeks injunctive relief, the stakes are high, time is of the essence, and a straightforward legal question is properly presented to us, prudence dictates that we answer that question with dispatch.

III.

We begin, as always, by considering whether we have jurisdiction to hear this appeal. The Leagues claim we have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a), which provides: "courts of appeals shall have jurisdiction of appeals from: (1) Interlocutory orders of the district courts ... granting, continuing, modifying, refusing, or dissolving injunctions." (emphasis added). The State disagrees, arguing that we must apply the test set forth in Carson v. American Brands, Inc., 450 U.S. 79, 101 S.Ct. 993, 67 L.Ed.2d 59 (1981), which requires the Leagues to show that the District Court's denial of the motion for preliminary injunction (1) will have a serious, perhaps irreparable, consequence;...