Wire Act

A 1961 US federal law barring the use of wire communications to transmit interstate sports bets; a 2011 opinion limited it to sports betting, enabling intrastate online casino and poker.

Definition

The Interstate Wire Act of 1961 prohibits those in the betting business from using a 'wire communication facility' to transmit bets or wagering information across state lines. For decades its scope was contested. In December 2011 the US Department of Justice issued an opinion concluding the Wire Act applies only to sports betting — which cleared the way for individual states to authorise intrastate online casino, poker and lottery. In 2018-2019 the DOJ reversed course, opining that the Act covered all forms of interstate gambling wires; that reinterpretation was challenged and set aside by the federal courts (upheld on appeal in 2021), restoring the sports-only reading in practice.

Worked example

The December 2011 DOJ opinion directly enabled the first regulated US online gambling: within about two years Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey had launched intrastate online poker and casino, relying on the interpretation that the Wire Act restricts only interstate sports wagers.

Why it matters

The Wire Act, and the swings in how it has been interpreted, is the legal hinge on which US online casino and poker turned: the 2011 opinion made intrastate iGaming possible, and the later reversal and its judicial defeat show how much of the US market rests on federal interpretation rather than a single clear statute.

Related

Note: The 1961 statute, the December 2011 DOJ opinion narrowing it to sports betting, and the reversal-and-court-defeat sequence around 2018-2021 are documented. The Act's precise reach remains a live legal question in some contexts; treat application to specific products as fact-dependent.