[cortesoft]

Well, in 1979 the people who had the money were the existing casinos, operating in the 4 states that had legal sports betting. This was a way to close the rest of the market, so they could continue to have a monopoly on gambling and wouldn't have to compete with other states.

Then FanDuel and DraftKings arrived with a lot of investor capital, and had the money and power to push through the legalization.

It was never morals that kept gambling from being legalized elsewhere, it was protectionism.