Hedging Bets on Sports Gambling in NJ
A few weeks ago proponents of legalized sports betting got all fired up when Governor Chris Christie basically came out and said casinos and racetracks could move forward and offer sports wagering.
What Christie did on September 8th was allow his acting attorney general to issue a directive which said that casinos and racetracks could offer sports betting without fear of prosecution or civil liability as long as it did not involve New Jersey’s college teams or any college events held in the state.
If that sounded a bit confusing it was although Monmouth Park officials got very excited about the prospects and said they could be ready to offer the public a chance to bet on games in just a few weeks. Other venues were a bit more cautious and said they would take a wait and see approach.
Meanwhile the prospect of all that money coming into New Jersey was something very pleasing to public officials, especially those in Atlantic City where casinos are closing at a rapid rate.
When all of this went down I declared Christie’s wishes just that:a wish that was not about to come true, at least any time in the very near future.I just saw too many roadblocks to the actual opening of legalized sports betting venues in the state regardless of what the governor said or wanted.
Monday the four major pro sports leagues and the NCAA filed a court challenge to New Jersey’s latest attempt to offer legal sports gambling and said it’s pretty much nothing more than a blatant attempt to circumvent the federal law that prohibits betting in the state. The NFL, NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball and NCAA have successfully won court cases in the past to stop New Jersey from going forward with plans to allow sports wagering which would violate the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. That federal law limits sports gambling to Nevada and three other states where it was legal at that time: Delaware, Montana and Oregon.
A U.S. District Judge, who has sided with the leagues in the past, is expected to rule in Trenton by next week on the latest developments. Meanwhile Monmouth Park and other racetracks and casinos wait and hope for what they all believe would be a major shot in the arm. In some cases their futures might depend on being able to take bets on things like the Super Bowl and NCAA Basketball Tournament. It might be a long shot but as we know,long shots do pay off.
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