New Jersey Could Have Sports Betting Next MonthReport: State Prepared To Go With Hands-Off Approach On Activity |
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In order to get around a federal ban on sports betting, the state of New Jersey is prepared to pass a law that would work around the ban by basically enacting a hands-off approach to the activity—neither endorsing it nor prohibiting it.
This comes from Press of Atlantic City reporting on Thursday.
Sports betting is legal in just Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon—which were all grandfathered in.
Earlier this summer, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to take up the New Jersey sports betting case. The major sports leagues, including the Department of Justice, have been fighting back vigorously to prevent the activity and they have been victorious, at least until now.
Apparently, New Jersey won’t violate the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act if it lets its gambling facilities decide for themselves regarding sports betting. In other words, it can’t explicitly endorse sports books, but it doesn’t have to ban them.
According to the report:
In June, [Ray] Lesniak, D-Union, told The Press of Atlantic City that Monmouth Park racetrack was prepared to take sports bets in time for the 2014 NFL regular season. The first bet, he said, would happen Sept. 8.: “I would place a bet on the Giants to cover the spread over the Lions […] New Jersey has a right to have what Las Vegas has.”
Gov. Chris Christie is currently contemplating signing the measure, and his deadline is Monday. He previously authorized sports betting, but the previous bill is apparently antiquated. According to the report, the leagues could sue for an injunction to prevent the new bill from going into effect.
The Garden State is desperately searching for something to keep its casino industry afloat. A couple of Atlantic City casinos are prepared to close as revenues have been tumbling since 2006.
New Jersey legalized online gambling last year in an effort to stop the bleeding, but it hasn’t worked at all. Real revenues are being realized from Internet gambling there, but casinos are still floundering and operates are trimming supply.
Another idea being passed around is putting casinos outside of Atlantic City.
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