New Jersey Voters Approve Sports Betting Referendum

With the mainstream media on both the news and sports sides focused on the debacle at Penn State University, a New Jersey ballot question over legalized sports betting at Garden State race tracks and casinos passed with surprising ease and minimal fanfare. New Jersey voters approved the referendum by a margin of nearly 2 to 1 and Governor Chris Christie is ready to support legislation to provide a framework for sports betting in the state.

In the short term, the successful passage of the referendum has little impact. In the ‘big picture’, however, it could set into motion a chain of events resulting in a widespread legalization of sports betting. In a statement after the referendum’s passage was assured Christie painted a target on the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, the Federal law limiting sports betting to only four states in the country:

“With this referendum, we have an opportunity that gives the state more solid footing to challenge the federal ban on sports wagering outside of a few select places.”

On a more practical level, the ease of the referendum’s passage should result in other politicians seeing the ‘writing on the wall’–people want to be able to bet on sports legally or, at the very least, think its stupid for an increasingly revenue hungry government to sanctimoniously oppose an activity that was ubiquitous in the United States long before the growth of the Internet and offshore bookmaking. In the end, this quantification of attitudinal change could be as significant in bringing the US into the 21st century vis a vis sports betting as the legal/political maneuverings

Legislation currently under consideration in the state house would establish rules similar to Nevada, including the prohibition against wagering on in-state college teams and college football games taking place in the state. Nevada eventually jettisoned this prohibition and opened betting on UNLV and Nevada-Reno. The hope is that legal sports betting would bring hundreds of millions in new revenue to the state and help boost tourism, particularly to the ailing Atlantic City market. At the very least, it can’t hurt and will give AC more competitive parity over Nevada and a ‘unique selling proposition’ compared to the other casinos popping up all over the Northeast.

New Jersey state senator Raymond Lesniak suggests that the pieces could fall into place quickly after he introduces legislation to regulate sports betting within the next few days:

“I expect to get it to Gov. Christie for his signature before the end of the year. By the start of next year’s NFL season, when the Eagles play the Giants, you better reserve your room soon in Atlantic City because it will be packed, just like Las Vegas is now.”

Assemblyman Matthew W. Milam also took aim at the Federal prohibition of sports betting, but couched it as a blow for ‘law and order’:

“With this amendment in place, we can now concentrate on lifting the federal ban so that Atlantic City and the state as a whole can reap the economic benefits of a gaming practice that reportedly generates billions illegally annually.”

For sports bettors nationwide, the big blow would be struck with the repeal or overturn of this Federal law. The state of New Jersey is planning to challenge the law in court and given the stakes involved are planning to fight it until the end. Were they to be successful, it would open a huge ‘can of worms’ that could see other states legalize and regulate sports betting. It would also make it more difficult for the Federal government to prohibit online betting and seismic changes could come quickly.

Most significantly, the country is no longer buying the canard that sports betting is somehow a threat to the ‘integrity’ of professional and college sports. The sordid mess at Penn State is a fitting coda to put to rest any notion that ‘integrity’ is an intrinsic part of collegiate sports. Hopefully the New Jersey referendum is the genesis of a new era of legal sports betting that will ultimately benefit all United States bettors.