I wanted to do something different today , so since i am a New Jersey resident I chose to talk about this topic and the implications state wide in the United States. A few years back NJ residents approved by voting to legalize sports betting in every form . Nevada is the only other state that offers single game wagering among other bets. A few other states offer minimal bets such as parlays and futures. When NJ governor Chris Christie allowed horse tracks and casinos in Atlantic City to implement sport books, the four major sports in the U.S.A fought back to stop New Jersey from doing so. The leagues used a federal ban called PASPA ( Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act) in their favor. After a back and fourth battle stretching years both sides where heard by the supreme court several months ago. A ruling is expected any day now and other states are eagerly waiting as well.
It seems this ruling will either change the land scape of sports betting across the country or allow neveda to keep a strangle hold on the legal sports betting market. To shorten how the federal ban came about with some states offering sports betting and some not. In 1992 not every state had casinos like today and the few that did where asked to put an application in to allow for sports betting in casinos in that state. Atlantic City at the time was one of the biggest gaming markets but with a lot of shady stuff going on right around election time New Jersey missed the deadline to put in for sports wagering and the nation wide ban was put in place till today. Personally i don't see how leagues and schools can argue if another state allows wagering it puts the sports themselves in jeopardy of fixing games and so on. To make the argument no state should allow it, i understand but with it already existing and leagues already catering to the sports betting market to draw TV ratings up and in turn receiving high TV deals. I find this attempt to stop New Jersey more of a stall tactic than actually trying to stop them completely.
Some leagues have even started to change their stand publicly. Such as NBA commissioner Adam Silver admitting he is for legalization nation wide but that his league should get licensing fees for bookies using their games. That sentence right their is the root to all of this MONEY. With Billions being wagered every year , the leagues receiving even a quarter of a percent will be massive revenue. What i do know is Atlantic City casinos and NJ horse tracks need sports betting. It will not return the casinos to the old days with neighboring states having their own casinos but it will bring a good revenue stream and tax dollars for the state. Running a sports book is a pretty cheap en devour as far as maintenance cost and i see it as a positive.
With other states passing their own sports betting laws HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT LEGALIZATION? WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL BE THE EFFECTS IF LEGALIZED? IF YOU WERE A BETTING PERSON WHAT DO YOU THINK THE RULING WILL BE?
William Hill sports book already in place at Monmouth Park in NJ.
