New Jersey Gains Advantage in Federal Court Battle to Legalize Sports Gambling

Federal Court Battle to Legalize Sports Gambling

The state of New Jersey and the four major professional sports, the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA along with the NCAA are engaged in a knockdown winner take all fight over legalizing sports betting. New Jersey wants a piece of the $500 billion bet on sports in the United States on a yearly basis. Of this total, only about one percent of it takes place through legalized betting in Nevada.

For the state of New Jersey, legalized betting could help their battered economy which is suffering from the prolonged impact of the US recession and the traumatic devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy. Governor Christie of the state of New Jersey wants to take sports betting out of the hands of the criminals and into the control of the state.

The sports leagues and the NCAA have argued that the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act prohibits gambling in all but four states. Sports gambling is permitted in only Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon. In 2007 Oregon ended its association with sports gambling and the betting in Montana and Delaware is limited to fantasy football and multiple bets within one wager on the … Read more at FryingPanSports