The battle to allow sports betting in New Jersey is over. After the Supreme Court refused to take up an appeal to consider a lower court ruling blocking sports betting in New Jersey on constitutional grounds, a final attempt to walk through a loophole in the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which effectively bans sports betting in all but four states, was vetoed by Governor Chris Christie last week.
PAPSA prohibits states from regulating and approving sports betting, so the bill sponsored by state Senator Ray Lesniak, would have tacitly approved sports betting without regulations or tacit approval.
Christie objected to this end run. He sais while he disagreed with the decision by the appellate court, “I do believe that the rule of law is sacrosanct.”
Lesniak said the bill was “a dagger in the heart of Atlantic City’s casinos” and that he would try to override the veto. Even though the bill passed with the support of both parties, the chance for an override seems slim. Lesniak said Senate President Steve Sweeney support such a move, but GGB News could not reach Sweeney for any comment.
Christie has undoubtedly lost his taste for tilting at windmills, experts said. The professional sports leagues and collegiate authorities have vigorously opposed all efforts to expand sports betting. When one of the four grandfathered states, Delaware, attempted to introduce Las Vegas-style sports betting, the leagues got a decision that limited the wager to parlay style betting, where the bettor was forced to place a bet on three different outcomes. The rules proved to be unpopular and Delaware sports betting has never reached expectations.
