The major sports leagues and the NCAA took a hit on May 18 when the U.S. Supreme Court decided against getting involved with a dispute over whether the leagues owe money to the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association based on sports betting litigation filed by the group.
The case reverts back to federal court in New Jersey, where a judge will consider evidence from both sides and decide how much the leagues have to pay, according to the Associated Press.
The leagues appealed a ruling by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that sided with the association in a 2018 suit related to the Supreme Court decision to overturn a federal ban on sports betting. The suit alleged the leagues owe a $3.4 million bond, plus interest, that they put up in 2014 to secure losses that might be suffered during the month that a judge’s restraining order blocked Monmouth Park Racetrack from offering sports betting.
The horsemen’s suit claimed the leagues acted in bad faith in seeking the order, because they were opposing legalized sports betting at the same time they were promoting and endorsing businesses that made millions from fantasy sports games.
The suit also claimed the racetrack was wrongfully prevented from offering sports betting at the time because the judge’s order was based on a federal ban later determined to be unconstitutional.
“A party is wrongfully enjoined when it turns out that that party had a right all along to do what it was enjoined from doing,” the 3rd Circuit wrote last year in support of the association.
When the case returns to New Jersey, the judge will also decide whether the association’s claims of damages as high as $150 million for lost sports betting revenue between 2014 and 2018 has merit.
