The odds of New Jersey soon being allowed to conduct legal sports betting continue to improve as a U.S. Supreme Court hearing on the case nears.
We hope that optimism is well placed, because legalization is long overdue.
For years New Jersey has been battling to overcome a federal ban on sports gambling that exempts only four states. New Jersey had a chance to join that list in 1992, but passed. Under Gov. Chris Christie state officials have sought a path around that ban; legal challenges to date have failed, but supporters were pleasantly surprised when the Supreme Court agreed to take up the case, despite the disapproval of President Trump’s solicitor general.
New Jerseyans are on board — they approved sports betting in a 2011 referendum. That vote couldn’t override the federal restrictions, however, and implementation was blocked.
Support for legalization is strongly bipartisan; Christie is a backer, but so too are Democratic lawmakers both state and federal. Gov.-elect Phil Murphy is said to be a supporter, so the state’s interest in the issue figures to continue. More tax revenue is at stake, of course, but supporters also see sports betting as a lifeline for the state’s struggling casinos and horse tracks, the latter of which affects an entire horse farm industry.