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While much of the talk these days is related to how legalizing online poker can help boost state economies as well as help the national deficit through massive gambling tax collections, the Huffington Post on Thursday published a great article about New Jersey’s efforts to legalize sports betting as a means of helping the Garden State recover from its own financial woes.
New Jersey voters overwhelmingly approved a measure that would allow sports betting to become legal in the state. New Jersey would become the first state to allow sports betting in casinos East of Nevada.
It won’t happen today – or tomorrow for that matter. First the state must file an action to overturn current archaic federal laws preventing New Jersey from taking bets on sporting events. Second, they are likely to run into opposition from the National Football Legal (i.e. additional lawsuits).
New Jersey State Senator Raymond Lesniak is the individual who has been working hard to make sports wagering in the state a reality. His efforts are being coordinated with the grassroots operative The Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association.
From The Huffington Post:
Lesniak hopes to parlay the state's recent referendum approving gambling with a federal court rematch to repeal the U.S. ban on sports betting. And he's launching another slingshot round on Thursday: his committee plans to present a plan to the New Jersey Senate for how game wagering could pay off for the state.
A win for New Jersey would be profit-gushing good news for other revenue-starved states willing to put their money down on bookmaking. Americans bet $100 billion a year on sporting events, according to the UCLA Gambling Studies Program. Much of that now fills the coffers of illegal Internet sites and organized crime, Lesniak said. In a lingering economic slump, the temptation to grab a legal piece of the action could turn a few states into bona fide bookies.
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
