NJ Governor Christie backs Lesniak on sports betting
Governor Chris Christie backs Senator Lesniak's push to bring sports betting to NJ, with lobbyists arguing intrastate egaming also hangs on a positive vote in Tuesday's referendum.
NJ governor Chris Christie has thrown his weight behind allowing sports betting in the state’s casinos and racetracks, with lobbyists declaring only a positive outcome in Tuesday’s referendum will see voters have their say on intrastate egaming next year.
Christie said yesterday that if voters support the sports betting ballot question on Tuesday, he would team up with legislative champion Senator Raymond Lesniak, who is also pushing for a voter referendum on intrastate egaming next year, to work out “how we’re going to implement the will of the people”, according to PolitickerNJ.
Various polls have put the New Jersey electorate at between 52% and 58% in support of legalised sports betting in the state, although support is skewed towards the younger voter, less likely to turn out than older voters on Tuesday.
Christie however also said yesterday that a successful vote in favour would give New Jersey a sounder footing from which to challenge the federal ban on sports wagering currently in place in the state under the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992.
Lesniak and State President Stephen Sweeney’s initial bid to have the ban on sports betting in place in all but four US states ruled unconstitutional was thrown out by a federal judge in March. The judge said there was no right or justifiable argument to rule on as NJ voters had yet to declare their support for sports betting, and that they could not prove the state had suffered from the sports betting ban.
Lobbyist Bill Pascrell III told eGaming Review yesterday: “Once this passes [on Tuesday], we can pass a bill, put it on the governor’s desk, and the judge then has an issue to rule on.” The NJ Senate started work in September on having a sports betting bill ready to introduce following a positive vote on Tuesday.
Pascrell said that once the judge had an issue to rule on, this would better enable the state to make the argument that the law was unconstitutional and discriminated against the people of New Jersey by allowing four states exempted under PASPA “ Delaware, Montana, Nevada and Oregon – to reap tax revenue from legal sports betting while New Jersey could not.
It was clear that New Jersey had suffered from the ban relative to other states, argued Pascrell. “Atlantic City is dying, the horse tracks are dying. Las Vegas is not losing jobs. New Jersey should be able to compete for customers on this issue. When you look at gaming destinations for sporting events, such as the Superbowl, at the moment this is Las Vegas not Atlantic City.”
He added that a successful vote on Tuesday was imperative to getting another measure on the ballot next year which would improve the fortunes of Atlantic City’s casinos, intrastate egaming. Lesniak in August reintroduced an amended version of the bill that was vetoed by Christie in March.
Justifying the veto at the time, Christie expressed concerns over a potential loophole in the legislation that would have allowed de facto gambling establishments outside of Atlantic City, in internet cafes, bars and restaurants. He also expressed doubts that allowing internet wagers outside the boundaries of Atlantic City could be enabled without amending the state constitution, hence the need for voters to have their say on the proposals.
Pascrell explained: “This is critical. If the ballot question fails on Tuesday, internet gaming is dead in New Jersey. If voters don’t approve this, the politicians will bail on the issue. We do sports betting this year, and igaming will happen next year.”