Senator Ray Lesniak to propose a new bill to legalize sports betting in New Jersey

As the U.S. Supreme Court is unlikely to grand New Jersey a hearing in its appeal to overturn a federal law outlawing sports betting, Senator Raymond Lesniak is set to propose a bill to repeal any New Jersey law empowering the state to regulate or restrict sports betting within its border.  

“This will allow the casinos and racetracks to have sports betting on their premises. We just won’t be able to regulate it. I think that’s going to wake everybody up. That’s a game changer,” Raymond Lesniak said, speaking at the East Coast Gaming Congress that took place last Monday in Atlantic City. This new bill includes a business model commonly used in Europe where casinos and racetracks often regulate sports betting.

The Department of Justice’s brief urging the Supreme Court to reject New Jersey’s petition for a hearing, stated “PASPA does not even obligate New Jersey to leave in place the state-law prohibitions against sports gambling that it has chosen to adopt to PASPA’s enactment in 1992. To the contrary, New Jersey is free to repeal those prohibitions in whole or in part. According to Raymond Lesniak, the Department of Justice has “boxed itself in” with this statement. “To get around the argument for states’ rights, they say they are not preventing sports betting,” he said. “If New Jersey wants to repeal all its laws on sports betting, there is nothing we [the Justice Department] can do.” 

According to Raymond Lesniak, legalizing sports betting is more important than online gambling as it is a lucrative business that could generate revenues to the Garden State.

Source: Gambling Compliance