Leagues, NCAA Can Move Forward With New Jersey Sports Betting Suit

NEWARK, N.J. - Four major professional sports leagues and the NCAA are poised to move forward with their legal fight over New Jersey's plans to allow sports gambling.

That comes after a judge on Friday rejected arguments that the leagues couldn't prove they would be harmed if the state proceeds with the plans.

In denying the state's request to dismiss the lawsuit by the NBA, NHL, NFL, Major League Baseball and the NCAA, U.S. District Judge Michael Shipp agreed that they have standing to file the suit because expanding legal sports betting to New Jersey would negatively affect perception of their games.

In his ruling, Shipp cited studies offered by the leagues that showed fans' negative attitudes toward game-fixing and sports gambling.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy declined to comment on the ruling, saying on Saturday that "the decision speaks for itself."

Stacey Osburn, director of public and media relations for the NCAA, said the association was "pleased with the court's ruling. The NCAA has long maintained that sports wagering threatens the well-being of student-athletes and the integrity of college sports."

New Jersey also has argued in court papers that a 1990s law prohibiting sports gambling in all but four states is unconstitutional, and Shipp ordered that a date for oral argument on that issue will be set after Jan. 20.

The federal law prohibited sports gambling in all states but Nevada, where bettors can wager on single games, and three other states that were allowed to offer multi-game parlays.

"It is absurd for the professional sports leagues and the NCAA to claim that they will suffer injuries as a result of the legalization of sports betting in New Jersey," said U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J.