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NEWARK, N.J. (Associated Press) — A court filing Wednesday in New Jersey's effort to allow sports betting takes the four major pro sports leagues to task for their involvement in fantasy sports competitions, claiming that that precludes them from dictating what the state can do.
The filing was made by the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which will hear arguments in the case later this year.
The horsemen's group wants to offer sports gambling at Monmouth Park Racetrack. But the effort has lost in court several times, most recently in November when a federal judge ruled New Jersey's revamped sports gambling law violated a 1992 federal law.
Wednesday's filing argues that the legal concept of "unclean hands" applies because the leagues are involved in fantasy sports in which contestants bet on the performances of individual players.
"The Leagues sponsor, promote, invest in, profit from, and own sports betting business enterprises that engage in the very kinds of sports betting activities the Leagues claim irreparably harm them and, thus, entitle them to an injunction," the brief claims. "Because of their unclean hands, rooted in their hypocrisy, the District Court should not have entertained the Leagues' request for an injunction. Instead, the courthouse doors should have been closed to the Leagues."
In previous court filings, the leagues have drawn a sharp distinction between fantasy leagues, in which contestants select players from different teams and wager on how they will perform, and the kind of sports betting sought by New Jersey in which gamblers bet on the outcomes of games.
