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Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (imega.org) head Joe Brennan, Jr. tells Gambling911.com that a suit filed Tuesday on behalf of the four professional sports leagues and NCAA will not stop legalized sports betting from moving forward in New Jersey.
“The leagues should not get an injunction since they cannot prove irreparable harm,” Brennan noted, with a sports betting measure expected to be approved in November.
The leagues and NCAA claim that offering sports betting in New Jersey will damage the integrity of the sports. Wagering on sporting events, however, is permitted in a handful of other states without issue.
Jeff Ifrah, a noted gambling industry attorney, offered this assessment to Gambling911.com:
“This case will come down to two questions: will the sports leagues succeed on their argument that New Jersey is prohibited from offering sports betting, and can the sports leagues demonstrate that if sports betting move forward, the leagues will be irreparably harmed?
“The answer to both is unquestionably no. PASPA - the federal law that the sports leagues rely on is clearly unconstitutional – in fact, in 1991, the DOJ itself informed the Senate committee considering PASPA that the DOJ opposed PASPA because the decision on how a state raises revenue is left to the states, not the federal government.
“And even if the sports leagues could succeed on this argument, they will fail because they cannot show irreparable harm to their industry. Indeed, states like Nevada already permit sports betting so how does it harm the leagues to permit New Jersey to offer sports betting as well?”
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
