Written by :
Published on :
“Ludicrous,” is what a Governor Chris Christie spokesperson called the decision by the NCAA late Monday to pull 2013 championship games out of New Jersey. The NCAA objects to the state’s intentions to allow legalized sports betting.
“The NCAA wants to penalize New Jersey for responsibly legalizing what occurs illegally every day in every state and often with the participation of organized crime. But the NCAA looks the other way for all of that?” said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for Christie. “Ludicrous and hypocritical.”
New Jersey is set to begin licensing sports betting operators the first week of January.
“The NCAA and the professional leagues can yell all they want about ‘the integrity of sports,’ but until they embrace policies to wipe out the illegal books, those are just words,” echoed state Sen. Ray Lesniak, D-Union, one of the Legislature’s champions of sports betting.
Joe Brennan, Jr, whose independent trade organization, Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association, is assisting in developing the framework for legalized sports wagering in the state, told Gambling911.com "It's terrible for the students at those schools that will be affected”.
“But if the NCAA insists on using student-athletes as pawns in legal proceedings, there is not much Gov. Christie or New Jersey can do to stop them,” Brennan added.
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
