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Fourth time is a charm perhaps as New Jersey’s attempts to legalize sports betting in the Garden State have failed three times already in federal courts.
Governor Chris Christie has cried foul against the National Basketball Association, National Football League and other professional sports association that filed suit against the state to prevent such wagering in Atlantic City casinos.
"Yeah, you know, I’m not going to go to the galactic Supreme Court and appeal to them," Christie joked during a press conference last week. He had already signed sports betting into law last year. "Pretty much, a federal question ends at the United States Supreme Court."
Christie does believe that the case will be looked at differently in the Supreme Court.
Sounds easy but the odds are very much against Christie as Ryan Hutchins of the Newark Star Ledger points out:
(But) persuading the justices to allow New Jersey to take its swings for sports betting is no easy task. About 10,000 petitions are filed with the Supreme Court each year, yet the justices hear arguments in just 100 or so.
"No more than about 5 percent … are granted," said Jeremy D. Frey, a gaming industry lawyer who has watched the case. "There is little reason to think that (this case) will be one of them. The state’s central constitutional claim was always akin to a ‘Hail Mary’ football pass."
Attorneys representing New Jersey argue that four other states – most notably Nevada – currently permit legalized sports betting, making for an unfair advantage.
"I do believe that the Supreme Court does give us the best chance for it because they have been going in a direction of recognizing states’ rights over recognizing federal mandates," says state senator Ray Lesniak, who helped push through legalized Web poker and casino games this year.
Whether it gets to the Supreme Court, that remains the million dollar question.
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
