\nnj.com
\n\tJudge rules against N.J. sports betting, but state plans to appeal<\/p>\n
\n\tBrent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com By Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
\n\tEmail the author | Follow on Twitter
\n\ton November 21, 2014 at 9:22 PM, updated November 22, 2014 at 1:45 AM<\/p>\n
\tTRENTON \u2014 Hold your bets \u2014 again.<\/p>\n
\tA federal judge issued a ruling tonight that says New Jersey cannot move forward with its latest plan to legalize sports betting at casinos and racetracks.<\/p>\n
\tBut the state quickly filed a notice to challenge the decision in the federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals, said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for Gov. Chris Christie’s office.<\/p>\n
\tAs expected, U.S. District Judge Michael Shipp sided with five sports organizations \u2014 the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and NCAA \u2014 who filed a lawsuit saying the state’s plan would hurt the integrity of their games and violate a federal ban on sports wagering in all but four states.<\/p>\n
\tIt’s the latest setback in New Jersey’s three-year battle to make sportsbooks legal in an effort to save the state’s struggling casino and racetrack industries.<\/p>\n
\tStill, the case is far from over. State officials say they face much better odds of winning the appeal. The state’s new sports betting law \u2014 which Christie signed last month \u2014 is based a decision from the Third Circuit last year.<\/p>\n
\t"We’re just following their lead," said state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), the lawmaker who has led the push for sports wagering in New Jersey. "We’ll certainly have a lot better chance before the Third Circuit than we had before Judge Shipp."<\/p>\n
\tExperts say the appeals process could last through the spring, and the case could ultimately end up before the U.S. Supreme Court after that.<\/p>\n
\tState Senate President Stephen Sweeney said in a statement tonight that the state will "continue pursuing every legal option available."<\/p>\n
\t"The economic impact that sports wagering can have on New Jersey is far too important to simply shrug our shoulders and move on," Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said.<\/p>\n
\tThe issue stretches back to 1992, when Congress passed a law banning sports betting except in Nevada, Delaware, Montana, and Oregon. In 2011, however, New Jersey residents voted to legalizing such gambling, and Christie signed it into law a year later. But the leagues sued, and both Shipp and the Third Circuit sided with them last year.<\/p>\n
\tState officials, though, believed they found a loophole this time. They said language in the Third Circuit ruling noted that nothing in the federal ban preventing them from repealing old state laws against sports betting as long as the state didn’t regulate the wagering. Christie signed the new approach into law last month.<\/p>\n
\tThe leagues sued again, arguing that the move still violated the federal ban because New Jersey already heavily regulates casinos and tracks. They also said the state included stipulations that amount to regulation \u2014 including limiting the betting to casinos and tracks, prohibiting anyone under 21 from placing a bet, and not allowing bets on some college games.<\/p>\n
\tThis is the third time Ship has ruled in favor of the leagues. In addition to last year’s ruling, he granted the leagues’ request last month for a temporary restraining order to stop Monmouth Park racetrack in Oceanport from becoming the first New Jersey venue to offer legal sports wagering.<\/p>\n
\tTonight’s ruling was issued hours before the restraining order was set to expire at midnight, but the decision makes it permanent.<\/p>\n
\t"While New Jersey is at the forefront of this movement, many states around the country appear poised to join should New Jersey provide a roadmap around (the federal ban)," the judge wrote in the ruling. "New Jersey’s most recent legislation does not provide such a roadmap."<\/p>\n
\tInstead, Shipp suggested that the state lobby Congress to change the federal law.<\/p>\n
\tNBA Commissioner Adam Silver made a similar assertion last week in an op-ed column for the New York Times last week, writing the time has come for Congress to repeal the ban and allow sports betting to legalized and regulated.<\/p>\n
\tLesniak has started a petition drive to ask federal lawmakers to upend the ban. But experts say it’s unclear if Congress will take up the issue.<\/p>\n
\tOfficials say sports betting is key to saving Monmouth Park, which has been operating at a loss. Thousands of jobs, they say, could be lost in the state’s equine industry if wagering isn’t legalized.<\/p>\n
\tDennis Drazin, an attorney who advises Monmouth Park, said the racetrack’s operators are "disappointed" in Shipp’s decision "but not terribly surprised."<\/p>\n
\t"For now, it’s status quo," Drazin said in a statement today. "Nevertheless, we remain confident that the Third Circuit will render a favorable result for Monmouth Park."<\/p>\n
\tOfficials say sportsbooks could also help revive Atlantic City, which has seen a handful of casinos close in recent months, taking thousands of jobs with them.<\/p>\n
\t"Atlantic City needs good news," Lesniak said. "And it needs bold action."<\/p>\n
\tBrent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com<\/a>. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. \t\u00a9 2014 NJ.com. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n
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