N.J. senator plans push to legalize sports betting

N.J. senator plans push to legalize sports betting

By Mark Mueller
The Star-Ledger

Seeking another source of cash for New Jersey at a time of severe economic pain, a prominent state senator said recently that he plans to sue the federal government in a bid to overturn a 17-year-old ban on sports betting.
Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), who has long pushed for an expansion of wagering to drive up state revenues, said he will file the lawsuit in federal district court within the next two weeks.
"Billions of dollars are being bet offshore through the Internet or through organized crime, and those are revenues that could be going to New Jersey," Lesniak said.
"People are doing it," he said. "They're doing it every day. They're doing it for the NCAA tournament. They're doing it for the Super Bowl and professional football. But we can't regulate it and run it in the state of New Jersey, and that's just unfair."
In Lesniak's view, sports betting should be permitted not only in Atlantic City's casinos, but at the state's three ailing horse-racing tracks, at off-track betting locations and over the Internet.
The push to extend gambling to sporting events isn't new -- proponents have spoken of it on and off for more than a decade -- but both Lesniak and a spokeswoman for the American Gaming Association, an industry group in Washington, D.C., said they were unaware of anyone before challenging the federal ban in court.
The measure, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, went into effect in 1992. At the time, four states already had laws on their books allowing sports betting. Those states -- Nevada, Oregon, Montana and Delaware -- were exempted, though betting is conducted only in Nevada.
In a nod to New Jersey's casino industry, federal officials gave the state a last-chance opportunity to legalize sports betting in 1993. State lawmakers declined.
Lesniak said he plans to introduce legislation in the Senate and sponsor a constitutional amendment to permit sports wagering.
Three times in the past five years, the Assembly passed legislation authorizing a referendum to gauge the public's appetite for sports betting. Each time, the Senate declined to take up the cause. State Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex), who has opposed changing New Jersey's law as long as the federal ban is in place, could not be reached for comment today.
Lesniak's initiative comes as Delaware, one of the states exempt from the federal ban, prepares to consider sports betting anew to fill a gaping budget hole. Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, who raised the issue repeatedly as a candidate last fall, plans an announcement on sports betting next week, said Joe Rogalsky, a spokesman for Markell.
"Delaware is a gaming state, and we need to protect our gaming interests," Rogalsky said. "Sports betting is a unique advantage we have right now."
If sports betting is enacted in Delaware, it would be yet another blow to Atlantic City's casinos, now in the third year of a devastating slowdown. Last month, the city's 11 casinos posted a 19.2 percent decline in revenue over the same period last year, the biggest drop since wagering came to the resort three decades ago.
Lesniak suggests sports betting will be a boon for the Garden State's casinos, racetracks and bottom line. He said his research shows New Jersey could take in more than $100 million a year from sports betting, based on the state's 8 percent tax imposed on gaming revenues.
Gaming analyst Joseph Weinert, a senior vice president with Spectrum Gaming Group, a casino consulting firm, calls Lesniak's revenue forecast wildly optimistic.
"New Jersey would have to be the only place in the world with sports betting to achieve that number," Weinert said.
In the 12 months ending Jan. 31, the 24 biggest casinos in Las Vegas generated just $50.6 million in sports book revenue, or about 1 percent of total gaming revenues. For New Jersey to generate $100 million in cash from the state tax, sports betting revenue across the state would have to top $1.2 billion.
"I submit that ain't gonna happen," Weinert said.

N.J. senator plans push to legalize sports betting