Governor Chris Christie has lifted New Jersey's ban on sports betting at the state's racetracks and casinos, announcing that these venues would not be prosecuted for accepting wagers on most sporting events on Monday. The NFL is already dealing with a number of issues, so how will Roger Goodell respond?
Christie's decision could be attributed to a number of reasons: to save Atlantic City because a total of four casinos will be closing or have already closed; the New Jersey Governor might be planning to run for president in 2016 and the state will benefit from the gambling revenue, which will help his campaign; and to reduce illegal gambling that helps fuel organized crime in the state. Following his announcement to lift the ban that was in place since February of 2013, the state's racetracks and casinos were caught off guard by his decision and had no plans to begin sports betting.
This was likely because the NFL has been fighting the decision to allow sports betting in New Jersey for years. The venues at which it would be allowed probably weren't expecting Christie to hastily lift the year-and-a-half ban he instituted following the approval of a constitutional amendment that eliminated a prohibition on sports gambling by the state's voters in 2011. The amendment was opposed by the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL as well as the NCAA, and the Third Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals sided with the opposition, agreeing that the legislation violated the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act.
However, New Jersey found a loophole, and although it was illegal for the state to sponsor or license sports betting because of the previously mentioned act, nothing was stopping Christie from repealing the state's ban on racetracks and casinos from allowing sports gambling. He did just that on Monday, after vetoing legislation that would have lifted the prohibition about a month ago. And now, as the NFL is smothered with the Ray Rice scandal and other domestic violence and suspension issues, they might not be in the right place to respond effectively or in the manner they would like to.
The NFL has opposed sports betting legislation, most recently with New Jersey in 2012 and Delaware back in 2009. Delaware's Supreme Court unanimously ruled that parlay bets are constitutional, which would have been a crucial step in the state holding the first legal sports book outside of Nevada. However, the NFL publicly and vehemently opposed it and threatened to file a lawsuit while the NCAA threatened to ban all playoff games in Delaware.
"If sports betting becomes more prevalent through state-promoted schemes, it will inevitably lead those gambling fans to question whether an erroneous officiating call or a dropped pass late in the game resulted from an honest mistake or an intentional act by a corrupt player or referee," said NFL spokesman Joe Browne, in this Wall Street Journal article.
Despite the opposition, Delaware instituted very limited sports betting.
We'll see how the NFL responds to Christie's decision, especially since NBA commissioner Adam Silver recently said that legalized sports betting in the U.S. is inevitable and the NBA "will ultimately participate in that."
