Garden State voters must vote for a nonbinding referendum in November to legalize sports betting. Actual betting could not be allowed until a federal law restricting legal sports betting was repealed or overturned.
Sports book operators in Las Vegas say overturning the federal ban would be good for business. Legal sports gambling was expected to generate $200 million in new revenue for casinos in Atlantic City.
“The referendum is a good thing,” said John Asher, president and CEO of Brandywine Bookmaking LLC, the parent company of 17 Luckies Race and Sports Books in Nevada. “The issue is still the federal ban.”
Asher said nothing would change unless the state of New Jersey decided to sue the federal ban. “Then it becomes more important,” he said. 메이저 토토사이트
In 1992, Congress passed a “Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act” that prohibits sports betting in all states, which expects to ban betting by states that have already allowed sports betting in some form. Oregon, Montana and Delaware offered legal sports betting, which has traditionally been tied to state lotteries or fantasy games they operate.
“If this November referendum is passed, it will provide an important step in the ongoing process to overturn the federal ban on sports betting,” Robert Griffin, president and CEO of Trump Entertainment Resort, said in a statement. “If the referendum is passed and the federal ban is subsequently overturned, legal sports betting will provide an economic boost for Atlantic City and the entire state of New Jersey.”
Griffin said sports betting will allow Atlantic City to compete, grow and invest better in the region.
The referendum asks whether New Jersey residents want to amend the state constitution to allow sports betting at Atlantic City casinos and racetracks, allowing for the outcome of professional, college or amateur sports or athletic events.
A Fairleigh Dickenson University PublicMind poll in April found 53% of respondents approve of legalized sports betting, while 30% disapprove of the measure.
Political scientist and poll director Pete Woolley said the field will be conducted with another statewide poll. Woolley said he didn’t expect that figure to move much in either direction.