Lawmakers renew bid to bring pro sports betting to Atlantic City
By TOM HESTER Jr.
The Associated Press
TRENTON, N.J. - With the Super Bowl looming and Atlantic City's casino revenues dropping last year for the first time since casino gambling began there in 1978, New Jersey legislators are reviving an effort to legalize betting on professional sports.
An Assembly committee is slated to consider legislation Thursday to ask voters to allow casinos to offer professional sports wagering.
Proponents of sports betting in New Jersey estimate the state might bring in up to $8 million in additional annual casino tax revenue and boost visitors to Atlantic City casinos now competing with slot parlors in neighboring states.
The measure has been approved by Assembly committees in 2004, 2005 and 2006 but never received further consideration.
But the dynamic may have changed this year, with two leading supporters of bringing pro sports gambling to Atlantic City moving from the Assembly to the Senate , Jim Whelan and Jeff Van Drew. Whelan chairs the Senate wagering committee.
Bills passed the Senate in 1992 and 1993 that would have allowed sports betting in New Jersey, but never passed the Assembly.
After that, federal law restricted legalized sports betting to Delaware, Montana, Nevada and Oregon, though only Nevada enables betting on professional and college games.
But those who back bringing pro sports betting to Atlantic City contend the federal law can be challenged.
Assembly Budget Chairman Lou Greenwald, who sponsors the initiative, has said illegal gambling is rampant and could be controlled.
Various estimates of illegal sports gambling in the U.S. range from $80 billion to $380 billion per year.
"New Jersey must take every step to control illegal sports betting rings," said Greenwald, D-Camden. "Those efforts should include the establishment of a legal, regulated mechanism for law-abiding people to place wagers on professional sporting competitions. Atlantic City is the right atmosphere for such an enterprise, and the state of New Jersey should fully explore this option."
Still, Senate President Richard J. Codey isn't confident the state can successfully challenge the federal law.
"I think Appalachian State would have to beat the Giants before the federal government would allow us to change the law to permit sports betting in casinos," said Codey, D-Essex. "That's about where our odds stand right now."
The NFL and NBA have rallied against legalized sports betting in New Jersey. NFL attorney Jay Moyer has said legal pro sports betting in the state would "create a pervasive climate of suspicion about any controversial play in a game."
The renewed effort comes as Atlantic City's 11 casinos took in $4.9 billion last year, down from $5.2 billion in 2006, the first-ever decline in casino gambling.
The decline was blamed on slots parlors in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York, which drew customers who were once Atlantic City's exclusive domain.  |