SCOTUS To Take Up Bid To Legalize Sports Bets In NJ
WASHINGTON, DC (CBS) -- New Jersey's bid to legalize sports betting in the state will get a hearing before the US Supreme Court this fall.
The state has been trying for years to find a way around federal law that bars sports betting in all but four states, including Delaware.
New Jersey's latest bid was shot down by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, but the state asked for a hearing before the high court, and will now have a chance to make an argument. Analyst Roger Gros with Global Gaming Business Magazine.
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"The lower courts have really upheld the decision to defeat the lawsuit brought by New Jersey," analyst Roger Gros of Global Gaming Business magazine told KYW Newsradio. "So the fact that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear it, I think, is really interesting."
President Trump recently suggested the Garden State abandon its efforts on sports betting, which proponents say would help Atlantic City's casino industry although, to be candid, gaming down the shore has been doing better over the last year or so after 5 casinos closed down.
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The mere fact the high court is considering the case is a win itself, given few cases get to the justices.
Gros suggests the current federal law isn't doing much good anyway. "Billions and billions of dollars have been bet over the past 20 years illegally on sports,' he added, "and the law that prohibited it has done nothing to stop it."
Pro sports leagues and the NCAA have been fighting against the plan all along, although the NBA is starting to change its tune. There's also been talk in congress about changing the federal law.
